The University of Bath in the UK has announced details of a new research partnership with EDF Energy that could deliver new thinking and resources for businesses seeking to improve their supply chain management.

Better management of supply chains within large-scale, complex capital projects will be the key focus of the new Hinkley Point C Supply Chain Innovation Lab in the university's School of Management.

The initiative will bring together a range of academics, managers and policymakers.

Hinkley Point C is a nuclear power station currently being built by EDF Energy in Somerset. It's expected to cost some £18 billion and deliver seven per cent of Britain's electricity needs.

The French power company claimed that, despite the complexity of the global supply chain required to deliver the project, it is committed to "innovative ways of working".

One of the firm's strategies is using a consortia approach with its suppliers - meaning local companies can join forces to bid for contracts that would otherwise be out of their reach.

Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Bath, said Hinkley Point C represents an "outstanding opportunity" to study and analyse a global supply chain, given the development's size, cost and complexity.

Explaining the goals of the new research collaboration, Professor Brian Squire, director of the innovation lab, said: "First, we want to create new knowledge by examining the behaviours and structures of complex supply networks. Second, we want to disseminate that knowledge for the purposes of improving industry practice, creating better policy and inspiring the next generation of supply chain professionals."

EDF Energy's Hinkley Point C commercial director, Ken Owen, said the partnership will "enable other major infrastructure projects to learn from our approach to procurement for Hinkley Point C, where we have created a global supply chain while still supporting businesses local to the project".

The initiative was announced at an event in Bristol, which was attended by representatives from more than 320 supply chain partners working on the power station.