Liverpool’s universities produce thousands of talented graduates each year, and MSIF Group is playing its part in creating opportunities for them closer to home.
The business has spent the summer hosting three students from three of the city’s top universities across River Capital, LCR Finance Hub and Gateway Angels, giving them real workplace experience as part of a growing commitment to strengthen ties with Liverpool’s academic institutions.
Alfie Toone, a returning student from Liverpool Hope University who supported River Capital last summer, this year turned his attention to LCR Finance Hub and Gateway Angels. Over six weeks, Alfie reviewed both teams’ reporting structures and data analytics processes, producing new data visualisation and forecasting work along the way.
Alfie said:
I found the experience immensely helpful and enjoyable in terms of teaching me practical applications of the data analysis processes I learned as part of my degree.
Academia can have a tendency to be quite abstract, and both this and last summer’s projects have been brilliant in providing experience of translating theory into real insights, as well as the more general soft skills of operating in a corporate environment.”
Abhijit Sinha, from the University of Liverpool, undertook a wider piece of research into the regional investment ecosystem on behalf of MSIF, conducting stakeholder interviews across the Group and the wider LCR investment community including AXM Venture Capital, the University of Liverpool, and the LCR Combined Authority.
Abhijit commented:
This project has been a genuinely valuable experience. Working directly with practitioners across the LCR investment ecosystem has given me a depth of understanding no classroom could replicate, and I am looking forward to presenting findings that I hope will create real value for MSIF
Mai Humphrey, from Liverpool John Moores University, worked with River Capital to examine how its digital presence — including its website and LinkedIn activity — could better guide North West SMEs towards the right funding opportunities. Drawing on interviews with prospective business owners and performance data, Mai turned her findings into practical recommendations and digital prototypes for a clearer enquiry journey.
Mai added:
Working with River Capital was a valuable opportunity to apply academic research to a live business challenge and develop strategic recommendations that were both practical and evidence focused
Louise Towers, Group CEO of MSIF Group, said:
Alfie, Mai and Abhijit have each brought a genuinely fresh perspective to different parts of our business, and the quality of their work speaks for itself. We’re keen to keep building on partnerships like these, and to play our part in giving talented Liverpool students the opportunity to apply their academic studies in the workplace — and to create real business impact while they do it.” MSIF Group is now looking at how it extends this approach further across the group, with additional placements planned in the future.