Support and resources

The Business Development Office (BDO) provides support and advice across the University to enable knowledge exchange activities and engagement with employers and businesses – see who we are and how to contact us in Our Team.

We also provide intensive support and investment in business ideas to generate commercial revenue, for example, business enterprise projects, proof of concept and commercialisation projects and marketing initiatives, through the application of the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF). Talk to us about the current priorities for this money.

There is access to a wealth of information below, which we have split into:

Support - overview and key topics

Workshops and events

We run training events and other activities to support skills development in your teams. We can also coach or mentor you or members of your team on an individual basis. Please contact Our Team to explore the best way to address a particular concern. Examples of topics we can cover include:

An introduction to Intellectual Property
Responding to tenders – writing an effective KE bid
Commercialisation – a guide for researchers
Consultancy – a different mindset? What to consider in developing new business.

KE – an overview of policies and practice

Policies for specific KE activities - There are different policies and procedures relating to the different types of knowledge exchange. This section provides links to the relevant Quick Guides which contain the policies and guidance to setting up projects within each.
General University policies - these include the range of policies and forms you are likely to need in setting up and delivering a KE project; they are in the Resources section below under Policies and Forms

Tenders and proposals

Tenders are a way for organisations to seek bids for different forms of KE including consultancy, CPD and contract research. Alternatively, a client may ask you to prepare a proposal setting out your approach to meeting their particular requirements including costings. In either case you will need to follow the University approval process.
There are a range of tender websites including many which collate and distribute tender notifications on behalf of different organisations. Some of these have open access and others require a subscription. The Business Development Office (BDO) manage the institutional subscriptions on behalf of faculties so please contact us if you wish to know who has access in your faculty, or if you want to find out more about tender opportunities.
Tender scanning is routinely carried out by the KE Centres looking for tenders of specific interest to them or their faculty more generally. In addition, the BDO scans for opportunities more generally. Please let us know if there are particular areas you would be interested in.
If you are interested in responding to a tender then do look through the relevant checklist of what to consider.
Our Team is able to provide advice and support, and may also be able to fund an external bid writer for more significant bids.
There is more information about tenders and approvals in the Resources section below

Costing and pricing your project

The University has a costing tool which enables you to calculate a full economic cost for your project. Please note that this can be different to the price you charge your client.
The University costing tool is currently Worktribe and there is detailed information and advice available about how to use the Worktribe tool. The approach to using pFACT will depend on the type of project you are considering.
The price you will charge for the project will depend on a financial appraisal. Factors to consider include full economic cost of staff time, and other project related costs, level of overheads, market conditions, entry into new markets, and fit with Faculty/Directorate KE plans. Advice and support on market research, price and business development is available through the Business Development Office
The decision about the final charge for any specific project is an important part of the approval process, and will be taken by the Dean/Director in agreement with the Head of Faculty Finance or central Finance teams.

VAT

The question of whether VAT can be charged is complex and will depend on the type of work being carried out and the client. High level guidance is provided in the relevant Quick Guides available in the hub pages for Consultancy, CPD and short courses, contract research, commercialisation of research, and KTP, but for more complex cases please do use the Brookes VAT advice service currently through KPMG

Oxford Brookes Enterprises Limited or Oxford Brookes University

As Oxford Brookes University is a charity there are some restrictions on the type of work that it can carry out, and often the delivery body will be Oxford Brookes Enterprises Ltd (OBEL). Please seek advice from Our Team if this is not clear for your project.

Resourcing your project

The Consultancy, CPD & Training Policy describes a number of approaches to resourcing the delivery of a KE project. The expectation is that the where possible KE projects will be delivered by staff for whom this forms part of their job role, or where there is allocated time within their workload plan. The policy sets out the options for staff including delivering projects outside of their workload plan and for additional payments.
Where this is not possible there are two additional possibilities:
- Use of associates - further information about the recruitment or employment of associate researchers to carry out knowledge exchange work is provided here .
- You may need to employ external consultants who bring specialist knowledge and additional resource (see use of external consultants below).

Use of external consultants

Use of external consultants - please see the procurement policy for procuring external consultants to carry out project work including approval levels depending on the size of the contract.
Further information about contracting arrangements and approval procedures are provided here

Legal advice and support

You will need to form a contractual relationship with your client. This may mean Brookes proposing a legal contract, or needing to negotiate and agree a contract proposed by the client. If you are responding to a tender, you will need to have the proposed terms and conditions checked before you submit your tender to ensure they are acceptable to the University.
Whichever approach is appropriate you will need to access legal advice and support so please do so as early as possible. There are two routes: RBDO Contracts Manager or Legal Services. Details of what areas are covered by the RBDO Contracts Manager are provided here; please do ask if you are not sure.
If your project requires support through Legal Services you will need to complete a Work Instruction Form. Please contact the Compliance Support Officer if you have any queries (legalservices@brookes.ac.uk)

Marketing

Six Steps to Marketing Success for your KE Offer

Know your potential customer - think specifically about the kind of clients or partners you are looking to work with including the relevant sector(s), organisational size and maturity, profile and location
Understand how best to contact them - will they be searching for specific terms online, or at networking events? Or will they look for information on the University website?
Be clear on your offer - have a simple ‘elevator pitch’ that communicates your offer
Explain the benefits - know the outcomes and benefits for the organisation you are talking to.
Remember the Call to Action – once they’re aware of your offer, what do they do next? Email for more info or to discuss a bespoke training course, for example.
Capture and record your success – producing case studies are a great way to hook new clients.

Your Faculty Marketing Co-ordinator may be able to advise you on how best to market your offer or contact Our Team for further advice.

Research Impact

Delivery of knowledge exchange activity can be an important element of wider research impact.
Wider impact is defined as an effect on, change to or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment, or quality of life, beyond academia. For example, awareness, perceptions, practices, rights or interests of individuals, organisations, or communities have been advanced and positively influence as a result of their interaction with your research through various knowledge exchange, engagement, or impact activities.
Further information including access to support is available here .

Resources - policies and useful information

Brookes Policies, Processes and Forms

Approval processes

Information about the approval processes are provided as follows:

Useful tender information

There are two delivery vehicles for consultancy and CPD. They are Oxford Brooks University and Oxford Brookes Enterprises Limited.
VAT numbers: you need to be careful to quote the right VAT number for each proposal as Oxford Brookes University and Oxford Brookes Enterprises Ltd have separate VAT numbers.
Oxford Brookes University has exempt charitable status. The University’s VAT number is 685 4145 14GB.
The University also has a principal operating company called Oxford Brookes Enterprises Limited. OBEL is registered in England and Wales under company number 2299189 and its VAT number is 490 9430 29GB.
See the advice provided about the appropriate delivery body for consultancy, accredited and non-accredited CPD.