UCLan research ‘adding commercial value to business’

18 December 2019

National entrepreneurial impact report ranks University top in Lancashire

A new index that measures the success of commercialising academic research across universities in the UK has ranked the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) top in its own county and fourth in a league table of North West universities.

The UK-wide Research to Riches Entrepreneurial Impact report names UCLan as part of its measure of effectiveness of intellectual property, creation of spinout companies and successful exits from such spinout companies relative to the funding it receives.

Peter Leather, Head of IP and Commercialisation at UCLan, said: “This growth shows the value and quality of our team in this function which is still relatively small and growing.

“Not only is the creation of successful spin-out companies positive for the individual involved, it also provides the local and national economy with opportunities to carry out pioneering research which translates into real world solutions that clearly demonstrate a significant societal impact.

"This growth shows the value and quality of our team in this function which is still relatively small and growing."

“Although government policy is supportive of funding research in academia, it is increasingly requiring universities to protect intellectual property generated from the research it funds and to then either work more closely with industry to create opportunities to commercialise that research or generate commercial returns via licensing or creating spin-out businesses.”

UCLan`s IP and Commercialisation team aims to develop programmes that have the potential to create game-changing technologies and turn them into the innovations of tomorrow, while minimising barriers to success.

Almost £1.5billion was invested into spinouts from academic institutions in 2018, some £250million more than the previous year, turning applied research activity into potentially valuable innovative products and services.

The Entrepreneurial Impact Ranking from European venture capital investor Octopus Ventures is an index of the universities that are leading the way in creating and commercialising spinouts. In quantifying their impact, it creates a framework for further transparency, collaboration and improvement.