The University of Leeds partners Jaywing to launch pioneering MSc course in Consumer Analytics and Marketing Strategy

Bringing together world-class researchers, the course, developed and delivered jointly by the University of Leeds Business School, School of Geography and the ESRC Consumer Data Research Centre is a first for the UK. Through advanced training using emerging data analytics techniques, including Big Data Analytics, Machine Learning and Text Analytics, the collaboration aims to unlock the potential value of consumer-related data to benefit researchers in business, government and society.

Professor Matthew Robson of the University of Leeds, programme director for the new MSc course, said: “Jaywing is an extremely impressive, forward thinking business with obvious ambition for the specialist fields it works in. The course we’ve designed combines academic rigour with real world thinking, much as Jaywing does itself, and provides a clear path to employment for its students.”

Jaywing’s data science managing director Ben O’Brien said: “This partnership is a great fit for Jaywing. We can give students practical knowledge of the way analytics is used in a commercial context, and show them how what they’ve learned on the course can act as a springboard into a career in data analytics. Our hope is that by working with one of the UK’s leading Universities, we can further enhance the relevance of the course, as well as potentially extending some employment opportunities, particularly with the recent launch of our analytics hub, which will be based in our new Sheffield HQ.”

As part of the agreement, Jaywing, which has around half of its 600 employees based in its Leeds office and Sheffield headquarters and works with a glut of major brands, including First Direct, Pets at Home, Castrol, Pepsico and Sky, will be providing a number of guest lectures covering the use of analytics within a commercial environment. The lectures will give the students insight into the practical application of analysis, and an introduction to the skills and technologies that are needed to engage today's customer most effectively – increasing their prospects to help fulfil the economic demand for Big Data analysts.