The winner of the AGCAS Building Effective Partnerships Award 2021 is Durham University.

The ERDF-funded Durham Internship and Collaborative Enterprise (“DICE”) project is an innovative collaboration between Durham University and Business Durham, the economic development arm of Durham County Council. Key challenges for County Durham were the lower business start-up rates when compared to the regional average and the smaller number of high growth businesses. The University was looking for a way to contribute to regional growth and simultaneously further enhance student employability. The DICE project aims to improve business innovation, increase graduate retention, increase the number of scalable start-ups in the region and facilitate collaborative, developmental partnerships.

Judges' comments

"The Durham collaboration had direct workforce development impacts through working with SMEs and new enterprise, influencing students to think differently about their future, and an element of innovation that made it stand out. They provided a lot of evidence of their work with SMEs in the region and their project has potential for further scale in the future. Durham was the standout submission, with proven, measurable impact."

The winner was announced at the AGCAS Awards for Excellence showcase webinar on 25 June 2021.