HELO (Higher Education London Outreach)
WHAT IS HELO?
The HELO (Higher Education London Outreach) project is a new initiative led by UCL in partnership with MegaNexus Ltd. and supported by London Business School, among others.
WHO IS IT FOR?
The project is part financed by the GLA’s ERDF Programme 2007-13, securing £647,849 European Union funding and designed by UCL and Meganexus. HELO helps to bridge the gap between small and medium-sized businesses (SME’s) and Higher Education Institutes by transferring expertise, research and knowledge possessed by UCL to London enterprises.
THE BENEFITS OF HELO
Many local businesses in London face difficulties in accessing the vast resources universities have to offer. HELO will help to facilitate a collaboration between world-class research institutions and London’s SME’s. Through the use of academics, students and institutional resources HELO programme helps the communities in which it operates to prosper.
HELO can offer the following support:
- Environmental and green projects
- Technical support with cutting edge and innovative projects
- Business development and marketing support.
For more information please contact helo@ucl.ac.uk or download the HELO brochure.
CASE STUDIES
Loving Apartments - Competitor review puts Loving Apartments in a holiday mood
Online booking of holiday apartments is now the rule rather than the exception, and customers expect an uneventful journey and smooth landing when they negotiate a company’s web pages.
Read more>>
Senceive - Spinout comes ‘home’ for help with wireless sensor network enhancements
Their original military application having expanded
to include a myriad of industrial and commercial uses, wireless sensor networks
are a dynamic research area where enhancements are constantly being sought. UCL
spinout Senceive, whose product FlatMesh enables lots of
tiny sensors to be positioned discreetly over a densely-packed area, needed the
university’s expertise and equipment to test proposed developments to its
system.
Read more>>
On Site Massage Company - Corporate massage business gets a timely health check
Corporate massage has become increasingly popular over the
past decade, and Charlotte Hunter, managing director of the On Site Massage Co.,
has seen her business go from strength to strength. So, though, have her
competitors’ businesses. She approached HELO for an objective assessment of the
business, and they put together a team of four students who conducted business
analysis and drew up a list of recommendations to take the company forward.
Read more>>
Modern Screws - New-look website keeps customers fastened to the spot
A company that sells 100,000 lines of a
very small number of products to a loyal customer base needs a well-designed,
user-friendly online catalogue to showcase its wares, as well as a secure
e-shop to sell them. Modern Screws, which supplies screws, bolts and fixings to
a wide range of industries, asked HELO and UCL Advances’ internship programme
for support.
Read more>>
H2-NRG - Energy storage concept may be the answer to a greener future
Charlie Dunnill’s prototype for an energy-efficient water-splitting
device that can convert electricity into hydrogen has come a long way since he
started “tinkering in the barn.” UCL Advances helped Charlie and business
partner Kris Paasila to develop a prototype for the H2-NRG WSD, with prize
money from the London Entrepreneurs’ Challenge and other sources, as well as
with highly technical 3D CAD drawings arranged by the HELO programme.
Read more>>
Wicked Uncle - New social media strategy is child’s play for gift
Anyone who’s ever been stuck for ideas of what to buy a child for a
birthday or Christmas will find Wicked Uncle a godsend. When the online
company, which sources unusual gifts for under-12s, wanted to reach out
to a younger audience, they approached HELO, who found them a trio of
students well-versed in the uses of social media like Twitter and
Facebook.
Read more>>
Witness Confident - Interactive map will help to ensure that crime doesn’t pay
Witness Confident has set itself a tough task: reducing the level of
violent street crime in two London boroughs by a fifth before mid
decade. The charity, which encourages the public to take a stand and
bear witness, rather than turn a blind eye, needed help to develop an
interactive Google map which could see police, victims, witnesses and
the general public working together to prevent and solve crime.
Read more>>
Aerobic Bins - Weight Reduction Calculations for a Biodegradable Bin System Case
HELO’s commitment to helping small and medium sized
enterprises with the latest innovations was put to the test when a team was
asked to prove to local councils that a new system could dispose of
biodegradable household waste more effectively.
Read more>>
First Fruit - Social Enterprise Strategy Case
Across
London, thousands of small, unsung voluntary-sector organisations are quietly
working to improve the lives of the capital’s most vulnerable people. One is
FirstFruit, which manages the Natural Harvest Café in East Ham hospital,
Newham. The café provides work opportunities to people with mental health
problems, and supports a local hostel for single immigrant mothers with the
profits it generates.
Read more>>
PQ2 - Marketing Strategy Case
PQ2 Ltd, a distributor of greetings cards,
stationery and fine arts prints to retail gift shops, interior designers and
department stores including Harrods, approached HELO to inject some fresh
thinking into its sales strategy.
Read more>>
Screama - Usability Testing Case
No
company, small or large, wants to risk its reputation by launching a product
onto the marketplace without first trying it out on potential users. But for a
start-up like computer software development company Screama, based in Camden,
Central London, usability testing can be prohibitively expensive.
Read more>>
PARTNERS
HELO is delivered by UCL Advances, the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business Interaction at UCL, in partnership with London Business School and supported by Meganexus, ACCBA, Business Link, Camden Council, Capital Enterprise and Leonard Cheshire Foundation.
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