Newton Equipment Ltd

Barking based Newton Equipment Ltd, a leading manufacture of specialist automotive components is a prime example of how companies can benefit by successfully engaging with universities to develop their business. 

The company first approached the University of East London (UEL) in 1998 when they saw an editorial piece in the Romford Recorder recruiting companies to offer work experience to students at UEL. The company subsequently sent a letter to UEL offering the opportunity for a couple of students to work at Newton Equipment, which resulted in a design and business studies student being recruited to develop and update drawings of the company's product line, and to improve the operations of the company respectively.

Newton Equipment's experience of working with high-calibre students encouraged Managing Director, Mike Byrne to sign-up for a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) when they were approached by Knowledge Dock (KD) to participate in the scheme.

"When I was first approached by KD to participate in a KTP I had been doing a lot of thinking about how my company could improve upon the existing fuel filling systems that were available in the market. I had plenty of innovative ideas but didn't have the resources to undertake such a big project".

"I was a little daunted by the thought of working with Doctors and Professors when we first started the project, but to my delight, when we got going I found it to be a very pleasant and enlightening experience. The gift that academics bring to the working relationship is their gift of clarity. They are able to see and explain things in a different light; adding a fresh perspective to the barriers we faced when developing our new product range".

Since the completion of the KTP, Newton Equipment has frequently drawn upon the pool of resources and expertise of UEL via student placement programmes including, an Enterprise Associates Programme where a student was charged with developing a bespoke database for the company to store all their product data and knowledge base, and also two Shell Technology Enterprise Programmes (STEP); where UEL Product Design student Rakib Miah claimed second prize in the national STEP award ceremony for his efforts in developing Newton Equipments company brand, interior design, working environment, new promotional materials and web-site.

"There are lots of benefits companies can gain from working with universities. From our own experience, Newton Equipment has benefited from the vast amount of resources and expertise that we have drawn upon from UEL. At the same time, I would like to think that Newton Equipment is also providing students and academics vital experience of how to apply their academic knowledge into a real working environment - Its an ideal partnership as we can both learn from one another".

In the seven years that Newton Equipment has been working with KD and UEL, Newton Equipment have grown from a three persons operation to a team of eleven. So delighted have they been with their experiences of working with UEL students they even recruited a UEL product design graduate, Lee Baxter to head up their product design department. “Working with KD and UEL has helped the company become more robust, innovative, competitive and confident, resulting in a successful expansion into the original equipment markets”.

“The solid progress this company has made during the time spent working together leads me to recommend and the University of East London without any reservation to any company that wants a fresh perspective on how to grow and develop their business. We certainly intend to carry on building our successful working partnership for many years to come”.