Edge Hill given grant to bring data insight to pet food firm

Edge Hill University has been handed a £105,642 government-backed grant to improve the efficiency at Preston-based Oscar Pet Foods by giving it greater access to data-driven insights.

The funding, from Innovate UK’s Management Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (mKTP) programme, will enable the university's Business School Productivity and Innovation Centre (PIC) to expand the company's management capability and effectiveness over the next two years.

Edge Hill’s business experts will offer expert data analysis on customer profiles and purchasing behaviours to enable Oscar to maximise existing and new business opportunities.

The partnership is a three-way collaboration between the university, Oscar and a high-calibre graduate who will gain experience through full-time employment as an associate to Oscar for the duration of the project.

The associate will play an integral role in supporting the development of the framework and its successful implementation within the organisation.

Richard Martin, managing director of Oscar, first engaged with the PIC in 2019 to undertake the university’s Innovation Sprint Programme, which offers core data-driven innovation to help small and medium-sized enterprises to develop their scale-up or growth strategy.

He said: "The impact that the data-driven marketing tools and framework will have on our business processes will not only result in growth for Oscar but also for our network of franchisees, both existing and new.

“We will be able to make informed decisions when facing new business opportunities with confidence and look forward to continuing our successful partnership with the university.”

Professor Simon Bolton, head of the PIC at Edge Hill, will take on the role as knowledge base lead for the duration of the partnership.

Prof Bolton said: "We are looking forward to continuing our work with Oscar through the mKTP.  The grant will also provide a great opportunity for a skilled graduate to work on an exciting project that will have real impact on the growth strategy of Oscars.  Valuable insights from the project will also inform the research and teaching of our academic business experts.”

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