This paper reports the findings of an 18 month pilot study into the role of spin-outs within the research commercialisation strategies of 10 U.K. universities in the period 1998 - 2002. The results of the research are presented around the themes of: the context for research commercialisation at each of the 10 U.K. universities (including consideration of regional context, research intensity, commercialisation strategy, commercialisation resources, and history of commercialisation); and the characteristics of the spin-out companies themselves (including origins, growth in revenue, growth in number of employees, investment received, on-going links with the universities). The structure of the paper is as follows. Firstly, we place this research within the context of existing research on the commercialisation of university research. Secondly, we describe the approach taken to acquiring the evidence needed to address the research question. We then present and discuss the evidence captured through the pilot research. Finally, the paper then highlights areas of new research that are now being initiated to build on the outputs of the pilot project.