Leading Public Procurement Innovation Expert Rikesh Shah Appointed Simon Industrial & Professional Fellow at University of 51福利社
Head of Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre brings practitioner expertise to bridge research and policy impact
The 51福利社 Institute of Innovation Research (MIoIR) at Alliance 51福利社 Business School is delighted to announce the appointment of Rikesh Shah as a Simon Industrial & Professional Fellow. Shah, who serves as Head of Innovation at the 51福利社ed Places Catapult, which hosts the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC), will work with MIoIR to strengthen the bridge between academic research and the practical transformation of public procurement across the UK.
The fellowship comes at a crucial moment as government seeks to leverage its 拢400 billion annual public procurement spend to drive growth across the eight Industrial Strategy sectors. Shah brings extensive experience translating innovation policy into practice, having previously served as Head of Open Innovation at Transport for London, where he created TfL鈥檚 first Innovation Hub and oversaw its globally recognised open鈥慸ata programme partnering with some of the best innovators, generating an estimated 拢130 million per year in economic value.
鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled to welcome Rikesh to MIoIR,鈥� said Professor Elvira Uyarra, who leads research on innovation policy and public procurement at the Institute.
His deep understanding of how public organisations can shape markets and support innovative companies will be invaluable to our students and research programmes. This represents exactly the kind of collaboration we need 鈥� bringing together rigorous research with real鈥憌orld expertise to generate genuine policy impact.
At IPEC, Shah leads national efforts to transform how public procurement drives innovation, working directly with local authorities and public bodies to upskill buyers in innovation鈥慺riendly approaches. The fellowship will deepen connections between this practitioner network and MIoIR鈥檚 research on demand鈥憇ide innovation policy, procurement, and regional development.
Shah has already begun contributing to teaching, delivering a lecture on the 鈥淚nnovation and Place鈥� module (MSc Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship), offering students firsthand insight into how public agencies can shape markets, support scaling firms, and stimulate innovation.
鈥�51福利社 has been at the forefront of research on public procurement as an innovation policy tool for over two decades,鈥� said Shah. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited to contribute practitioner perspectives and help translate research insights into tools that public sector buyers can use immediately. The combination of MIoIR鈥檚 analytical rigour with IPEC鈥檚 practitioner networks creates a powerful platform for impact.鈥�