A University of Suffolk project that marries business theory with practice has won national recognition.

Lecturer Claire Culley received the Marketing Teaching Excellence Award at an industry conference held at Cardiff Business School.

Ms Culley's initiative, The Marketing Lab: Bridging Theory with Practice, was lauded for creating a dynamic learning environment where students tackle real-world marketing issues for small businesses.

She said: “I’m delighted to have won this award.

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"Having worked in social media and digital marketing for years before moving into lecturing, it’s always been important to me that we bring real industry insight and skills into the classroom.

"To win an award for doing just that feels very special.”

The essence of the project lies in small enterprises visiting the 'lab' with a marketing conundrum.

Students then endeavour to provide a solution through a series of structured stages for understanding the business problems, identifying customers, and formulating workable strategies.

Businesses get an array of ideas backed by solid theory, while students amass practical experience and hone client-handling skills.

Ms Culley has so far orchestrated seven marketing labs, aiding various small to medium enterprises and charities from different industries.

The initiative is instrumental in providing students with much-needed practical industrial exposure.

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Ms Culley added: “Gaining hands-on experience is fundamental – it not only allows students the opportunity to apply the knowledge they have learned but it also helps to develop those important soft skills such as team work, professional client interaction, leadership abilities, problem-solving and creative thinking.”

The project will resume in the upcoming academic year, welcoming applications from small businesses and charities.

The initiative is among several other ventures by the University of Suffolk’s Business School aimed at bolstering practical industry interactions for students.

Measures like internships, practising key industry skills, working on live assessments and support for launching their pop-up enterprises are some of the offerings aimed to equip students with comprehensive industry experience.