Consultancy services

Expertise

We have expertise in: 

• Leadership
• Innovation and change management
• Marketing
• Supply chains and logistics

Our Centre for change, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management (CENTRIM) consistently develops new knowledge and understanding of how innovation, entrepreneurship and change management work in practice.

Working with partners in industry, academia and government, we strive to produce groundbreaking concepts to explain, harness and improve innovation management, entrepreneurship and change management.

We generate data to test new theories and transfer our findings into boardrooms and beyond.

Recognised as a top five university for world-leading research impact in Business and Management Studies, our experts are heavily involved in collaborative projects with a range of partners. 

Business and management consultancy

The University of Brighton has an international reputation in applying innovative practices to help companies foster business growth, and you can benefit from our consultants' commercial experience, which is backed by in-depth knowledge. 

Organisations can also access specialist corporate training, which can be delivered in company, and developed to meet your specific training needs. Find out more about in-company training here.

Our experts can work with you to answer questions and develop your business by:

• Undertaking specialist research projects
• Developing business growth and marketing strategies
• Running focus groups for new product development
• Developing staff satisfaction surveys
• Providing CEO or management mentoring
• Reviewing financial systems
• Measuring the economic impact of different factors, for example, company location
• Auditing training needs.

Expertise 

We have expertise in: 

• Sustainable construction and environmental planning
• Monitoring environmental performance
• Sustainable design and materials
• Architecture, spatial design and urban development 
• Energy efficiency
• Waste management
• Ground, water and structural engineering
• Ecology, landscape and pollution management

As part of the Green Growth Platform, we are heavily involved in the development of environmental technologies.

Open to environmental and sustainable companies in Sussex, the Green Growth Platform's knowledge and innovation team will assess your research and development needs.

Read more about our environment and construction research.

Collaborations

Working with Thames Water to enhance wastewater recycling:

Scientists from our Centre for Aquatic Environments are working with Thames Water to help manage potential health risks associated with recycled wastewater at the UK's largest community wastewater recycling scheme at London's Olympic Park.

Find out more about this collaboration.

Examples

Waterblade

Waterblade fits to a tap and reduces water consumption by up to twice as much as a standard eco aerating nozzle.

With support from the university's Green Growth Platform, Waterblade won funding that allowed them to work with our product design specialists to maximise functionality.

They have made key connections with large companies in the water industry and has also delivered a presentation on Waterblade at the national Water Efficiency Conference hosted by the university.

Find out more about Waterblade's work with us.

Expertise

We have the expertise and facilities to test and develop:

• Fuel efficiency and integrated automotive defence systems 
• Low carbon energies including sustainable fuels, waste heat recovering, micro CHP systems and low carbon lean combustion strategies
• Electrical and electronic engineering involving intelligent systems, automotive electronics, condition monitoring and applied electrical engineering
• Vetronics
• Product design through the Brighton Product Lab

We can offer consultancy through our Advanced Engineering Centre (AEC) and the Brighton Product Lab.

Collaborations

Our Advanced Engineering Centre (AEC) has developed and optimised engine combustion processes, laser-based measurement techniques, fundamental modelling and computational simulation.

One of the centre's longest partnerships has been with Ricardo, culminating in the establishment of the world-leading Sir Harry Ricardo Laboratories (SHRL). 

Expertise

We have expertise in:

• Software engineering and information security
• Creating intelligent and secure software systems
• Big data 
• Interactive technologies
• Computational mathematics
• Social and cultural informatics

We offer usability consultancy in our specialist labs in:

• Software user testing
• Staff training in design and usability evaluation techniques
• Rapid design prototyping
• Design adaptation of software for international markets
• Software evaluation
• Identifying the best software solutions for your business 
• Assessment of your company web pages

Read more about our computing research.

Collaborations

Brighton is at the heart of one of the UK's leading digital and information technology clusters, and we are involved in industry collaborations.

We are playing a lead role in the Digital Catapult Centre Brighton, one of four government-backed digital centres in the country aimed at boosting growth in the UK’s digital economy

We were also a key partner in the Brighton Fuse project, a two-year research and development project which mapped, measured and assisted Brighton’s creative, digital and information technologies cluster.

The project supported mutually beneficial connections between higher education, those engaged in the creation of arts and culture and Brighton’s digital technology sector.

Expertise

We have expertise in:

• Pharmacology
• Drug delivery and medicines optimisation
• Chronic disease
• Cellular and molecular ageing
• Sensory neuroscience
• Biomaterials/medical biofilms
• Genomics
• Chemistry
• Paediatrics

With new state-of-the-art, custom designed Brighton Genomics laboratory, you can now access our Brighton Genomics services.

We offer consultancy through the award-winning Image Analysis Unit, which houses some of the most advanced microscopes in the South East.

The unit allows organisations to examine, image, and analyse new products and materials from a physicochemical, cellular, biological and microbiological perspective.

Dr Bhavik Patel winner of the 2014 GlaxoSmithKline Emerging Scientist Award

Examples

Allergy Therapeutics

Allergy Therapeutics, a European-based speciality pharmaceutical company, undertook R&D work using the Image Analysis Unit, including a Knowledge Transfer Partnership and numerous research fellowships.

The results from this collaboration helped the company to solve a range of R&D and production-based problems.

As a result of this successful partnership, the university and Allergy Therapeutics won the 2006 Sussex Business Enterprise Awards for the best interaction between business and a Sussex-based university.

Expertise

Through our medical school, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and the School of Health Sciences, we have expertise in:

• Regenerative medicine
• Musculoskeletal diseases
• Paediatrics research
• Health promotion, policy and practice
• Occupational therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Podiatry
• Resilience

We can offer consultancy in the following areas:

• Clinical trials
• Physiotherapy
• Patient care
• Assessment of forces
• 3D analysis of muscle movements
• Measuring joint and nerve functions.
• Pain threshold
• Soft tissue scanning

Recognised as a top 10 university for world-leading research impact in allied health professions, dentistry, nursing and pharmacy.

Read more about our health research.

Professor Somnath MukhopadhyayChair of Paediatrics, who is leading on research into childhood asthma, funded by the Department of Health.

Read more about this research project.

Collaborations

The Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Devices collaborative projects include:

• Specialised cell culture substrates for the pre-clinical handling of stem cells, which are under development in collaboration with Tissue Click and AvantiCell Science.

• The exploitation potential of novel soybean-based biomaterials is being developed through Brighton Wound Care.

• The commercialisation of biomaterials for cancer therapy: a collaboration with Biocompatibles.

• Finceramica SpA is seeking to develop the next generation of their osteochondral defect regenerative medicine constructs to pioneering surface functionalisation developed by the BCRM Centre.

• Biomaterials for blood homeostasis are currently entering the commercial market in partnership with MAST Carbon.

Other collaborative projects include:

• Brighton & Suessex University Hospitals NHS Trust: BMRC researchers have worked with surgeons and consultants at the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.This collaboration has delivered cutting-edge research through both patient participation and patient-donated blood and tissue samples. It is also improving the understanding of human musculoskeletal diseases in order to develop new and improved treatments.

• NIHR Leeds Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit: Bringing together Dr Frederique Ponchel (University of Leeds) and Dr Sandra Sacre (BMRC), this collaborative project is examining inflammatory pathways in patient samples in diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid. State-of-the-art cellular and molecular techniques are being used to investigate the role of the innate immune system in these diseases.

Expertise

Incorporating Events, Hospitality, Leisure, Tourism, Retail and Sport Business.

We have expertise in: 

• Tourism and Travel
• Hospitality and Culinary Arts
• Events
• Retail and Customer Service
• Journalism
• Service Management
• Sport Business

Service Management Consultancy

We help businesses and not-for-profit organisations explore key issues relating to their performance transferring our research findings into practical solutions.

We have a strong track record in delivering meaningful insights in the fields of food, hospitality, tourism and retail management and have conducted market research on behalf of organisations including:

• The World Bank
• The Institute of Customer Service (ICS)
• Tourism South East (TSE)
• Rother District Council
• Hastings Borough Council
• Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the Gambia

As part of our wider economic and social engagement activity, we work with a range of independent SMEs and assist local businesses in developing their brand, merchandising and marketing strategies. 

We advise on culture, people and performance, focusing on human resource management practices, employee welfare, mobility, and performance management.

We also share our expertise on food and sensory evaluation, online technologies, consumer studies, food cultures, wellbeing, and food retailing.

In addition to published work, we make contributions to research forums including:

• The Council for Hospitality Management (CHME)
• European Council on Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Education (EuroCHRIE)
• The Higher Education Academy (HEA)
• The British Academy of Management (BAM).

From our Culinary Arts Studio we deliver bespoke training programmes in team building and culinary arts.

Collaborations

We encourage cross-disciplinary research, develop national-level collaborations enabling us to influence policy and transform lives and aim to create partnerships with industry, academic institutions, professional bodies and community groups, bringing together experts sharing specialist knowledge.

Our skilled Tourism Policy, Practice and Performance Consultancy Unit is professional and commercially-oriented, helping organisations deliver measurable results. We work with our strong network of experts, drawing upon specialist knowledge from across our multidisciplinary leading-edge research base, to meet your needs as efficiently as possible.

Our collaborations produce research that really matters - new ideas and fresh perspectives to tackle real-world challenges with relevant research findings.

Expertise

We have expertise in:

• Sports performance, including training and preparation for world-class performance, anti-doping, and sport performance in environmental extremes.

• Exercise and health, focusing on lifestyle modifications such as exercise and nutritional interventions in reducing health risks.

• Sport and exercise medicine, including injury and illness surveillance, injury biomarkers, and medical education and training.

• Tourism, sport, leisure for transformative practice.

• Sport, leisure and tourism cultures: communities and performativity.

Through our Sport and Exercise Science Consultancy Unit, organisations can access and carry out testing in:

• Marathon Support Unit
• Environmental extremes
• Individual athlete support
• Golf science development
• Strength and conditioning
• Product testing

Yannis PitsiladisProfessor of Sport and Exercise Science, who has created the largest known DNA biobank from world-class athletes.

Examples

BOLA

BOLA is the country’s leading manufacturer of ball projection machines used for sport.

They undertook product testing on a cricket bowling simulating device in partnership with the Sport and Exercise Science Consultancy Unit.

Focusing on analysing the machine’s efficacy, the consultancy unit also tested whether the simulated delivery provided sufficient stimulus to the batsmen facing the delivery to closely replicate what they would face in a real-world scenario.

Expertise

We have expertise in:

• Learners’ rights and voice, focusing on how a rights-based approach and increased learner participation affects learning experiences.

• Critical perspectives on teacher knowledge, identity and practice, which considers teacher knowledge and examines education practice, policy and change and their impact on professional development.

• Narrative, biographical and participatory research methodologies.

Our research includes projects with:

• UNICEF UK
• Save the Children Norway
• The Cambridge primary review trust
• The Trust for Developing Communities

Read more about our education research.

Andy HobsonProfessor of Teacher Learning and Development and Head of the Education Research Centre.

Collaborations

As the fifth largest provider of initial teacher education in the UK, the University of Brighton is part of school-led Initial Teacher Education Partnerships (ITE) that ensure trainee teachers receive the best possible support and education.

We work closely with 600 schools and colleges in the South East region.

Besides collaborating in ITE partnerships, we also work with schools involved in the School Direct programme, and are leading the consortium of universities and schools involved in Troops to Teachers.

Evaluation and action research 

Get support from experienced teachers and researchers informed by the latest thinking and research in learning and teaching.

Action research to support school improvement plans

Work with us to devise an action-based research project to address a specific problem within your school or make changes to support your school improvement plan. We can help you devise a whole-school project, or work with an individual member of your team to address a subject-specific challenge.

Programme monitoring and evaluation 

An important part of what we do is conducting and applying research in learning and teaching. We evaluate existing education and training policies and practices and recommend changes and improvements or develop new policies or programmes to support the required changes.

Our researchers and our teaching staff work with local authorities, schools and colleges, early years and youth organisations, community, voluntary and private sector companies and international NGOs.

Bespoke training

Our knowledge and research span all phases of learning and development, from early years through to adult education. Local authorities, schools and colleges, early years and youth organisations, community, voluntary and private sector companies and national education departments have all drawn on our expertise to:

• develop training programmes or educational materials for clients
• design training to support the professional development of staff
• accredit existing educational programmes or develop new ones.

Develop your course in partnership with our academics

We believe that to develop successful and sustainable professional development or training programmes for organisations we need to work in partnership.

We will work closely with you to understand your learning outcomes and how your training will be delivered. We can then work with your team to develop the curriculum and the necessary course materials. Our staff can then deliver training, assessment and quality assurance as required.

Make your training count towards further qualifications

If you want you courses to count towards higher education qualifications, we can validate the level of your training, or develop a course to the required standards. 
Knowing that courses can count towards a degree or a postgraduate certificate can by highly motivating to your staff or clients.

Develop your staff to lead your training

We can identify staff within your organisation who are qualified, or could become qualified, to deliver parts of your training programme. By building your in-house knowledge and skills your programme can become far more cost-effective.

Workforce development for schools

Whether you need a one-off workshop or a long-term professional development programme for your staff, we have the knowledge to help you. We have many years’ experience in work-based learning, adapting our postgraduate professional development framework and developing bespoke workshops and training programmes for schools, both in the UK and abroad.

Built around your school’s needs

Our workshops, courses or bespoke training can:

• focus on your school improvement plan
• enhance subject-specific knowledge and skills of your teachers
• develop the skills of your teaching support staff
• build the management and leadership expertise in your school
• support an action research project.

Work-based learning for support staff

We have designed a range of courses with your support staff in mind. Our programme of undergraduate work-based learning degrees offer staff the opportunity to gain professional qualifications while continuing to work full-time.

See our range of work-based learning courses.

Professional development for teachers

Our postgraduate professional development framework is available to individual teachers and offers the opportunity to study a range of general or specialist modules part-time.

Many of the postgraduate modules may also be suitable for your whole teaching team. We can deliver these as stand-alone training, which your teachers can in turn count towards official postgraduate qualifications.

See our range of CPD courses for teachers and education professionals.

Developing training in partnership 

We believe that the way to develop successful and sustainable professional development programmes for schools is to work as partners.

We will work with you to assess your needs, then advise you on the content and structure of the programme and develop the necessary course materials. 
We can also identify staff within your school who are qualified, or could become qualified, to deliver parts of the programme.

This can make your professional development programme far more sustainable and cost-effective in the long term.

We offer award bearing programmes and short courses for teachers and learning support staff, as well as bespoke pathways for schools.

Expertise

We have expertise in:

• Media, media technologies and communications

• Arts practices and performance

• Humanities including history, culture and identity

• Design history, visual and material culture

We offer consultancy through our Creativity Centre which undertakes research into aspects of creativity and its effective practice and application. 

Through the centre, you can work with us through creativity related events, our creativity fellowship scheme and sponsored creative projects.

Read more about our arts and humanities research.

Professor Catherine Moriarty 

Curatorial Director of the University of Brighton Design Archives.

Collaborations

We were a key partner in the Brighton Fuse project, a two-year research and development project which mapped, measured and assisted Brighton’s creative, digital and information technologies cluster.

The project supported mutually beneficial connections between higher education, those engaged in the creation of arts and culture and Brighton’s digital technology sector.

Creativity Centre at the University of Brighton.