This article will describe the developing relationship between Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services and the two higher education institutions in Nottingham. It will chronicle how a very traditional relationship has been transformed, initially by a simple consultancy project, into a much closer working relationship characterised by a much richer variety of collaborative projects. It demonstrates the potential mutual benefits that greater trust and reciprocity between the institutions can bring to both academia and to practice, and the impact they have already had on curriculum development, teaching and learning in Nottingham.