The University of Bedfordshire’s Knowledge Hub has added to its wealth of business expertise with the appointment of Gaynor Bray as its Sales and Marketing Manager.

Gaynor’s new role follows an extensive career in the corporate world, working in international sales and marketing management across a broad range of sectors from pharmaceuticals and medical products to publishing. Her experience includes managing teams in the USA and Europe and she has also lived and worked in Paris and Moscow.

Part of Gaynor’s role is to ensure local businesses are aware of the full depth of resources available from the University.

Local organisations are being urged to take advantage of the comprehensive range of business expertise and skills available through Knowledge Hub staff like Gaynor, who possesses a thorough understanding of business needs from their extensive commercial experience.

She explained: “There is so much knowledge for local companies to harness. At the moment the University isn’t automatically thought of by businesses in the region as somewhere they can come but we’ve got a lot to offer and we really can help. We have something for every kind of company - from training and consultancy to graduate placements schemes and practical, business-focused lecture programmes.

“We can assist any size of business, from start-up companies to large organisations, in any sector. There’s so much going on at the University and in the larger Bedfordshire community. It’s a very exciting place to be and I am urging businesses to find out exactly what we can do for them.”

The Knowledge Hub now wants to develop further to become the natural choice for companies seeking support and advice, especially in light of government plans to encourage businesses to make use of the support available at local universities.

The Association of Universities in the East of England, chaired by University of Bedfordshire Vice Chancellor Les Ebdon CBE, is also working across the region to effectively address the needs of the local business community.