University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Northern Lights, Media Factory

Background & Context

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has been acknowledged as one of the country's most entrepreneurial and business friendly universities.

The Northern Lights Enterprise and Business Support Programme has been a pivotal part of UCLan's vision for national and international recognition as a leading University for enterprise.

The development of the Media Factory was undertaken to provide a facility with the dual purpose of helping students nurture their creative talents, whilst also providing a base where fledgling local businesses could be incubated and grow

UCLan's remit for employer, business and community engagement.

The success of this remit can be illustrated by the results of the 2010 Higher Education Business and Community Interaction Survey (HEBCIS) (which reports on the level of knowledge transfer between universities, businesses and community partners) which placed UCLan top in the North West of England and fifth in the UK for generating start-up businesses. The HEBCIS data for 2007/8 showed that UCLan supported regional regeneration projects to the tune of £6.47 million. It also indirectly contributed close to £250 million to the North West economy as a whole.

In 2010 UCLan came top in the North West and fifth in the UK for generating student start-up businesses. Out of 300 registered student start-ups in the University at the time of the HEBCIS Survey, 131 had been established in the previous year alone. A significant number were housed within the Northern Lights business incubation unit at the Media Factory.

The survey results revealed that UCLan provided over 100,000 learner days to businesses in 2009. This placed it in the top five nationally. The survey also placed the University in the top four nationally for the value of its consultancy services to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), based on the advising of 422 businesses at a value of £2.35 million.

UCLan provided £12.5 million worth of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) courses to industry in 2009 and offered £6.1 million of consultancy to 889 businesses.

Also in 2010 UCLan, working in partnership with three other universities (Northumbria University, Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Salford) was awarded a Times Higher Leadership and Management Award for Outstanding Knowledge Exchange/Transfer Initiative for an initiative called Urban Regeneration: Making a Difference.

The four partner institutions were responsible for delivering the Making a Difference initiative which involved over 200 academics in the tackling of a variety of social issues in Preston, Salford, Manchester and Newcastle.

The universities and their academics worked with 621 organisations on more than 46 projects tackling community cohesion, crime, health and encouraging enterprise. It was reported that a total of 1,265 community training days were provided by the collective with sessions covering social entrepreneurship, leadership and business skills. The initiative resulted in the creation of 81 new jobs.

What is it?

The Building

The Media Factory is a state-of-the-art development that makes a striking addition to the Preston skyline. The building houses an impressive array of specialist rooms and equipment which includes; a fully-equipped television studio, a sound stage, 3 theatres, 2 photography studios, dance/rehearsal studios, recording studios and editing suites.

Business and Community Engagement

UCLan has been quick to realise the importance of supporting students in their transition from university to industry, and the Media Factory provides support for students in the creative and digital sector with the additional benefits provided by the business incubation space on the top floor of the Media Factory.

Northern Lights

The Business Incubation Unit, known as the 'Northern Lights' Enterprise and Business Support Programme is a pivotal part of UCLan's vision to be 'recognised nationally and internationally as a leading university for enterprise'. (Source: UCLan)

The programme was launched in 2006 and aims to develop entrepreneurial graduates and, through working in partnership with other agencies, support enterprise development across the North West of England.

Northern Lights is based on the fourth floor of the Media Factory. The Northern Lights suite comprises of individual office units ranging from 19 to 55 square metres and a spacious open plan work area and provides a full-service facility for student and graduate entrepreneurs, including hot-desk, rent-a-desk and self-contained business units, as well as access to networking opportunities, specialist advisers and one-to-one mentoring. The variety of accommodation available means that different budgets of a wide range of start-up and early stage businesses can be accommodated.

The facility is accessible 24/7 and offers clients access to PCs and internet connections, the 'Northern Lights' mentoring programme and the 'Sandbox' ideas centre.

Other Facilities

The Media Factory also includes the £4.5m Centre for Employability Through the Humanities, established as a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). This was the only 'designated centre of excellence for employability in the UK's creative & digital sector' featuring its own publishing house, theatre space and art house cinema. These facilities help support 'Realistic Working Experiences' (RWEs) offering a range of opportunities to help students develop their employability skills.

What happens in the space?

A range of companies, involved in a variety of work areas, operate within the space; including in - TV, filming, eating disorder consultancy, vehicle tracking technology. The general breakdown of primary activity of the companies operating within the space is roughly 70% creative/30% other.

Staffing

The space is supported by a small Northern Lights team numbering 6 people.

The support programme and facilities available to users include:

• Access to business workspace, including 'hot-desk' and 'rent-a-desk' options
• Use of computers with broadband access
• Telephone, fax and printing facilities
• Bookable boardroom/meeting room
• One-to-one business mentoring and group learning sessions
• Networking events and opportunities
• Business competitions
• Enterprise and Business Skills workshops
• Awards and recognition

Workshops

A range of workshops run throughout the year to help entrepreneurs develop their business skills through the "Managing Your Business" series of events which includes topics such as:

• Business Foundations
• Tax and Insurance
• Finance and book keeping
• Intellectual Property
• Legal issues
• Marketing
• PR, networking skills and sales training
• Clients on the programme can also tap into the Enterprise workshops which look at developing the individual and personal skills of would-be entrepreneurs.

Mentoring

A team of in-house mentors and support from a wide range of private sector partners provide support through 1-2-1 mentoring, action learning sets and specialist advice clinics. Expertise within the team covers a wide range of areas including:

• Risk management
• Strategy
• Continuous improvement
• Coaching and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
• Process analysis and design
• Presentation skills
• Confidence building

Networking

The team at Northern Lights recognises that establishing and developing businesses can be quite a lonely experience and, in order to combat this there are regular networking events organised in the space at the Media Factory which give entrepreneurs the opportunity to both meet and share ideas with other entrepreneurs and also to meet with potential new clients, suppliers or collaborators.

There are also social activities, for instance mulled wine and mince pies at Christmas and cake and coffee events. Peter Rawling, Business Incubation Manager, reports that generally there's enough going on in the space to encourage contact with others so there isn't the need to push too much to socialise, it tends to happen organically.

A Boardroom is available to clients at no extra cost. It tends to be very busy. There is currently a good spread of use across companies. There are also meeting facilities available in the open-plan space. Noise can be an issue in the open-plan space at times.

Further details

Peter Rawling
Business Incubation Manager
Northern Lights Team
Media Factory, 4th Floor Business Incubation Space
Knowledge Transfer
University of Central Lancashire
Preston, PR1 2HE

Telephone 01772 895950
Email northernlights@uclan.ac.uk

Further details on the space

Film of official opening

Media Factory vodcast

The Media Factory Virtual Tour (see from 4 minutes 42 seconds for overview of the Northern Lights). Produced in-house by Media Technician Marcus McNulty (graduate in Film and Media at UCLan) - music provided by Verbal Vigilante, a business located at Northern Lights.

Northern Lights Client Directory

Northern Lights has the following business national and regional affiliations:

UKBI - The professional body for the UK Business Incubation Industry.

NWIN - The North West Innovation Network, representing all organisations hosting and supporting business innovation in the North West of England.