There is a growing world-wide trend toward greater collaboration between academia and industry, an activity encouraged by governments as a means of enhancing national competitiveness and wealth creation. Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) is well known for its extensive links with industry, and provided an excellent opportunity for a study of management practice within university–industry collaborative research projects. This paper evaluates the findings of six collaborative research projects. The objective was to identify factors which, if managed correctly, increase the probability of a collaboration being perceived as successful by both academic and industrial partners. The outcome was a good practice model for successful university–industry research collaborations.