THE LONDON ENTERPRISE OFFICE LAUNCHES WEB SITE TO ENCOURAGE BUSINESSES TO BETTER

Glass appointed to develop web presence and branding material

2/6/08 Digital communications agency Glass has been appointed to create a web presence for The London Enterprise Office (TLEO), the entrepreneurial arm of London Metropolitan University which launched earlier this year to encourage businesses to better use university expertise. The site [www.tleo.co.uk] will be crucial to TLEO, helping to promote its portfolio of business units including its specialist business incubator Accelerator and its Business Intelligence. Launching within the next few weeks, the site leverages the best of web2.0 contribution and participation, being based around a group networking structure with personal profiles of university staff and students a core feature. Potential partners and clients will be able to browse and search these profiles, according to attributes assigned to each one, making it easy for them to locate the university resources they require. At the same time, the profiles will give staff and students a platform on which to promote their ideas, skills and specialisations. Collaboration between commercial enterprise and higher education is hugely important as it helps grow the next generation of business entrepreneurs, as well as enable academics to earn extra money for their research projects. TLEO wants the site to become a resource in its own right, not simply a commercial engagement channel. Dr Jennie Somerville, Director of TLEO says, “We believe this is a unique offering in the sector today, something that sets us apart. Engagement between higher education and business is beginning to happen in a big way.” “As knowledge producers and educators, universities are being urged to contribute to the knowledge economy by government and other policy makers. Meanwhile, business is being encouraged to invest in and use the resources of university expertise. The web site is an important tool in bringing our university resources and businesses closer together,” she adds. As well as the website, Glass has created TLEO’s online and offline branding, creating all marketing collateral to support the business including logo, colour palette, business cards, letterheads and comp slips. Ben Hart, Glass CEO, says, “TLEO is at the forefront of business-academic collaboration. Glass actually started life as a two-person company within TLEO’s Accelerator business incubator facility in 2003. The help and advice we were given was invaluable and its great to be helping TLEO by return as they leverage digital to bring together their internal and external audiences”