Growing a Live partnership Open for business cont.

those strong relationships and create more.

“I believe we are already a businessfocused university,” says Lucy. “But we are not the type of institution to sit on our laurels. We are dynamic, enterprising and have a real desire to play a leading role in improving public, civic, corporate and cultural life within the region and beyond.

and connected way.”

Live Theatre is one of the UK’s leading new writing theatres and its professional productions have travelled from Newcastle to Broadway. It stages work by established playwrights such as Lee Hall, supports the development of new and emerging writers and also presents work created by pupils from local schools. Alongside this, the company boasts an award-winning pub, an online playwriting course and The Schoolhouse – an office space for creative businesses – all of which help to support the company’s artistic work.

Northumbria University News talks to Chief Executive, Jim Beirne, about the organisation’s ongoing partnership with Northumbria. “Partnership working is the irrigation throughout the city that brings people together and makes more of what you have,” he says.

Jim Beirne is a big ambassador for collaboration, which is perhaps why both Northumbria University and Live Theatre have forged a way of working that transcends the arts.

This partnership, as with the collaboration with New Writing North, creates conversations not only within Northumbria’s Arts department, but also through health, business and architecture. And it’s still growing.

Jim explained: “Live Theatre is a diverse organisation, with social enterprises, education and community work underpinning its professional programme of theatre productions. This mirrors the diversity of Northumbria which develops expertise across a number of different disciplines. We have a shared aim in terms of training and developing people, so bringing this together was bound to ignite endless possibilities for both organisations.”

Performing arts was a natural springboard for this diverse activity. The partnership evolved organically over a number of years, before its official launch in 2013. Northumbria’s Director of Performing Arts, Steve Gilroy, is also an Associate Director of Live Theatre. In addition, a number of Live Theatre’s artistic team, including Artistic Director and Northumbria alumnus, Max Roberts, have delivered guest lectures at the University. These informal collaborations have created many opportunities for Northumbria’s Performing Arts and Drama students, who have performed in front of Live Theatre’s professional directors and seen their scriptwriting work championed by Live Theatre’s literary team. This has even resulted in one student having her work submitted by Live Theatre for the BBC Writer in Residence scheme.

Case Study: Wet House

have a combined turnover of £54 million.

Lucy Winskell, Pro Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for Business and Engagement activity, joined Northumbria in 2010 to lead this area of activity. She admits she was surprised at how extensive the University’s external focus was when she arrived and was excited at the opportunity to build on some of

“It is really important that we are fleet of foot; that we react quickly and positively to the changing environment around us. A very obvious example is how we work with the North East LEP and how Northumbria’s strengths and expertise can support the strategic economic plan.

“Although we have worked with many businesses in many innovative ways over the years, we are now approaching our partnership working in a much more strategic

Highlighting how the University develops relationships with businesses and organisations, Lucy explains: “It’s important that it is a partnership and we bring value to our partners, and in turn they bring value to the University and the student experience. We want partnerships that will impact on our learning, teaching and research activity, as well as our international aspirations. Working with business ensures our programmes are up-todate and relevant to business needs.”

The University is also mindful of its role in promoting and sustaining economic, cultural and social wellbeing in the region.

“The formation of some of our cultural partnerships was particularly important at a time when the cultural sector had challenges around funding,” Lucy added.

“We have worked hard to see how we can support some of the organisations which make the North East a fantastic place in which to live, work and learn because a creative city is a successful city.”

Lucy strongly believes that for the partnerships to work effectively there needs to be a match of aspiration and ambition between both organisations.

“I can’t stress how important the culture of the organisation is to ensure we can work together effectively to bring mutual and tangible benefits,” she says.

“I can say with absolute confidence that one of the best things about my role is the great relationships we have developed with our partners, a small number of whom are highlighted within this newspaper.

“The real challenge for us is the number of opportunities there are to work with businesses. We have to think incredibly carefully about how we can prioritise and keep our focus on the activity that has the most impact.

“When you are close to a project it is sometimes easy to miss the impact it has had. Reviewing some of our recent work in this supplement reminds me of the phrase: ‘the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts.’

“This is never more apparent than when you see what is achieved when we work in partnership.”

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If you are interested in seeing how working with Northumbria University can bring benefits to your business visit northumbria.ac.uk/business