We are an innovation agency specialising in turning ideas and innovation into measurable impact through human-centred, personalised and data-driven solutions.
About us
Who we are
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We use a human-centred and data-driven approach that enables us to really understand our partners and their places to identify their needs and opportunities in order to deliver value, impact and positive outcomes for people, organisations and communities.
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We are deeply curious and hold a symbiotic and empathetic relationship with our partners through intellectual honesty and an obsession with delivering quality over quantity.
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After years trying to drive change inside universities and the public sector, I got tired of great ideas, projects and partnerships dying in bureaucracy and risk aversion.
So I started Innovation Catalyst to apply everything I learned in the public sector, industry and academia (the so-called “triple helix”) to drive research, innovation and commercial activity in the ways it should be - fast, fearless, pragmatic, focussed, deeply client-intimate and impactful. Our advice and support is shaped by hands-on experience inside organisations, not just external analysis.
The result? We now help forward-thinking and mission-driven organisations to punch about their weight - delivering sharper research and innovation, faster organisational learning, and real transformation on people, businesses and place.
How we work
We don't parachute in with a ready-made answer. We start by listening — to your organisation, your people and your place — before we do anything else.
Our approach weaves together four interconnected practices that we apply in whatever combination your situation calls for. Sometimes you need all four. Sometimes just one. We'll always be honest about what's right for you.
Strategy
Setting direction together
Good strategy starts with the right questions, not the right answers. We work alongside your team to understand where you are, where you want to go, and what's getting in the way. Drawing on evidence, stakeholder insight and our own hands-on experience, we help you develop a clear and credible direction — one that people across your organisation can get behind and act on.
What this looks like in practice: stakeholder engagement, theory of change, strategic frameworks, co-design workshops, design-thinking practices.
A strategy is only as good as what it produces. We help you take early-stage concepts — however rough or ambitious — and shape them into investible projects, programmes and partnerships. We bring together research, creativity and practical know-how to make sure what you develop is not just compelling on paper, but deliverable in the real world.
What this looks like in practice: concept development, business case writing, funding bid support, programme design, partnership brokering and ecosystem development.
Design and development
Turning ideas into something real
Implementation
Making it happen on the ground
Many good ideas stall at the point of delivery. We work with you and your wider stakeholders to keep projects moving — managing complexity, building capability and adapting to what you learn along the way. We're not just advisors from the outside; we roll up our sleeves and work with you from the inside.
What this looks like in practice: project and programme management, change management, stakeholder facilitation, capacity building.
Impact isn't just a number in a report - it's the difference your work makes to people, organisations and places. We help you design robust approaches to measuring that difference, capturing learning as you go and communicating your results in ways that build trust and attract future investment.
What this looks like in practice: evaluation design, economic impact assessment, data collection and analysis, learning frameworks, impact reporting.
Evaluation and impact
Measuring what actually matters
Our team
Ben Fisher
Founder and CEO
Ben is CEO of Innovation Catalyst and has over 20 years executive and non-executive experience working with and for higher education institutions, public and private sector organisations in leading and delivering research, innovation, economic development and commercial portfolios.
Ben held a number of senior leadership roles, including Director of Business and Enterprise at Northumbria University and Associate Dean for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Exchange at Teesside University. Prior to this, Ben spent 10 years in the civil service, public and private sectors working in senior science, innovation, industry strategy, commercial and delivery roles.
An economic geographer with a PhD from Newcastle University, Ben has published in peer review journals, secured research and innovation funding, and contributed to regional and national innovation and industrial policy.
Ben supports a number of organisations in a professional capacity including as a Non-Executive Director of Knowledge Exchange UK, Vice-Chair at New College Durham and Director of the Association of Technology Transfer Professionals.
Our associates
Innovation Catalyst works with a trusted network of specialist associates who extend our capability across digital transformation, psychology, and design. Each brings deep domain expertise and shares our commitment to practical, evidence-based work — done with people, not to them.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Waterstons
Waterstons is a Durham-based technology consultancy with over 30 years of experience helping organisations get the most from their technology. They work across IT strategy, data and AI, cyber security, and digital transformation — with a particularly strong track record in the education and public sectors.
When our clients face complex technology or digital challenges, we bring in Waterstons to provide the technical rigour and implementation depth that makes the difference between a strategy that looks good on paper and one that genuinely delivers. Their approach — honest advice, sleeves rolled up, no wasted time — aligns closely with our own.
DESIGN
Rural Design Centre
The Rural Design Centre is a purpose-driven, design-led organisation that uses the power of design to spark collaboration between communities, businesses, researchers, and policymakers. With a particular focus on rural places and economies, they bring human-centred design thinking to some of the most complex challenges in place-based innovation and inclusive growth.
We work closely with the Rural Design Centre on projects where co-design and community engagement are central to the approach — where listening deeply to people and places leads to solutions that would never emerge from a conventional strategy process. Their mission to help rural communities lead in innovation, resilience, and sustainable growth is one we strongly share.
ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Dr. Gill Owens
Dr. Gill Owens is an organisational psychologist with specialist expertise in leadership, team effectiveness, and the human dimensions of organisational change. With an academic background that includes teaching work and organisational psychology at Teesside University, Gill brings a depth of understanding of how people, culture, and behaviour shape whether organisations succeed or fail in transformation.
Her specialist interests include leadership development, the psychology of organisational change, and the conditions that enable high-performing teams to thrive. For us, Gill is invaluable on projects where the human side of change is as important as the strategic or structural — which, in our experience, is most of them.