New work in 2026 with the University of Manchester.

Manchester is Result’s home. It is where we are based and where, as its leaders, our hearts are - in the vibrant North West of the country. A BBC article on 15 February by Faisal Islam explored whether Manchester has a ‘magic recipe’ for economic success, given that its growth has consistently out- performed the rest of the country for a decade. Islam highlights Manchester’s universities as a vital element:

‘Above all, [Manchester] has long had Europe's biggest university campus. Everything comes back to this. The knowledge and the educated workforce are the essential raw ingredient upon which this growth has emerged. By some way, the University of Manchester has the highest number of applications in the UK.’

The University of Manchester has been a client of Result’s since 2014 when we first ran, ‘Achieving your potential’ - a development programme for a group of disabled staff. The revitalised disability leadership programme in 2024 spearheaded by the University's (then) Academic Lead for Disability, Professor Jackie Carter broke new ground by including bringing together staff with their line managers for the first time. In 2026 we have just started our seventh disability leadership development programme with an exceptional group of staff.

Something we discussed at the first workshop was the way that disability tends to ‘bring the personal into the professional realm’. It takes self-awareness, strength and care to handle this right. A principle we uphold is that when a person has to manage a disability or health condition, they have to develop new skills quite often and strengthen existing ones. They have to get good at managing time, resources, people and energy - to give a few examples. Far from this being a barrier, or hindrance, this boosted skill set is an asset to any employer. But the disabled individual has to know and appreciate this and be ready to communicate positively about it. The programme encourages participants to be able to do this.

As well as running the disability leadership development programme, this year we are also partnering to deliver an innovative development programme for Early Career Researchers and Post-Graduate researchers with disabilities. Led by an alumni of our 2024 development programme, Laura Howard, the main element of our support is semi-intensive individual coaching, following an initial workshop. It will finish with a joint workshop with the researchers and their supervisors.

We are very proud of our longstanding relationship with the University and the way it is continuing to develop. Partnership is at the heart of Result’s work and we have been fortunate to have the tireless support of the EDI team’s Tahira Majothi and Kathryn Bradley plus the new Academic Lead for Disability, Dr Hamied Haroon. With beautiful symmetry, Dr Haroon was one of the original participants on our first programme in 2014. He went on to launch the National Association of Disabled Staff Networks in Higher Education single- handed, which nows boasts 100 Universities’ Disabled Staff Networks as its members. And now he is simply the best role model for his University colleagues and much more widely - a brilliant thinker, an attentive listener, a hyper-connected professional and someone who inspires us all.

Maybe this type of programme could help motivate and develop your organisation and staff. If so, let’s arrange to talk.

We are what we do and we love what we do.