Use your skills on client-led projects
Put your learning to work and provide consultancy and business solutions to local organisations
If you're joining the University as a business student, you can apply for an optional Business Consultancy module during your course – where you'll work for a client on a real brief.
You'll work in a team with 3-4 other students to bid for a business project from a local organisation. Your team will then work on this project with the organisation.
You'll liaise with your clients and get to work off-campus, getting valuable experience of working with key stakeholders and conducting tasks such as customer surveys and interviews.
By taking part in a Business Consultancy Project, you'll develop employability skills such as teamwork, project management and consultancy. You'll also learn to practically apply many of the business concepts you've studied during your degree and draw on the University's expertise in research.
Experience you'll get
Your project might include tasks such as:
- Using marketing theory to develop social media strategies
- Conducting competitor analysis to highlight gaps and opportunities in a business
- Drafting a sustainable business plan based on your research
- Conducting staff interviews to optimise internal business processes
- Evaluating customer feedback to generate solutions
Employability skills you'll develop
During the project you'll develop skills that will increase your employability by:
- Working as a team in a changing, uncertain and cross-cultural environment
- Practising your communication and conflict management skills
- Building relationships with a client and other stakeholders
- Using creative problem-solving and project management methods
- Successfully developing and managing a consultancy project
- Critically applying business and management concepts to your client's situation
- Developing sustainable recommendations (based on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals) with an outline implementation plan
Examples of past projects
You'll work with small-to-medium sized organisations. These could be from the private, public or third sector (such as charities, not-for-profits and community organisations).
Organisations that students have previously worked with include the following:
Past projects
Developing options for Santander for better use of their banking halls for community financial education.
Creating a strategy for Inovolt, a local facilities management firm, to improve marketing, including changes to key messages and their social media platforms.
Helping a startup, the Instant Kitchen Company, to find ways to grow their customer base, with a plan for new product offerings.
Recommending improvements to mental health services offered by Solent Recovery College, focusing on how an app can meet customer needs and potentially scale up nationally.
Proposing new sustainable funding routes for Express FM, one of the UK’s most innovative local radio stations.
How does the Business Consultancy Project work?
After your introduction to the business, your client will introduce you to their key staff and stakeholders, and provide direction and guidance. But for most of your time you'll work as part of an independent team, managing your own priorities to achieve the project aims.
We encourage a sense of experimentation and innovation, and you'll learn key skills in seminars, workshops and lectures with support from your seminar tutor.
You’ll give your client regular updates on the project, and get feedback from them, other students and staff. You'll submit individual assessments and finish the project with a group presentation and written report. Clients won't mark or assess this presentation or report – but your work will be formally assessed by your academic tutors.
At the end of your project, you'll be invited to a celebratory event where you can network with representatives from the organisations who have participated with BCP and those who want to in the future.
Read Charles' storyI received the annual Shaping Portsmouth Award for my University consultancy project, in which I redesigned the website for Shaping Portsmouth based on research and client requirements.
I was delighted to receive the award and see them use our design on their website to this day.
Applying for the Business Consultancy module
The Business Consultancy Project is a core module on our BA (Hons) Business Management and Entrepreneurship course.
You can also apply to do a Business Consultancy Project if you study one of the following degrees: