We’re very happy to once again be working with Knowledge West, a consortium of 6 universities, Business Link and candidates from Plymouth, Exeter and Bournemouth universities. This is our third year delivering expert communications coaching on a programme designed to enable senior academics to join the boards of businesses as Non-Executive Directors (NEDs).

The 2003 Lambert Review into university-business interactions highlighted the lack of academic NEDs in UK businesses, and recommended they consider recruiting academics. In this way companies gain the advice of an independent, analytical mind, while universities benefit from senior staff’s exposure to business.

VOX were originally asked to work on the course after being selected as finalists in the 2005 University of Bristol New Enterprise Competition. We’ll be looking to equip academics to hold their own in the cut and thrust of the boardroom, where cvs, deadlines – and tempers – can all be shorter than in academia.