Jan Bennett Email & Phone Number

Plymouth, United Kingdom

Metro Fresh Foods Limited is a start-up business in Plymouth. It is Plymouth’s first commercial urban Aquaponics company using Controlled Environment Agriculture, Hydroponics and Renewable Energy technologies to grow fresh vegetables in vertical spaces within warehouses and other facilities.Metro Fresh Foods uses Aquaculture technologies to grow lesser known species of fresh water fish such as Tilapia, Catfish and European Perch, as well as Rainbow Trout in a resource-efficient way:- 90% less water used than in conventional agriculture- Increased crop yields- Environmental control systems- High labour efficiency- Lower production risks- No pesticides or herbicides or any other chemicals- Consistent quality of produce- Improved energy efficiency- Lower energy costs- Lower CO2 emissionsFind us at: www.metrofreshfoods.co.uk

Plymouth, Devon And Cornwall

Bennett Project Services (BPS) is a start-up business that was set up in May 2011 but started trading ‘for real’ in August this year. It is a small but innovative and ambitious company which is passionate about helping to build resilience and self-reliance at a local level in communities, neighbourhoods and localities. At a time when communities everywhere are struggling to cope with huge economic, social and environmental ’shocks’, many are finding that they lack resilience. In other words, they lack the ability to absorb these impacts, make any necessary changes (positively adapt) and quickly bounce back. Our core service is designing, developing and securing funding for innovative projects which enable and promote community resilience and self-reliance. We will have been successful when, through our funded projects, we have been able to: • Recognise sources of ‘wealth’ in communities (community assets and resources);• Help those sources to grow;• Link them with one another to form stronger and more capable communities;• Increase the skills of individuals;• Increase the ambition and confidence of individuals and communities;• Connect people with one another;• Connect existing resources;• Create or increase community resources.Our community development projects will often require us to find innovative (sometimes technological or scientific) solutions to tricky problems. That’s why, where appropriate, we will create ‘knowledge exchange partnerships’ with local Higher and Further Education institutions for problem solving and capacity building purposes. In BPS we have over 20 years experience of working in and with HE and FE and of supporting collaborative, high impact knowledge exchange projects between academics and external organisations of all kinds.

The higher intent of the Corporate Projects team is: “To successfully turn strategically important institutional ambitions into real income-generating and reputation-enhancing projects – locally, regionally, nationally and internationally”. The desired end state for each corporate project is a project proposal which aligns with University aspirations, has the buy-in of appropriate University management and has been awarded external funding (or has an agreed internal funding arrangement, or mix of both).My main roles have been:- Strategic project development aligned with PU objectives;- Proposal development (both capital and revenue) for internal/ external/ collaborative projects and initiatives;- Bid development and submission to funding bodies;- Building and maintaining strategic relationships and partnerships in collaboration, maintaining an appropriate knowledge of externally important developments (policy trends, upcoming opportunities etc);- Identification of, and provision of support for, public sector contract opportunities.

Between 2002 – 2005 I left the Plymouth University to establish his own consultancy and project management business known as Force4 (SW) Ltd. The business served its clients in five main areas:1. Undertaking research and feasibility study contracts typically on behalf of Public Sector clients in Devon and Cornwall - including the South West RDA and Government Office for the South West;2. Providing advice, guidance and direct support to small businesses wishing to tender for Public Sector contracts;3. Writing larger-scale EU and UK grant funding applications;4. Undertaking external project evaluations, typically in respect of projects which received EU Objective One and Objective 2 funding;5. Designing, developing and organising Business Competitions - including the bi-annual Business Challenge competition in Devon and Cornwall.As a Director of the company, I was personally responsible for helping his client businesses to successfully tender for Public Sector contracts and to submit applications for UK and EU grant aid to support the development of local (mostly capital) projects. I also conceived of the idea, in late 2003, of bringing parties of people from the so-called EU Accession States to Cornwall to enable them to learn from the Cornish experience of running economic and social development projects using EU Structural funds.

I was a member of the Senior Management team in UoPE for 3 years and I managed a small New Programme Development team in that time. My responsibilities included:- Identifying opportunities for funded projects- Developing and refining project ideas- Identifying, developing and co-ordinating partnerships (including private and public sector organisations)- Co-ordinating and writing the funding applications (content and finances)- Submitting bids to the relevant funding bodies on time- On approval, handing over project documentation to implementation teams- Representing the University of Plymouth on various regional economic development task groups- Contributing to the development of regional Higher Education economic development strategies

My responsibilities included:1. Securing DTI/Research Council funding for KTP projects in Devon & CornwallI was personally responsible for securing over £2 million of KTP projects in the period 1993 - 1999. Each proposal took about 3 months to complete and requires identification of a suitable company, identification of a suitable two year project in that company followed by close liaison with both senior company staff, appropriate University academics and the government funding body in writing the proposal and project plan. Each project involves University graduates (known as KTP Associates) undertaking challenging 2-year applied R&D projects.2. Project facilitationI was Academic Project Facilitator in charge of a number of KTP projects. Disciplines covered included manufacturing systems, optical thin film design, composites structures design and manufacture, industrial design and business process re-engineering.In operation, each company is partnered by the University of Plymouth academic group with relevant specialist expertise. Each partnership, called a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Programme, works in one or more project areas identified by the company as essential to improving its effectiveness and central to its future, but beyond its existing resources. The KTP Programmes are jointly funded by the Government (through Research Councils, the NHS and others) and by industry.