Keele University’s new Vice-Chancellor has outlined his ambitions for developing the institution’s links with local businesses and expanding its Science and Innovation Park.
In an interview with Daily Focus, Kevin Shakesheff described Keele’s innovation district as having the potential to be ‘internationally significant’ and said he would like to double it in size and attract more companies to the campus.
Professor Shakesheff joined Keele on 1 September following the retirement of Professor Trevor McMillan OBE who spent a decade in the role.
He has brought with him a strong background as a leader in both research and industry, with 35 years’ experience of working in universities and business.
Starting his career as a pharmacist, he went on to become Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham and joined Keele from the Open University. There, he was the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, leading the university’s institutional plans for research, commercial activities, and scholarship.
Professor Shakesheff has also held prestigious industry and national appointments including founder of regenerative medicine company Locate Bio and former director of the science incubator company BioCity.
He said: “It is important that Keele stands out and I want the university to be known worldwide for taking a unique approach.
“The nature of the businesses we have here gives huge potential for the future and I really want to grow our innovation district. I was struck by it as soon as I came onto the campus. The whole business park is pretty remarkable; not many campuses have that scale of businesses onsite. We have a lot of space to expand as well.
“I’d love for it to double in size. There is definitely a lot of interest in it. It has the potential to be internationally significant.”
Over 60 businesses are based on Keele University Science and Innovation Park (KUSIP), with 1,200 high quality jobs, with significant clusters including life sciences and medtech, advanced digital, financial technologies, advanced materials and energy and environment, inclusive of both indigenous high-growth businesses and global organisations.
Keele University works with a number of companies on various collaboration and the recent Breaking the Mould Awards highlighted some of the success stories to come from businesses accessing support programmes available from the University.
Professor Shakesheff said he would like the University to forge links with more companies.
He added: “One of the key things for any university is the ability to demonstrate to students that they are getting relevant training to set them up for an exciting career. It is an expectation that you will have placements during your degree and there is nothing better than having companies on site to help with that.”
In September, Keele University opened a campus in Greece, reflecting its commitment to delivering education beyond the UK and creating further opportunities for students.
Professor Shakesheff said the University is working on a small number of other high-quality collaborations and has links with a Chinese university which has its own business park which could become a partner with Keele’s, providing benefits for businesses.
