Since 2023, Preeti Mahajan, Director of Online Learning Experience, and Paul Emberlin, Group Director for Online Faculty, have been working closely to support businesses in the South East.
This new training offer has been launched thanks to the Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) in Berkshire and Oxfordshire, working closely with regional businesses to develop a range of programmes, with a particular focus on sustainability.
In this piece, Preeti and Paul share some reflections around what’s worked best and top tips for collaborating with businesses.
Working with businesses as a Further Education (FE) college can unlock brilliant opportunities but if we’re being honest, it’s not always straightforward.
Everyone is busy, there are sometimes conflicting priorities, and different ways of working to navigate.
In FE, we can also sometimes approach the relationship with a ‘begging bowl’ and neglect to showcase what we can offer to businesses. There’s often as much to give as to receive!
For the relationship to work well, it takes hard work, trust and emotional intelligence. With this in mind, here’s our take on what really matters when you’re building partnerships and collaborating on projects that lead to success.
Be open, honest, and candid – from day one: Don’t sugarcoat or sell a vision you can’t deliver. Be clear about what your college brings to the table, including your strengths, gaps, and what you want to learn. Get businesses to open-up about their challenges and areas requiring fresh thinking. Genuine partnerships start with real conversations, and these require openness and commitment from both parties.
Talk purpose and values early: Do you believe in the same stuff? Do you both share a vision on topics such as skills, impact or community benefit, or is this just transactional? Be clear on what you both stand for and what you want to achieve. If your values don’t line up, it’ll fall apart down the line, and it might be best not to go that far! Early exits from the collaboration are not a failure – and you never know how they might re-materialise later on.
Make time and protect it: Good partnerships need time to breathe. If you’re too busy to invest properly, don’t expect much back. Create regular space in your calendar for catch-ups, thinking and (crucially) reflection. It’s not just about the doing – it’s about thinking, evolving and learning together.
Stick with it: The first idea you come up with will almost never be the one you end up delivering. That’s not failure, it’s collaboration. Be prepared to iterate, change course and throw out the plan if a better opportunity emerges.
Build relationships, not transactions: Networking isn’t just about swapping business cards at an event. It’s about asking good questions, getting curious and connecting people who need to meet each other. Be the person who makes that happen, and you’ll be the one they remember. Many of our conversations with businesses have originated from conversations with a different business. Bringing together voices from a variety of industries to give diverse perspectives through cross-sector and business collaboration can be really powerful.
Give as much as you take (if not more): Partnerships work best when they feel equal. Share your knowledge, contacts, and platforms –and not just when you need something in return. Generosity pays off long-term.
Shout about what you’re doing: Tell the story of your partnership as it unfolds. Share the wins, the learnings, the messy middle bits. For smaller businesses especially, this visibility is gold dust. You’re not just celebrating success – you’re amplifying and celebrating their work, too. Tag them in your posts, name check publicly and engage with them.
Know what impact you’re aiming for: What does good look like for both of you? Are you aiming for new qualifications, new products, better pipelines into local jobs? Define it early and measure it often, so you know if you’re actually getting somewhere. But don’t let the measurement become the goal!
Address conflict (no tiptoeing): Stuff will go wrong; that’s a given. What matters is how you handle it. Be upfront, address problems directly, and work through them together. Partnerships that survive a bit of turbulence often come out stronger.
Bottom line? Business partnerships in FE aren’t just about projects; they’re about people. Relationships, trust, purpose, and no small smattering of emotional intelligence are the difference between ‘just another initiative’ and something that actually has a tangible impact.
Discover more about Activate Learning or contact us on 0800 612 6008.