In West Lancashire, Edge Hill’s total annual economic impact is put at £261.3m, with students ploughing £84.5m into the local economy and a supply chain spending more than £76m.
The university’s overall employment impact is put at the equivalent of 3,238 full time jobs. They are impressive figures.
Professor Graham Baldwin, vice-chancellor at UCLan and LEP board director, says: “We are big businesses in our own right, making a significant contribution to the local and regional economy.
“An awful lot of innovation work that takes place in the county is driven by the universities. If we were not here, there would be a massive hole in the community and the economy.”
He adds: “This university is an anchor institution, and we employ a lot of people. On top of that we bring a lot of spend into the community through our students.”
Professor Julie Mennell
Mark Rushforth, Lancaster University’s associate director of enterprise and innovation, says the importance of its programmes with SMEs cannot be underestimated, helping to inject cash into the regional economy.
He says: “From an SME point of view we are a massive asset. We do a lot of work with companies in Lancashire and the wider North West in terms of innovation- based collaboration. We work with them to understand their needs and challenges.
Professor Graham Baldwin
He also speaks of the impact UCLan has had in the development of Preston as a city and its investment and ambitions for its Burnley campus and the positive role that is having in the town’s fortunes.
UCLan has plans to increase its student numbers in Burnley to 4,000, transforming it into a university town. That work, says Prof Baldwin, is already benefiting its economy in terms of inward investment as businesses arrive to support the student population.
Looking at the wider picture for Lancashire, Prof Baldwin points to the collaboration work between the four institutions. He says: “All the vice-chancellors meet on a regular basis. We all recognise that the stronger the county is, the better it is for all of us.
“Where there are mutual benefits there is an incentive to work together and put on a collaborative front.”
Dr John Cater, vice-chancellor at Edge Hill, is the longest-serving head of a UK higher education institution, starting out in the role in 1993. He points out that his university is the largest business in West Lancashire.
And he adds that it also provides “high value jobs” for the area. The average salary in the university is over £40,000 per full time employee. The West Lancashire average is £29,454.
“And we work with external partners that provide pathways so our research can have impact and deliver societal and economic benefits.”
To highlight that, Lancaster has just launched a new programme to equip SME leaders to protect their businesses against cyber-attacks and avoid the potentially devastating outcomes of a data breach.
The University of Cumbria also makes it mark economically in the towns and cities where it is based, including Lancaster.
It continues work to strengthen its links with businesses in its home county and the Morecambe Bay area, including BAE Systems and Sellafield.
And Cumbria is collaborating with Lancaster in the development of an HE campus in Barrow.
Vice-chancellor Professor Julie Mennell says its partnerships work to address the need for more higher-level skills across the North West. That includes a focus on the industries of the future.
She says: “We are now talking about project management, advanced manufacturing, supply chain logistics and design engineering. We are working closely with sectors and employers so we can meet their demands.
“There is a need to get more people in the North West educated to HE levels and we need to upskill the existing workforce.”
LANCASHIREBUSINESSVIEW.CO.UK
The investment in the campus, which he describes as a “big community asset” will continue, with around £80m of development work planned over the next three to four years.
And a planning application has been lodged for a new life science building costing £16m.
Becky Toal Managing director
@CrowberryEnergy crowberry-energy
TRAIN YOUR TEAM IN ESG AND
SUSTAINABILITY As businesses become aligned to what it means to be sustainable and how to comply with Environmental Social Governance (ESG), you can improve your sustainability and ESG via training courses that can strengthen competency in this area.
We review the options below.
UN Sustainable Development Goals – An Introduction and Foundation
The UN SDGs consist of 17 different goals and how you can introduce and align your business to this framework is vital.
Training can support your team in the application of the SDGs. In training your team in the UN SDGs, you can promote ESG within your organisation and encourage culture change towards more sustainable actions.
PAS2060 – Carbon Neutrality
Businesses are aware of the need to reach carbon neutrality and taking inventory of your organisation’s emissions and training your team in the PAS2060 standard for achieving carbon neutrality has many benefits.
It is vital to understand the process of calculating and documenting your carbon footprint, something you can show to stakeholders to highlight ESG and sustainability. This also supports the UK Government’s PPN 06/21 Taking Account of Carbon Reduction Plans, essential for example for all suppliers to the NHS.
International Standards
International Standards contribute to your sustainability journey and improve ESG. Every ten years the ISO organisation refreshes their content so staying aware of these changes is vital.
All ISO standards are based on the Plan, Do, Check and Act cycle, however each one has technical differences which in some cases requires technical understanding.
For support with training your team
towards any of the above standards, or to see other training courses that we offer, contact 01257 231171, email
mary@crowberryconsulting.com or visit
www.crowberryconsulting.com
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UNIVERSITIES
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