The Consultancy Clinic provides free consultancy advice to organisations of any size who are looking to take their business in a new direction, explore new challenges and possible solutions, or require fresh eyes to help drive them forward to success.
With support from our team of experts, our postgraduate students form a ‘consultancy firm’ to provide advice, research and recommendations that are presented to you in response to your live business problem. Taking place in the penultimate semester of their Masters, students are equipped with the business knowledge to provide fresh innovative ideas, along with problem-solving skills to present organisations with possible solutions and fully justified recommendations.
The main objective of this project is to improve the employability and global talent of our future generation, capitalising on entrepreneurialism and supporting the development of our students. All whilst giving back to businesses and sectors who need consultancy advice and up-to-date research to help them grow.
We appreciate you may have some more questions about how you can get involved. We have put together a list of frequently asked questions below:
There are no financial costs for you or your business to take part in the project as students provide free advice, a final report and a presentation.
However, you are expected to invest time to work with the university and your student consultancy group in the following ways:
Please note, all businesses will be interviewed to check the suitability of the organisation and the project.
The student consultancy services are available to all types of businesses, including but not limited to:
The project lasts between 12-15 weeks, at the end of which you will be able to attend the students’ final presentation of their final report.
We aim to make the process as straightforward and efficient as possible for you whilst also ensuring there are appropriate opportunities for our students to meet with you as their client to keep the project on-track so we follow the below 4 step process:
We invite you to submit requests for consultancy projects relating to a range of subject areas. To date, students have advised on areas ranging from Strategic Operations, Human Resources and Finance to Brand Development, Digital Transformation, Cyber and Software Solutions.
Examples of projects the Consultancy Clinic have worked on so far are:
Additionally, students may also work on Computing and Cyber Security related disciplines. This can include, but is not limited to, technical projects such as:
You will receive a full consultancy experience delivered by students to a high professional standard. Students will analyse the business problem/scenario they are presented with, identifying and considering possible solutions and ideas to ensure the best possible outcome for your business. They will use up-to-date research methods and skills, exploring new directions and challenges.
You will receive a detailed client report with justified recommendations as well as a presentation at the end of the project.
Please note, most projects can be delivered via online video conferencing meetings. If required, face-to-face meetings and premises visits can take place adhering to the latest government Covid-19 policies.
Upon completion of the project, you can also opt for your company name and logo to be used within university marketing content, raising awareness of your brand and giving opportunities for students to offer their consultancy services in the future.
Our team are able to help you decide on an appropriate project as well as with putting the brief together, to ensure you receive a relevant and clearly applicable final report for your business.
There will be an average of 3-5 students working within your consultancy group and you will have the opportunity to meet one another once the brief has been agreed.
Students at Northumbria are highly motivated and enthusiastic, with a diverse, multicultural body from over 100 countries. The projects are part of their Masters degree and students have strong research and technical skills and are seeking to enhance their leadership, consultancy and employability attributes. They will be fully engaged throughout the duration of the project and will consistently involve the business when required throughout the regular touchpoint meetings.
We work closely alongside our students to ensure each client receives a professional service, with highly applicable outcomes. Hear from some of our previous clients below:
“I would like to express my sincere appreciation for this fabulous opportunity. The comprehensive presentation that they’ve submitted was excellent and all recommendations will be taken into consideration to further develop our work. We do appreciate your efforts and we are glad to be part of any future similar projects.”
Dr Hanaa Albanna, International Initiatives Manager
Global One
“The work required a complex investigation by the students and to work both strategic and operational level of the business. They developed a number of prototypes that they have identified as deliverables and these deliverables provided as the toolkit will be further developed within the organisation. The work has helped LSi to understand more about how to communicate the strategy of LSi to potential clients and investors in general. Working with the students and the University has been a very productive and useful experience that has already helped the organisation. We would like to thank the students, the University and the supervisor for their engagement, time, commitment and successful completion of a professional level of work.”
Reda Sedki
LSi
“I am very pleased with the report and the very professional and excellent presentation. If I hadn’t known that they were students, I would have thought they were consultants. When Xorlogics was expanding into Europe – specifically Brussels we had a similar report done for us of similar quality – it cost €10,000. This report is only missing one aspect and that is the process to set up a company in the UK market. However, I understand that this is quite straightforward in the UK (unlike Belgium – where the process is quite involved).”
Junaid Jalip, CEO
Xorlogics