We bring together skilled students and leading academics with your specific business/organisational needs to shape impactful research projects.

How we can help you

• Link you with leading research academics to discuss your research needs and ideas
• Explore opportunities to co-fund or commission research
• Build a long term relationship with UoB that meets your organisation’s strategic needs

Current and recent activity

Reputational Risk in an Uncertain World Event, 6 September 2023

This collaborative event focused on reputational risk and the challenges faced by organisations as they seek to become more resilient to threats in volatile and uncertain environments. It sought to bring together individuals in relevant job roles including corporate governance, people management, marketing and public relations alongside University of Bristol Business School academics who are experts in responsible business, strategy, human resource management, corporate governance, and branding. Over 60% of delegates were from external organisations and the event aimed to promote discussion on the key issues and challenges, such as the need to develop robust governance and decision-making strategies. 

A short introductory presentation was followed by a rountable/panel discussion which featured experts from business and academia including Professor Veronica Hope Hailey, Dean of the Business School. For full details including other panellists, please follow the above link to the Blog article.

Sustainability Strategies in Organisations Workshop, 20 April 2023

This half day co-collaborative workshop, hosted by Burges Salmon, sought to bring together individuals from different types of organisations with University of Bristol academics. It focused on how sustainability should be an integral part of any organisational strategy and aimed to provide an opportunity for participants to learn from each other and promote discussion on the key issues and challenges. It highlighted the value that academic research can bring to organisations in this area and made available seedcorn funding to promote co-collaborative scoping research projects emanating from the event.

Similar to the successful Fintech event in January, this workshop began with a short plenary session and was followed by a panel discussion and break-out groups. The main areas of the panel discussion and group activities were Corporate Accountability, Impacts of EU Laws and Mandates, Just Transition to Sustainability, Tools and Technologies for Achieving Sustainability.

We were again able to leverage Seedcorn furnding from the University of Bristol Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) allocation. Two projects were funded – one was a proof of principal collaboration with the Department of Engineering and the other was on strengthening due diligence through supplier sustainability risk profiling.

Fintech for the Good of Society Collaborative Workshop, 11 January 2023

On 11 January, the University of Bristol held an in-person FinTech for the Good of Society Knowledge Exchange Workshop in collaboration with FinTech West. This half-day workshop brought together experienced academics and social scientists with FinTech companies, stakeholders, and end-users of such technologies. A key aim was to facilitate knowledge exchange and identify future opportunities for coproduction and collaboration on the challenges of FinTech for the good of society.

The event featured an interactive roundtable panel discussion with experts from academia and Fintech companies, followed by a group activity. Thanks to £20K of Seedcorn funding secured via the University’s Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) allocation, two projects were completed. Two projects were funded – one on how fintech can help reduce harm from gambling in Britain and the other on the development of a KTP proposal. 

Lloyds Lunchtime Seminars

Since December 2020 the PLN has been working with Lloyds Banking Group matching University of Bristol academics with various themes, to present a series of ‘lunch and learns’ on subjects of interest to Lloyds finance staff. These virtual talk sessions are about an hour’s duration and include a presentation followed by Q&A’s. To date, a wide variety of areas have been included including:

• Future of work
• Data ethics
• Visual analytics
• Extreme economics

Some upcoming planned sessions for 2023 will cover areas such as volunteering/community, skills and learning, sustainability, growth mindsets, inclusion and diversity.

On Tuesday 11 July, Professor Stuart Cooper delivered a presentation on ‘Development and Debates in Corporate Sustainability Reporting’. This talk focused on the role of "materiality" as organisations identify and assess the key materiality issues they need to address and report upon. It looked at the implications of the different approaches to materiality (i.e. impact, financial and double) being suggested by standard setters and the challenges these present for organisations. Stuart Cooper is Professor of Accounting at the University of Bristol Business School, and the joint lead of the Accountability, Sustainability and Governance research group."

On Friday 17 May, Dr Nikhil Sapre delivered a presentation on ‘Changing Skills in Finance’. This talk focused on the skills gap in the UK, use of technology in banking and financial services and the fast-evolving FinTech sector. It covered the state of financial exclusion in the UK and the role of banks and technology in addressing the issue. Relevant learning opportunities at the University of Bristol were also discussed. Nikhil Sapre is a lecturer in Finance at the University of Bristol Business School, and the programme director of MSc Financial Technology.

On Monday 20 March, Dr Karina Pavlisa delivered a presentation entitled ‘Career Strategy: Building your capitals’ about an analytical lens for re-thinking the approach to professional workforces and helping professionals navigate sustainable careers. This talk was set against the backdrop of the changing nature of work. It looked at how employees should empower their own development and build a portfolio of skills and how for knowledge-intensive firms, human capital embodied in a professional workforce is the key to organizational resource. Dr Karina Pavlisa is Lecturer in International Business Management, School of Management, in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law at the University of Bristol.

Upcoming events

Our next event will take place early Spring 2024. Further information will be available in the New Year.