School of Entrepreneurship & Business
Enterprise Fellowship Scheme: Members Bio
Dr Nicholas Miles
[Senior Enterprise Fellow]
Dr Miles is an economic planner with extensive experience formulating, implementing and evaluating area based economic development strategies in the UK and abroad. He is currently the Executive Director of the Oxford to Cambridge Arc (O2C Arc), which is a strategic initiative jointly supported by the South East England, East Midlands and East of England Development Agencies and is designed to facilitate the development of the knowledge-based economy in their respective regions.
The ARC vision is ‘to create the most successful knowledge-based economy in Europe’. The acceleration of the commercialisation of research and the promotion of ‘innovation and enterprise’ are key objectives of the work of the O2C Arc organisation.
The ARC is an investment in UK success, a success which needs to be sustained and secured as UK Plc operates a rapidly globalising and more competitive economic environment. The ARC is also about establishing a new business model of collaborative working in order to respond to challenges of globalisation, productivity growth and a sustainable future.
Prior to his work with the O2C Arc, Dr Miles worked for the UK government, regional development authorities, local governments, and for a number of private sector clients undertaking appraisals of major investments (from, for example, a proposed paper mill in Indonesia to new port investments in China).
Dr Miles is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), an honorary member of the Geography Department of the University of Durham, is the private sector reviewer of ESRC Case Studentships, and has validated MBA courses (Entrepreneurship Programme - University of Central England). Dr Miles is an experienced project director and manager, and has founded and managed firms (e.g. GHK, Hong Kong, Ltd).