Finalist

Female Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year Award

Mandy Parkinson

Finalist of the Female Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year Award

The University of Salford Business School - United Kingdom

"Partnering business and academia – building sustainable innovation eco-systems"


Engage on social media

@mandyparky
(Personal account for Mandy Parkinson)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandy-parkinson-64083b1a/
(Personal account for Mandy Parkinson)
@mmucfe
(Official Centre for Enterprise at Manchester Metropolitan University Twitter account)
https://www.facebook.com/MMUcfe/
(Official Facebook page for Centre for Enterprise)
https://www.linkedin.com/company/mmu-centre-for-enterprise/mycompany/
(Official Centre for Enterprise at Manchester Metropolitan University LinkedIn account (which the project sits within) )

Have a say and vote for this entry to win the People's Choice Award!


Registered vote
500 points per vote

Provide your email address and click on "vote". You will then receive an email that enables you to verify your vote by clicking on a link.

 
Social media vote
1500 points per tweet. 500 points per retweet. 250 points for a like.

Support this entry by engaging with it on Twitter. Tweet or retweet using the following two hashtags to support this entry (use both hashtags in the same Tweet). Also, if you "like" an existing Tweet with these hashtags, the entry gets points.
#ACEEU_Awards
#2023Entry754

Live voting at Awards Ceremony
7500 points per vote

Join the Awards Ceremony online and vote live for this entry. Register here and we will send you a reminder and streaming link closer to the event.

The Award Ceremony for this entry (award category "Female Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year ") will take place on 27 June 2023, 17:30 to 18:30 CEST.

Summary

My biggest achievement is growing the Centre for Enterprise (CfE) from £6million to £45million in 7 years, playing a significant role in the triple accreditation of the University.

I’ve led on the development of consortiums to deliver on the SME agenda across the sector. By establishing and leading these consortiums I’ve put businesses and the region’s economy and skills at the forefront, bringing together the best academic expertise to work to a unified purpose.

As a direct result of my leadership, we are acknowledged as experts in the development, design and delivery of multi-partner innovation and productivity to small businesses across the region. This includes lead partner status in programmes such as Centre for Digital Innovation, GM Electrochemical and Hydrogen Clusters, GM Leadership Hive, AI Foundry and Cyber Foundry.

I have a genuine interest in helping develop women’s careers. I am an Aurora (Advance HE’s women leadership initiative) Mentor. I’ve mentored early career academic and professional services colleagues, many of whom I continue to mentor long after their programme has ended. I champion opportunities for team members encouraging professional development and progression.

“Mandy has been a truly amazing mentor. Her openness and warmth enabled a strong and trusting relationship. Her insight, experience and advice was more valuable than I can put into words and she provided a 'critical friend' role at a key point in my career development. I aspire to be the kind of mentor Mandy is one day.” Cionna Evans, Project & Operations, MMU

Key People


Dr Ann Mulhaney
Deputy Director
Centre for Enterprise,  Manchester Metropolitan University



Dr Carl Diver
Director
PrintCity,  Manchester Metropolitan University



Keith Miller
Faculty Head of International and Head of Strategic Partnerships
Faculty of Science and Engineering,  Manchester Metropolitan University



Professor Rob Aspin
Sector Specialist and Technical Lead
Faculty of Science and Engineering,  Manchester Metropolitan University



Professor Rob Aspin
Sector Specialist and Technical Lead
Faculty of Science and Engineering,  Manchester Metropolitan University


Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge my consortium partners:

Dion Williams (Associate Dean Enterprise and Engagement at Lancaster University)
Professor Danny Dresner (Professor of Cyber Security, University of Manchester)
Professor Janice Allen (Dean, Salford Business School)
Dr Martyn Shaw (Director of Business Development, University of Bolton)
Professor Hannah Holmes (Dean, Manchester Metropolitan Business School)
Professor Dominic Medway (Pro-vice Chancellor, Manchester Metropolitan Business School)

Images

Mandy Parkinson at Triple E Awards 2022

Centre for Enterprise celebrating International Women's Day 2023

Mandy Parkinson at Times Higher Awards

Mandy Parkinson at GM Leadership Hive launch speaking

Northern Power Women Awards 2023 – shortlisted for Futures List 2023

Mandy Parkinson at Northern Power Women Awards 2023

Mandy Parkinson (far right) and the PrintCity team at the PrintCity Network launch in February 2022

Mandy Parkinson (fourth from left) launching the GM Leadership Hive in Manchester city centre

IMPACT STORY

Impacting lifes

I’ve been privileged to lead on a number of consortiums bringing together Manchester Met and the universities of Manchester, Lancaster, Salford and Bolton to address the research and development needs of the SME community across the North West. This has manifested itself in initiatives such as Cyber Foundry, AI Foundry, GM Leadership Hive and Centre for Digital Innovation.

The Centre for Enterprise team that I lead has successfully delivered £45 million value of projects supporting 2500 SMEs to innovate and thrive. The testimonials below better illustrate the value our work has had on the region:

“I have had the pleasure of knowing and collaborating with Mandy over many years and can attest to her outstanding leadership across many initiatives in which Lancaster has partnered. Mandy’s ability to pull together different stakeholders with often different agendas and perspective to reach consensus and fruitful, impactful collaboration is exemplary. She has an uncanny knack in leading these disparate partnerships to bring together effective teams and always with great humility, humour and grace. Our roles are often described as boundary-spanners and in my view Mandy is sector-leading in her capabilities, possessing every tool in the box.”

- Dion Williams (Associate Dean for Enterprise & Engagement (cross-institutional) Lancaster University

"Leading business is all about curiosity and confidence. Manchester Metropolitan University has helped me to grow and hone skills that I can now share with other SMEs”

- Helen Tonks, Managing Director, Hydraulics Online, attended Small Business Leadership Programme, 2020 and Help to Grow: Management, 2021

LEARNINGS

Lessons learned

I didn’t take the traditional academic career pathway. My love for supporting the SME community to survive and thrive came from working in Higher Education and the private sector over the years. There's nothing more satisfying than bringing complex, multi-partner consortiums together to address the challenges and watching everyone pull in the same direction with a single goal.
Leading consortiums is not without its challenges. My key piece of leadership advice is always to be approachable, calm, fair and supportive but also tell it like it is when the need arises. It’s essential to be a great peacemaker, finding pragmatic ways forward in difficult situations. I’ve always strived to do this with independence, clarity and a smile.
For anyone wanting to follow this pathway, I’d strongly advocate understanding both the private and academic drivers in any partnership. Fundamentally if you are authentic, take the time to listen to concerns and negotiate meaningful solutions for all, then the world is your oyster.
“Mandy’s role in delivering GM Cyber Foundry has been fundamental to its success. The programme has empowered over 135 SMEs in their digital transformation during the challenging backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic to put cyber security at the heart of business growth and strategy. Mandy’s leadership to drive the collaboration between world-leading universities has developed a model of working which demonstrates Greater Manchester as an exemplar of research and academic excellence."
- Beena Puri, GM Digital Innovation and Partnerships Lead, Greater Manchester Combined Authority

FUTURE PLANS

What's coming?

My leadership has recently led to Manchester Metropolitan University’s lead partner status in the newly announced £100m government innovation accelerator programme. I am looking forward to new challenges and my future involves a new role as Professor of Business Innovation and Enterprise at the University of Salford Business School. I will continue to deliver large scale initiatives working to bring together more and more HEIs and private sector partners to help support our region’s businesses to thrive.

I will be establishing a Centre for Sustainable Innovation at Salford Business School, leveraging the very best expertise across net zero and digital, supporting the next generation of academic and professional service female leaders to carve their own careers on the enterprise pathway. I will continue to nurture existing relationships while forging new collaborations and supporting the next generation of female leaders through.

KEY STATISTICS

£6 million

Total value of Centre for Enterprise programmes that benefit local small businesses in 2016 when the Centre first began

£45 million

Total value of Centre for Enterprise programmes that benefit local small businesses as of beginning of 2023

2500

Number of small businesses directly supported by the Centre for Enterprise across growth, innovation, and sustainability programmes

223

Number of new jobs created / safeguarded

99

Number of new products to market created

254

Number of new to firm products created

Triple E Awards

The Triple E Awards are a global recognition of efforts toward the quest for entrepreneurship and engagement in higher education. It is the first award to focus specifically on different dimensions of the universities' third mission. Implemented regionally, the Triple E Awards aim to foster change in universities and to emphasize their role in their communities and ecosystems.

Home | About the awards | Categories | Apply | Ceremony | FAQ | Contact

2024 © ACEEU. All rights reserved.