Engagement

Addressing Poverty in the EU 

Researchers from our School of Business Management put together a brief “Addressing poverty in the EU”, tailored for policy makers and researchers within the European Parliament. The brief highlights the links between financial insecurity, labour market outcomes and poverty, offering actionable recommendations for EU parliament members. It unpacks how addressing poverty in the European Union (EU) can be done by taking action on welfare, household debt and pensions.

Creativeworks London 

Creativeworks London, led by Queen Mary and funded by the AHRC and ERDF (£6.9 million), brought together 43 universities and creative-industry partners to boost innovation and inclusion across London’s creative economy. The hub supported small and medium enterprises through collaborative research, skills development, and access to new technologies. Its work strengthened local economic resilience, created jobs, and built lasting partnerships between academia and the creative sector—demonstrating how research can drive equitable growth and opportunity.

Queen Mary Social Venture Fund 

Queen Mary’s School of Business and Management is home to the first student-led social impact venture capital fund, partnered with The Creator Fund,  investing in student-led social ventures in the UK. It brings together minds from Business, Law, Engineering, Sciences, and more, all united by one mission: investing in start-ups for good. Each year, the fund engages 100-150 social ventures, deploying a £15,000 equity investment into a winning venture; since 2020 it has invested £105,000 . Ongoing post-investment support is provided to help founders grow with impact.

Some of the socially-responsible start-ups supported include:

• Carbon Cell's high-performance expandable foam is fully compostable and locks in carbon for centuries, championing environmental responsibility. The key ingredient in Carbon Cell’s products is biochar, which removes more C02 from the atmosphere than it requires to make.
• Biophilica developed a product called Treekind, a leaf-based leather alternative which uses less than one per cent of the water used in traditional leather production.
• Leiho sells environmentally-friendly socks made from organic cotton and bamboo, with every pair helping to provide essentials for vulnerable communities, including refugees and people experiencing homelessness.

London Social Ventures 

London Social Ventures is a collaboration led by Queen Mary University of London and UCL and 10 other London universities including London Metropolitan University, and King’s College London. It brings together academia, business and civic bodies to build a pipeline of social ventures aimed at addressing structural disadvantage across London. The collaboration offers mentorship, funding and networking for student- and staff-led ventures tackling issues like inequality, unemployment and social exclusion—thereby fostering inclusive economic participation and supporting poverty reduction.

Social Entrepreneurship workshop 

In November each year, the Entrepreneurship Hub holds the Social Entrepreneurship Workshop, offering the School of Business Management students an opportunity to build their entrepreneurial competencies with the support of expert facilitators and industry-leading experts.

QMUL-ReMAKE 

QMUL-ReMake, is a partnership between our School of Business Management (SBM) and Project ReMake. The project supports formerly incarcerated individuals, equipping them with business skills to re-enter employment or enter self-employment, and preparing them to integrate into society. These individuals are partnered with SBM student advisors for 12 weeks, putting together a pitch to investors. To date, we have had 57 formerly incarcerated individuals and 102 student advisors graduate from the QMUL-ReMAKE programme. 

Supporting heritage, public history and community organisations

Queen Mary students offer bespoke services to support heritage, public history and community organisations through our qHeritage initiative. Previous local organisations we have supported are The Museum of the Home, Swadhinata Trust, and the Jigsaw House Scoiety. Services offered include:

• Consultancy on project planning
• Support for grant applications
• Generating and analysing research data
• Designing and delivering educational activities
• Public and community engagement workshops
• Branding and social media management
• Improving accessibility and inclusivity.

Queen Mary Innovation (QMI)

QMI works closely with Queen Mary academics to build their innovations into successful businesses or social ventures, or to license them to innovative companies who can take the technology forwards.

An example of a Queen Mary spin out is the ‘Too Good To Go’ app, which connects users with restaurants and shops selling food off cheaply at the end of the day. The app now operates across Europe and the UK, and helps address food poverty as well as alleviating food waste.

Financial advice for tech start-ups 

Our financial guidance centre, qNomics, offers free financial advice for tech start-ups and entrepreneurs provided by students from the School of Economics and Finance, Queen Mary University of London. In 2024, 42 clients were supported. Students can provide workshops, toolkits and 1-1 advice on business matters including:

• Developing a Business Plan
• Data analytics
• Sources of Funding
• Business Structures
• Marketing

QIncubator 

QIncubator is an 8-week program with training, coaching, and peer learning to help entrepreneurs build viable businesses. It also supports intrapreneurs to develop skills, find employer-led solutions, and enhance problem-solving and teamwork.

qLegal 

qLegal, is an award-winning pro bono commercial law clinic. Clients are start-ups whose turnover falls under a threshold/who cannot afford to pay for legal advice. They span innovative industries including Greentech (with 16 Greentech ventures supported in 24-25), Edtech, Medtech and Fintech, and social enterprises/non-profits, having supported over 290 entrepreneurs/starts-ups in 24/25. These include:

• SEALEO is revolutionising vaccine storage with biodegradable packaging designed to reduce CO₂ emissions and waste.
• Multus Biotechnology is advancing biomanufacturing for a greener food system.
• A&B Smart Materials is developing hydrogel coatings to enhance solar panel efficiency.
• Seasprout addresses plastic waste by creating biodegradable agricultural materials.
• Fibe develops sustainable fibres from potato waste, offering an eco-friendly alternative to traditional textiles.
• PulpaTronics is innovating with eco-friendly RFID solutions that streamline inventory management.

In 2024/25 qLegal was awarded the University Pro Bono award and the University Commercial Impact award at the LexisNexis Legal Awards. These highlight university law clinics' outreach efforts and their impact on supporting vulnerable communities and recognises universities that excel in equipping their law students with strong commercial awareness and strategic thinking skills, respectively.

Student consultancy programme (SCP) 

The SCP gives students the chance to work in multidisciplinary teams solving problems faced by businesses, charities and social enterprisces within the UK and Internationally. It was voted Best Student Programme at the Ernst & Young Global Career Services Summit Awards 2022. 

qMentoring 

The qMentoring programme has supported hundreds of students in receiving a mentor, with mentors from a wide range of employers including Deloitte, the Civil Service and NASA. In 2019 we launched a new strand of qMentoring, prioritising female muslim students following analysis of graduate destination data which revealed that this student cohort underperforms in the job market six months after graduation

Growth & Economic Development Partnership Board

Queen Mary is a key member of the Tower Hamlets Partnership Executive Group (PEG), which oversees the six thematic boards, including the Growth & Economic Development Partnership Board. This board is one of the six thematic partnerships that work towards the goals outlined in the overarching Tower Hamlets Partnership Plan, which aims to deliver "inclusive growth" and tackle inequality in the borough. 

Outstanding Contribution to Social Mobility

Queen Mary’s President and Principal, Professor Colin Bailey CBE, was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to Social Mobility Award at the 2024 UK Social Mobility Awards, recognising his leadership in making the university a national exemplar for opportunity and inclusion.

The award highlights Queen Mary’s deep commitment to widening access: 94% of students are from state schools, 45% are first in their family to attend university, and 73% come from minority ethnic backgrounds. Through this recognition, Queen Mary demonstrates how institutional values, leadership, and student support mechanisms can contribute to breaking cycles of disadvantage.

Liberation fund

The Queen Mary Students’ Union Liberation Fund provides funding for each of the Students' Union's month-long liberation campaigns, as well as liberation projects throughout the year. It is recognised that forms of structural oppression serve to marginalise some groups of students, including LGBT+, trans, BAME, disabled and women students. For this reason, the Liberation Fund aims to support student-led projects, campaigns and events that challenge structural oppression and support marginalised communities of students.

Bridge the Gap

The Bridge the Gap programme provides students with the opportunity to find out more about medicine, dentistry and the alternative science/allied-health subjects. Through a programme of online and in-person activities, we aim to improve students understanding of these subjects and support them on their journey to higher education. 

People’s Palace Projects

People’s Palace Projects (PPP)  is a subsidiary of Queen Mary University, investigating the power of creativity and collaborates with marginalised communities to make change. With a growing global network of partners – reaching >320,000 people in 16 countries since 1997 – PPP advocates for equality, climate justice and better health through the arts. 

Queen Mary Policy Hub 

The Queen Mary Policy Hub helps academic staff maximise the impact of their research on policymaking. Through training, resource development, advice, case studies, and engagement activities, the Policy Hub aims to foster a research culture that encourages the translation of research into evidence-informed policymaking.  Examples include:

Development Economics & Policy Engagement

Professor Bandyopadhyay’s research focuses on the economics of growth, inequality and poverty. Her policy-engagement activity includes work for the UK’s Department for International Development, where her findings on growth and development economics were translated into policy briefs addressing poverty and inequality. Her efforts illustrate how rigorous academic work can inform government strategies for economic inclusion, representing a strong example of QMUL’s contribution to inclusive policymaking.

Inequalities in Employment & Policy Impact

Professor Williams investigates socio-economic inequalities in job quality, pay, and labour market outcomes, with specific attention to socio-economic background, ethnicity and gender. His research has been cited in UK government departments and House of Commons debates, demonstrating direct policy influence. Through these collaborations, QMUL is shaping frameworks that address systemic work-based poverty and labour-market disadvantage — aligning with our mission for social mobility and equity.

Equitable Partnerships Toolkit 

Queen Mary’s Toolkit for Equitable Partnerships, developed by the civic engagement team, guides organisations and universities in structuring partnerships that address power imbalances and social disadvantage. By providing practical guidance to community stakeholders and public bodies, the toolkit supports inclusive policy development that aims to enhance access and opportunity for underserved groups.

Centre on Labour, Sustainability and Global Production (CLaSP)

CLaSP is an interdisciplinary research centre at Queen Mary focusing on the intersections of labour, enterprises, regulation and sustainability in the global economy. It brings together scholars from development studies, economic geography, anthropology, and other fields to study how production and finance networks contribute to inequality, labour precarity and environmental harm.

Through its events, workshops (e.g., “Socio-Ecological Infrastructures and Finance”), and research outputs, CLaSP engages with communities, workers and policy actors in the global South and North, helping to translate academic insight into action for more equitable, sustainable value chains.

Improving international fisheries trade relations for development 

Professor Liam Campling’s research and policy work on the global value chains in tuna, international fisheries trade and development has provided the bases for recommending more development-friendly ‘rules of origin’ for local fish processing to the East African Community in its trade agreement with the EU.

His work has contributed to the official thinking and positions of six Pacific Island members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in the negotiation of prohibitions on fisheries subsidies, and informed the decision by the United Nations General Assembly to grant an extended transition to the Solomon Islands in its graduation from Least Developed Country status, thereby preserving around 1,800 fish processing jobs.