Supported by a grant of £4.7m from the UKSPF, In-TUNE is a regional collaborative project in partnership with four North East Universities (Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, and Sunderland) and CPI. Led by Durham University, the In-TUNE project comprises two successful programmes (Northern Accelerator and Arrow) to deliver strategic innovation support services across the North of Tyne and County Durham areas.
The support aims to encourage the creation of new spinouts, and to assist high growth businesses to access specialist facilities and expertise to support innovation, growth and new product development. In-TUNE is also testing and developing a collaborative model that could position the project partners to secure further investment in commercialisation and innovation in future.
In May 2024, New Skills Consulting (NSC) was commissioned by Durham University to undertake an independent evaluation of the In-TUNE Project. The evaluation includes three phases: an initial summary report, which was published in September 2024; the interim evaluation report; and a final summative assessment report, to be published at programme completion.
The interim evaluation report provides an independent assessment of In-TUNE performance and effectiveness from September 2023 when project delivery began, up to March 2025. This document summarises the findings of the NSC interim evaluation report.
Connecting SMEs with technical and academic expertise in universities and the wider research base can help them to develop and commercialise new and improved products and processes, resulting in increased sales, productivity, business growth and employment. In turn, this can have a positive impact on generating wealth in the local economy.
In delivering strategic innovation support services across the North of Tyne and County Durham areas, In-TUNE aims to facilitate the creation of new spinouts, and to assist high growth businesses to access specialist facilities and expertise to support innovation, growth and new product development. The anticipated impacts and benefits of the support include:
In-TUNE is supported by a total grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) of £4,748,881, of which £2,748,881 (58%) was awarded by the North of Tyne Combined Authority (NTCA) to deliver innovation support and commercialisation services in the NTCA area, with a further £2,000,000 (42%) awarded by Durham County Council to deliver innovation support and commercialisation activities across the County. This was matched against £327,670 provided by Durham, Newcastle, and Northumbria universities, giving total project funding of £5,076,551.
In-TUNE is a regional collaborative project led by Durham University in partnership with Newcastle, Northumbria and Sunderland Universities and CPI.
In-TUNE delivers targeted innovation and commercialisation support across the North of Tyne and County Durham areas to support business productivity, innovation and spin-out formation. Delivery of support is via two existing, successful University-led innovation programmes - Northern Accelerator and Arrow. Delivering the support via the collaborative mechanism of In-TUNE widens the delivery partnership and geography for Arrow, which has previously only been delivered by Newcastle University, and creates new opportunities for more wide-ranging collaboration between the university partners.
Northern Accelerator
A wide-ranging research commercialisation initiative established in 2016 and funded via different sources, including UKSPF, ERDF and Research England CCF. Focusing on enhanced spin-out support for technology-based businesses from regional universities, the established partnership between Durham, Newcastle, and Northumbria Universities has been expanded within In-TUNE to include CPI. In addition, the current CCF funded programme includes Teesside and York Universities in the partnership and is delivering activity complementary to the UKSPF-funded In-TUNE programme.
Support available via Northern Accelerator includes a training programme for academics (Future Founders); Proof of concept funding providing up to £50k to help academics move from project concept along the journey to commercialisation; Executives into business programme which straddles pre and post incorporation and pairs potential founding academics with experienced entrepreneurs; and Growth support grants of up to £50k to support spin outs to grow.
Arrow
Building on successful project delivery at Newcastle University, Arrow has been expanded to include Durham, Northumbria, and Sunderland Universities.
Arrow aims to simplify the process for SMEs and large businesses to engage with the Universities and increase business engagement with research and innovation activities, to support the development and commercialisation of new and improved products and services. Arrow uses Business Development Managers to engage businesses, and Innovation Associates to work directly with SMEs, taking the lead on project delivery, and bringing in academic and research expertise as required at relevant stages of the project.
Over its lifetime, In-TUNE aims to deliver non-financial support to 121 businesses, support 75 potential entrepreneurs, and deliver financial support to 24 businesses in the form of grants. There are output and outcome targets for each funding partner as follows:
Between September 2023 (the project start date) and March 2025 (the date of the final claim), In-Tune defrayed expenditure totalling £5.076m, which equates to 100% of total project funding.
There was strong demand for support from businesses in the North of Tyne area, while demand in County Durham was lower than expected. In the final months of project delivery partners dedicated more resource to engaging businesses in County Durham.
Despite the delayed start to project delivery, good progress has been made towards the achievement of all three output targets, particularly in the North of Tyne Combined Authority area.
Due to the nature of the project and the support provided, the majority of outcomes (i.e. jobs created; new to market products; firms adopting new to firm technologies or processes; businesses adopting new or improved products or services; and number of early-stage firms which increase their revenue following support) will be achieved several months after the end of project delivery.
In-TUNE is effectively engaging beneficiaries from across its target sectors and geographic areas. Universities in particular have been effective at raising awareness of the support, although promotional activity has been constrained to a certain extent by a lack of marketing resources.
The knowledge and expertise of the staff delivering the support is key to the appeal of both Arrow and Northern Accelerator, alongside the opportunity to access additional skills and capacity to undertake innovation and commercialisation projects. Another important factor for beneficiaries of both programmes is that the support is free, which can help to significantly de-risk the innovation or commercialisation activity.
Beneficiary ratings of the support from both Arrow and Northern Accelerator are positive. In particular, beneficiaries value the expertise and knowledge of the university staff supporting them, the quality of the support delivered, and its relevance to their needs.
Overall, the feedback indicates that In-TUNE is an effective project, with a collaborative approach that results in positive impacts for beneficiaries, the university partners, and the regional economy. However, there is also recognition that the project presents some management and governance challenges for the universities, and there is scope to simplify and streamline the structure to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
Feedback indicates that both Arrow and Northern Accelerator are having a positive impact on both the beneficiaries supported and on business indicators. While it is still too early in the process for the full impacts of the support to be realised, 63% of businesses said they expect turnover to increase in the next 1 to 3 years, and 52% expect to create new jobs over the same period.
Beneficiaries also report other impacts and benefits arising from the support, including increased skills and knowledge, the development of new products and services, and an improved understanding of their market opportunities. There is also evidence that the support is helping to increase the innovation capability of businesses, and is catalysing further investment in innovation activity.
In addition to the impact on beneficiaries, evaluation evidence indicates that In-TUNE is delivering wider strategic added value for the university partners. This includes strengthened collaboration between the North East universities, an increase in their socio-economic impact on the region, and more effective engagement with businesses.
In his role as Head of Technology and Innovation at Sterling Pharma Solutions, Mark Muldowney is responsible for exploring promising, in-demand technologies in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. In this capacity, he has worked in partnership with some of the local North East universities on various projects. It was while he was taking part in a KTP programme at Northumbria university that Mark was made aware of Arrow, which was a good fit for a project he and his colleagues were working on. Their project involved determining if novel enzymes can be gained from a bio-waste treatment facility, converting the enzymes into renewable fuel and research into other uses for the bio-waste.
Commenting on this Mark said: “The idea had come out of discussions we were having with the universities, including Newcastle and Durham and we thought a joint approach to the project would be beneficial to all involved. The funding from Arrow is unique in that it supports an idea at the earliest of stages. Access to this type of support is usually a barrier to innovation for companies.”
Via Arrow, the company was able to work directly with an academic at the forefront of the subject matter, as well as a researcher who had access to specialist equipment. This led to the confirmation of the IP of the project and further tests being carried out, the results of which will be shared in early 2025.
Reflecting on the impact of the Arrow support, Mark said: “Now that the IP is there it produces a potential starting point to deliver a new product to the market. We needed access to knowledge, skills and technology that was not available within the company to allow us to take our idea further and this is what the Arrow project has delivered. Because of the position we are in, and the work that we do, we have good access to the universities. Our work is mutually beneficial to all involved. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.”
The evaluation research to date has identified a small number of key lessons and recommendations which the university partners may wish to consider during the future delivery of In-TUNE.
/prod01/prodbucket01/media/durham-university/research-/73895-2-1920X290.jpg)