UCL ADVANCES

We help small and medium-sized businesses in

London to solve specic business problems with
a free consultancy service that gives you access
to the specialist knowledge and intellectual
capacity of two of the worlds top universities.
Guide for Businesses
HELO
(
Higher Education London Outreach
)
A fresh view on your business
ABOUT THE HELO PROJECT
HELO (Higher Education London
Outreach) is an innovative programme
that matches up small and medium-
sized businesses (SMEs) needing to
tackle specic problems, with students
and academic staff who have specialist
knowledge and skills in relevant areas,
for short-term consultancies.
HELO is managed by UCL Advances,
the centre for entrepreneurship and
business interaction at UCL, and
supported by London Business
School. Both institutions are regarded
as leaders in their elds and are
consistently rated among the top
seven universities in the world.
What we can help you with
The projects are many and varied and
are spread over a number of industries.
They include general strategic issues
business analysis and evaluations;
market research as well as specic
technical problems building
prototypes; software testing; materials
development, among others. We also
support businesses that want to improve
their green credentials with sustainable
products or production methods.
THE BENEFITS OF WORKING
WITH US
You w||| benet rom work|ng w|th
people who have industry-relevant
knowledge across a range of sectors
and who will have developed cutting-
edge solutions to problems
facing SMEs.
You w||| deve|op t|es some
long-lasting - with talented staff,
graduates and students who will bring
new ideas and plenty of enthusiasm
to your business.
ln return, you w||| have the sat|sact|on
of knowing that you can help them
to gain valuable experience and
skills. Who knows, you may even
inspire them to become
entrepreneurs themselves.
And, moreover, our service
is free of charge.
WHAT WE HAVE DONE SO FAR
Success stories include:
Witness Condent the charity
needed help in developing an
interactive Google map which could
see police, victims, witnesses and the
public working together to prevent
and solve crime.
Aerobic Bins developed a new
biodegradable bin system which
helps to reduce weight and odour in
waster they wanted more testing
and calculations on its effectiveness.
Wicked Uncle the online childrens
gift company wanted to devise a
marketing strategy using social media
such as Facebook and Twitter to attract
younger customers and boost sales.
H2-NRG Ltd. this start-up had
developed a device to convert
electricity into hydrogen, and needed
highly technical 3D CAD drawings
and a prototype to explain their idea
to potential investors.
WHAT PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES
HAVE SAID ABOUT US
Its helped enormously to have
a fresh view of the business.
I run the business largely on my
own, and sometimes that can
get very insular. Were currently
redesigning our website and
feel condent that the teams
suggestions will make a
huge difference to our online
presence.
Charlotte Hunter, managing director
of the On Site Massage Co.
HELO organised a team of four
students to conduct a business
analysis of the company, which
is facing increased competition
from new entrants.
UCL works in partnership with London Business School and is supported by ACCBA, Business Link, Camden Council,
Capital Enterprise, Leonard Cheshire Disability Foundation and Meganexus. HELO is part-funded by the European Union.
UCL ADVANCES
ABOUT UCL
UCL (University College London) was established
in 1826 and is ranked seventh in the worlds top
universities. The university is a modern, outward-
looking institution, with more than 4,000 academic
and research staff committed to engaging with
the ma|or |ssues o our t|mes. lt has a g|oba|
reach, with 34% of its students coming from
outside the UK, from almost 140 countries.
www.ucl.ac.uk
ABOUT UCL ADVANCES
UCL Advances is the centre for entrepreneurship
and bus|ness |nteract|on at CL. lts pr|mary ro|e
is to promote a culture of entrepreneurship on
campus and engagement with entrepreneurs
and small businesses beyond UCLs boundaries.
lt works to support start-ups and sma|| bus|nesses
across London by helping them to access the
technical and business expertise of UCLs staff
and students through a series of programmes
to help support ambitious young companies.
UCL Advances is part of UCL Enterprise, the
division of UCL responsible for commercial
and business outreach activities, and works
closely with other Enterprise units including
UCL Business PLC and UCL Consultants Ltd.
www.ucl.ac.uk/advances
www.ucl.ac.uk/enterprise
If you are interested in
nding out more about
how HELO can help your
business, with further
details about how we will
work with you, please
contact us at:
Email: helo@ucl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7679 3153
Web: www.ucl.ac.uk/helo