Business

Businesses that work with the university are thriving

Published 18 January 2011

Businesses working with a university programme designed to improve trading performance have seen profits increase by as much as 25 per cent.

The companies also reported taking on more staff and doubling the number of new products and services they offer.

The businesses have been working with the University of Brighton's Profitnet programme, which enables small and medium-sized enterprises to learn from each other, allows access to the expertise of the university, and provides input from practitioners in every business field.

Business owners, directors and senior managers work together in a confidential environment to find solutions to real business problems and help each other to identify new opportunities.

Profitnet works through structured learning, informal networking, communication and knowledge-sharing with peers and experts and aims to help members understand their business in depth.

One Profinet member, Sonia Blizzard of internet and telephony company, Beaming, said she was "over the moon" with recent performance. She started the company in 2005 and appeared in the latest Deloitte Technology Fast 50 list which tracks the country's fastest growing technology companies. With a growth rate of 782 per cent over the last five years, the company was 43rd nationally and eighth in the south-east.

Sonia Blizzard of Hastings-based company Beaming

Sonia said: "Profitnet was definitely the catalyst for many of the initiatives which have produced this growth. The advice from my peers and the specialist training that I've received through Profitnet has been fantastic. It has helped me to think more strategically and confidently which has resulted in a real step-up in terms of the size of the business – now we are competing against the well-established giants in the sector and we have clients all over the UK and beyond.

"I wouldn't have achieved this expansion without the encouragement and support of my Profitnet peers."

Figures showing the rise in profits among the 46 recent Profitnet members come from research by the University of Brighton's Centre for Innovation Management (CENTRIM).

Professor Mike Hobday, head of CENTRIM, said: "This is an impressive record given that the programme has been running through the middle of an economic crisis and a developing recession – Profitnet members are clearly bucking the trend."

Profitnet, created at the University of Brighton, has helped more than 1,000 businesses in the UK and Ireland since its inception in 2005. It aims to transform the profitability and sustainability of private sector companies by organising structured learning networks and helping firms to develop innovation processes and strategies.

Following a successful pilot phase, the Donegal County Enterprise Board recently bought an extended license to run the Profitnet programme for businesses in its area. Director Michael Tunney said: "Profitnet is the most beneficial business support programme we have ever run. It's the only model that makes harnessing innovation real and achievable for small and medium sized businesses. In the light of Ireland's current crisis, we want to build on the benefits the programme has already delivered and expand it - helping our small and medium enterprises to put a structure on their plans for improved efficiency and innovation.

"When times were good, customers just walked through the door and businesses didn't have to work that hard. But now they have to really focus on their systems, processes, costs and marketing."

Members reported that during their time in the Profitnet programme, their profits increased due to improved skills in business strategy, negotiation, and marketing and sales techniques. More than 91 per cent said Profinet had had a significant impact on their business.

In the 2008-2009 programme, of the members surveyed, 42 had between them developed 117 new products and 95 new services, created 43 new businesses and generated an estimated 143 new jobs during the 18 months from October 2008. Additionally, 59 per cent of members claim that they entered a new market or increased their market share.

The programme also made a positive contribution to regional employment, despite the fact that according to official sources, the south-east region is facing greater job loses than the rest of the country. Some 24 per cent of companies increased their number of part-time employees, and 20 per cent increased their number of full-time staff.

More than 72 per cent of members said their innovation skills had improved and they were much more adept at harnessing external know-how, as well as developing new products and services.

Collaboration between members is a further feature of the programme and 85 per cent of business people said they enjoyed working with other members. Also, members were more likely to collaborate with a university or technical college. Some 70 per cent did so at least once, mentioning initiatives such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, short training courses, consultancy, joint research, student placements and help to improve products, processes and service.

Profitnet is now accessible to businesses throughout the UK and Ireland through bespoke licensing arrangements.