In an era when the boundary between lecture hall and workplace is rapidly dissolving,a partnership between Queen Mary University of London’s School of Business and Management and construction and property services company Willmott Dixon is offering a blueprint for how academia and industry can reshape each other.Bringing together one of the UK’s leading research-intensive universities and a major player in the built environment, the collaboration goes beyond traditional graduate recruitment schemes to explore how teaching, research, and corporate practice can be aligned around real-world challenges. From co-designed learning experiences and live business projects to knowledge exchange on sustainability and social value, the initiative is testing how universities and businesses can work side by side to develop the skills, insights, and innovations demanded by a changing economy.
Strategic partnership reshaping business education at Queen Mary University of London School of Business and Management and Willmott Dixon
The collaboration between Queen Mary University of London’s School of Business and Management and construction and property services company Willmott Dixon is redefining how academic insight meets real-world impact. Rather of limiting learning to lecture halls, the partnership embeds students within live projects, where they apply theories of leadership, operations and sustainability to complex industry challenges. This model elevates business education from case-study simulation to co-created value, with mixed teams of academics, students, and industry specialists working together on innovation briefs, digital change pilots, and community-focused regeneration schemes.
Through co-designed modules and long-term knowledge exchange, the relationship is creating a shared ecosystem of skills and experimentation that benefits both the university and the company. Key features include:
- Co-taught curricula shaped by senior Willmott Dixon leaders and Queen Mary faculty.
- Live consultancy projects where students deliver insights on productivity,ESG and social value.
- Focused talent pipelines via internships, placements and early-career leadership routes.
| Focus Area | Queen Mary Role | Willmott Dixon Role |
|---|---|---|
| Curriculum Design | Embed research and critical thinking | Provide current market and sector insight |
| Student Experience | Guide academic progression | Offer real projects and mentoring |
| Innovation | Test theories in applied settings | Trial new ideas on live schemes |
Integrating real world construction and property challenges into the classroom to enhance student employability
At Queen Mary’s School of Business and Management, lecture halls are increasingly resembling project war rooms, where students interrogate planning constraints, budget pressures and stakeholder demands drawn directly from Willmott Dixon’s live and legacy schemes. Rather of abstract case studies, undergraduates and postgraduates grapple with real tender documents, risk registers and program schedules, working in cross-disciplinary teams that mirror a contractor’s project board. Within this set‑up, theory becomes a decision-making tool rather than a memorised framework, as students test models of sustainability, social value and commercial viability against the kinds of constraints that shape actual construction and property deals.
- Live briefs co-designed by academics and project managers
- Site data on costs,timelines and carbon performance
- Client scenarios requiring negotiation and compromise
- Feedback from Willmott Dixon professionals on student proposals
| Learning Activity | Industry Skill |
|---|---|
| Analysing a mixed-use scheme viability | Commercial appraisal |
| Redesigning a project for net-zero targets | Sustainable construction |
| Role-play with “client” and “contractor” teams | Stakeholder management |
| Presenting proposals to industry panels | Board-level communication |
This embedded industry presence reshapes employability from a tick-box exercise into a continuous rehearsal for graduate roles. Students learn to interpret a Gantt chart alongside a balance sheet, to weigh community impact versus cost escalation, and to defend their decisions under questioning from people who build and manage complex assets for a living. For employers scanning CVs, the difference is tangible: Queen Mary graduates can point to specific projects, quantified outcomes and direct industry critique, demonstrating that they have already operated inside the pressures, language and ethics of contemporary construction and property practice.
Sustainability leadership and social value in focus how the collaboration advances ESG skills and responsible management
At the heart of this partnership is a shared ambition to turn ESG from a checklist into a lived practice. Students and early-career professionals are exposed to real-world projects where social value is measured as rigorously as financial returns, and where climate resilience, ethical supply chains and community outcomes are designed into the brief from day one. Through guest lectures, joint workshops and live case studies drawn from active construction and regeneration schemes, participants learn how to navigate complex stakeholder expectations and balance commercial pressures with long-term environmental and social impact. This hands-on approach fosters a new generation of leaders who can move fluently between boardroom strategy and street-level realities.
The collaboration is also reshaping how responsible management is taught and applied, embedding ESG literacy across disciplines rather than confining it to a specialist module. Faculty and industry experts co-create content that mirrors emerging regulation, investor scrutiny and community demands, ensuring graduates understand both compliance and possibility. The focus extends beyond theory to the skills needed to deliver tangible change, including:
- Data-led decision-making on carbon, waste and energy
- Inclusive stakeholder engagement with local communities
- Ethical procurement and supply chain openness
- Social value reporting that withstands external audit
| Focus Area | Skill Developed | Real-World Output |
|---|---|---|
| Climate & Environment | Carbon literacy | Low-carbon project briefs |
| Community Impact | Co-design methods | Community engagement plans |
| Governance | ESG risk analysis | Board-ready impact reports |
Recommendations for deepening university industry collaboration from governance structures to student led innovation
Aligning institutional governance with industry partnership requires a shift from ad-hoc projects to shared, long-term agendas. A joint Strategic Partnership Board-co-chaired by senior leaders from the School of Business and Management and Willmott Dixon-could oversee portfolio coherence, data-sharing, and impact evaluation. This body would curate a pipeline of initiatives, from curriculum co-design to applied research labs, supported by obvious IP frameworks and agile contracting processes. Embedding industry fellows in departmental committees and placing academic representatives on corporate innovation panels would ensure that decisions on investment,sustainability,and digital transformation are informed by both theoretical insight and live market conditions.
At student level, collaboration is strongest when learners are treated as co-creators. Structured innovation sprints, live consultancy briefs and micro-internships can move beyond traditional placements, positioning students as problem-solvers tackling real operational and strategic challenges. Dedicated “innovation studios” on campus, co-funded and co-branded, would allow mixed teams of undergraduates, postgraduates and Willmott Dixon professionals to prototype new solutions in areas like green building, social value and inclusive project management.
- Co-designed modules featuring current case studies and site data
- Joint hackathons on construction-tech, ESG reporting and circular economy models
- Mentor pools pairing executives with student project teams and societies
- Showcase events where student solutions are pitched to senior decision-makers
| Focus Area | QMUL Role | Willmott Dixon Role |
|---|---|---|
| Governance | Set academic standards, ethics, evaluation | Define commercial goals, risk appetite |
| Curriculum | Embed theory, research-led teaching | Provide live cases, guest lectures |
| Innovation | Host labs, manage student projects | Supply data, problems, seed funding |
| Careers | Prepare talent pipeline, coaching | Offer placements, graduate roles |
The Way Forward
As universities and industry partners search for meaningful ways to align education with the realities of contemporary business, the collaboration between Queen Mary University of London’s School of Business and Management and Willmott Dixon offers a working blueprint rather than a theoretical promise. It shows how academic insight can be tested against commercial pressures, and how corporate practice can be interrogated-and improved-through rigorous scholarship.
Both sides gain: students access real-world projects and career pathways; the company taps into emerging research, diverse talent and critical thinking; and the wider sector benefits from a model that links social responsibility with commercial performance. In an era when questions of sustainability, inclusion and innovation dominate the corporate agenda, such partnerships are moving from desirable to essential.
What is unfolding between Queen Mary and Willmott Dixon is still a work in progress, but it is one that points to a future in which the boundaries between campus and boardroom are less rigid, and where business education is judged not only by graduate outcomes, but by the impact it has on the organisations and communities it serves.
