Judges at the annual Prospects Postgraduate Awards 2014 presented The REACH Centre with the Best Business Partner award at a glitzy ceremony at The Midland Hotel in Manchester on Monday.

The award recognises the depth and breadth of activity the company has engaged with the university over eight years, as well as the models of business engagement the university has put in place.

The Awards are run by Prospects, the UK’s leading postgraduate education publisher. Chief executive, Mike Hill said: “It’s fantastic to see such high calibre of entries from some of the UK’s leaders in postgraduate education. Each year we’re overwhelmed by the support and excitement we receive. Congratulations to The REACH Centre who provided an inspiring and accessible model which other businesses could replicate.

Dr Mark Bacon, Director of Business Partnerships and Enterprise in the faculty of Science and Technology at Lancaster University, said: “The REACH Centre has consistently proved itself to be an excellent and reliable partner for the university, developing post-graduate courses, providing employment for our students, and giving excellent opportunities for our students to broaden their experience and apply their skills through placements.

“We believe they thoroughly deserve the recognition this award brings for their continuous enthusiastic collaboration with Lancaster University.”

Established by Jonathan Lutwyche, with support from Lancaster University, The REACH Centre, which has offices on campus in the Lancaster Environment Centre, has expanded rapidly, now employing 17 members of staff. 70 per cent of current staff are Lancaster University graduates.

Staff at The REACH Centre have regularly contributed to academic courses to teach Lancaster students and industry about industry regulations. This helps to ensure courses are up to date and provides an invaluable insight into real-world situations.

The REACH Centre has also proved to be a very reliable partner for the university when seeking opportunities for industrial projects for post-graduate students to undertake alongside their studies that have enabled Lancaster University post-graduate students to obtain excellent qualifications.

During the last couple of years the university has developed a number of large-scale research-based business engagement and collaboration programmes – such as the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation and the Lancaster China Catalyst Programme - which The REACH Centre has also been an excellent collaborative partner for.

Judith Friesl, Marketing Manager at The REACH Centre said: “We have played an active part in innovative programmes developed by Lancaster University with the research and development needs of employers at their core.

“Our engagement on these novel programmes will result in significant benefits to our organisation, but also provide invaluable experience for graduates, as well as helping to ensure the university’s programmes are successful.”