Sales is a Dirty Word

The Future of Universities Depends on Protecting What the Markets Cannot Institutional Excellence is Essential to Preserving Universities’ Public Mission UK Universities, more than just about any other industry sector, are being asked to sustain the full breadth of their public mission using a funding model that, frankly, rewards only…

We all know that most journeys look easier on the map than they are in real life, and the Impact of Number 10 North on Universities is likely to prove no exception. York to Manchester, for instance, is a pleasingly clean line when viewed from a polite distance, the sort…

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At a recent fireside chat with Lord Jim O’Neill, the conversation ranged from transport infrastructure and regional investment to innovation, venture capital and the future of the Northern Powerhouse. Yet one question stays with me: if the North already has world-class universities, research, and talent, why is its productivity woefully…

Most adults can remember their first ever job. And let’s face it, it probably wasn’t as a lawyer, accountant or a premiership footballer – graduate employability wasn’t even a thing back then. More likely, it was stacking shelves at a supermarket, washing dishes in a pub kitchen, collecting glasses on…

For years, universities have been able to lean heavily on reputation: a strong ranking, a respected name, a beautiful campus, an even more beautiful prospectus and a basket of notable alumni stories. For many students, especially international students, the logic was simple. Choose the highest-ranked university you can realistically get…

Some of the most amazing sales stories are not really about sales at all. They are about people, pressure, timing, and the strange way a perfectly ordinary thing can suddenly become priceless when circumstances change. That is why Richard III’s famous cry from the battlefield still works as an amazing…

Imagine living in a hi-tech home where everyone owns a smartphone, yet no one can quite figure out where the light switch is. You see it in larger organisations that have invested heavily in tech, only to find themselves navigating yet more systems, dashboards, and even more logins than they…