Billy Ingham Managing director
UCLan Burnley
UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE IS A STARTER FOR TEN
Burnley’s transformation from former mill town to a true university town is a lesson in ambition.
In 2018 the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) revealed plans to expand in the town and grow student numbers there tenfold. Major progress has been made. UCLan’s School of Medicine at Victoria Millis is a centre for primary care research.
In 2022 Burnley Council bought the vacant Newtown Mill to further the university’s expansion, using government levelling up cash to buy the Victorian building in the Weavers Triangle.
Nearby Sandygate Mill has become a new library and student union space as the canalside campus vision is developed. UCLan is committed to the continuous growth of the Burnley campus and aims to have 6,000 students in the town by 2032.
Burnley College is also playing its part in the borough’s skills agenda and in creating opportunities, having seen massive growth. And it has been named the number one college in the country in the government’s latest national achievement rate tables for learners aged 16 to 18.
Dharma Kovvuri, dean of the UCLan Burnley campus, says the spirit and culture found in the borough has played a big part in the success of its expansion plans.
He says: “The way in which the Bondholders, the council and the stakeholders work for the good of Burnley is really crucial to encouraging organisations like ourselves to want to set up in Burnley and help Burnley achieve its goals and ambition.”
Dharma also stresses the important of skills when it comes to attracting businesses and driving growth. He adds: “If you’re really going to grow and develop businesses, you need to innovate and that’s been a problem for the UK in terms of our productivity. Developing the skills are going to be essential to grow that.
“What Burnley has in terms of the work of the college, the university and the schools here is a really important catalyst for all of that.”
Karen Buchanan, principal and chief executive at Burnley College, says it has seen “massive growth” attracting students from as far as Cumbria and Greater Manchester.
She explains: “Fifty per cent come from out of area and the willingness of businesses in
Burnley to engage helps the young people to come from far and wide.”
Karen also outlines some of the work the college is doing with UCLan as it looks to raise aspirations. She points out to the growing population of school leavers and an increase in adult returners, preparing them to go onto the university to take on a degree.
Karen adds: “We are also retraining because businesses have been diversifying post-Covid.
“And we are seeing more and more young people want to stay in Burnley. Covid has hit them hard, they want to live locally and to do an apprenticeship with us or a degree apprenticeship with us or with the university in Burnley.”
Lukman Patel, chief executive of Burnley Council, says health and social care is now the borough’s biggest employer. He describes engineering and advanced manufacturing as a “massive growth area” and points to the work UCLan and Burnley College are carrying out on the back of the decision to locate the National Cyber Force in Lancashire.
He adds: “We need to focus on skills across the board. We are a great place to attract businesses and they will talk about life skills. We are really fortunate to have state- of-the-art facilities and teaching staff.”
Helen Ingham, director at Donald Race and Newton Solicitors, says the skills agenda is important for the growth of the practice, which is 100 years old.
She says: “We have four new trainees who’ve just started with us. We’re investing in young people.
“They’re all in their twenties and they want to be here. They don’t feel the need to escape to the city.
“We’ve got to grow via the next generation and the college is assisting hugely with that. That’s where the opportunities are. We have to harness that.”
Leon Calverley, Director at Door4, says the increase in the student population is having a positive impact on Burnley.
He says: “The difference that makes in the leisure economy, the night-time economy, it just adds an awful lot of vibrancy to the town and makes it a great place to want to stay.
“And in turn, as a business, it makes it increasingly more attractive for people to want to come and work with us in Burnley.”
LANCASHIREBUSINES SV
IEW.CO.UK
ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL WHEN
ENERGY BUYING What type of energy contract should your business be on?
It all depends on the type of business, how much energy you consume, and your appetite for risk.
We appreciate that no one feels they are getting a fair energy deal right now, but if you fully understand the options on the table, you can certainly go some way to help ease the pain.
There are two purchasing options at either end of the spectrum - fixed and flex.
Fixed term contract A fixed term contract offers a fixed per unit (kWh) price for the duration of the contract, the length of which you decide.
A fixed contract is suited to a business which prioritises budget certainty and doesn’t wish to enter into the realms of potentially time-consuming and complicated energy management.
Flexible contract A flexible contract enables you to control how and when you buy your energy – great if you know what you’re doing, not so great if you don’t.
Businesses using this approach have the flexibility to carve up their energy purchases into small chunks throughout the life of the contract and take advantage of market dips.
However, we would strongly recommend working with an energy management expert if you should decide on this route.
A consultant can create you a bespoke buying strategy and advise on optimum buying times to suit your energy portfolio.
Everything in between There are several buying options which sit inside the fix-flex spectrum which you may wish to consider if you’re not satisfied that either of these two are exactly the right fit for you and your business.
Let’s have a chat.
For further information call Billy Ingham Tel: 01282 222755
www.redhawkgroup.co.uk
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IN VIEW
BURNLEY
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