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NEWS
Northumbria University NEWS • Summer 2021
Mark of Excellence for Northumbria Northumbria University’s reputation for providing worldclass support to small businesses, start-ups and entrepreneurial students has been reaffirmed following re-accreditation with the Small Business Charter award. In 2015 Northumbria became the first university in the North East to achieve Small Business Charter status – an award recognised as a mark of excellence for UK business schools and the role they play in supporting small businesses, student entrepreneurship and economic growth. With the further five-year re-accreditation confirmed, Northumbria remains the only university in the region to hold the prestigious award. Re-accreditation will create new opportunities for Northumbria to access additional funding and support for a range of leadership and programmes the University is already helping to deliver with the Small Business Charter. These include the Government-backed Help to Grow Management programme which will offer leadership training to 30,000 SMEs across the UK as they look to respond more effectively to the Covid-19 pandemic. In its latest submission to the Small Business Charter,
“THESE ARE STAND-OUT ACHIEVEMENTS THAT REFLECT THE QUALITY OF SUPPORT NORTHUMBRIA PROVIDES TO THE NORTH EAST BUSINESS COMMUNITY.” LUCY WINSKELL OBE
NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY
Northumbria also secured exemplar status for both its student-led consultancy service The Business Clinic, and for its Incubator Hub set up to help entrepreneurial graduates and start-ups build their new business ventures. Lucy Winskell OBE, Pro ViceChancellor for Employability and Partnerships at Northumbria, says the University is immensely proud to have regained the Small Business Charter award for a further five years, adding: “Gaining the maximum score in our reassessment and securing exemplar status for our Business Clinic and Incubator Hub are stand-
out achievements that reflect the quality of support Northumbria provides to the North East business community. It highlights the significant contribution we are making to the regional economy and employment, as we build back stronger from Covid-19. “The Small Business Charter is also a badge of excellence which opens additional funding opportunities to support our transformational knowledge exchange and leadership training programmes aimed at helping our businesses grow and thrive.” The Business Clinic at Northumbria’s Newcastle Business School was established as an
innovative educational programme for final-year business students. Since its inception in 2013, the value of the students’ free consultancy advice and reports – given to more than 500 clients – has been estimated to exceed £2.7m. The programme both enhances the learning experience and employability of Northumbria’s students and delivers considerable benefits for clients. Opened in December 2019, Northumbria’s Incubator Hub has been designed and equipped for early-stage start-ups and aspiring entrepreneurs. Known as a pre-accelerator, it is located next to the University’s city-centre
campus. The state-of the-art facility provides high quality support for students and graduate entrepreneurs looking to establish new and innovative businesses and enterprises. For more information on business support from Northumbria please visit: www.northumbria.ac.uk/ business
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#GettingResults - helping the region build back stronger from Covid-19 Northumbria University has renewed its commitment to helping the North East build a better future as Universities UK (UUK) launches #GettingResults - a campaign to put universities at the heart of the nation’s economic and social recovery. Universities, employers, and local leaders in the North East will be working together to create thousands of local jobs as the region’s recovery from the pandemic gathers pace. Research recently published by UUK, a representative organisation for 140 universities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, predicts that over the
next five years universities in the North East will be involved in research projects with partners worth almost £1 billion. The study also estimates that during this time the region’s universities will help 725 new businesses and charities to be formed and train over 10,000 nurses, up to 4,000 medics and 8,000 teachers. Professor Andrew Wathey
CBE, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Northumbria University, said: “We are more strongly enthused than ever by our roles as anchor institutions, as major employers and as key partners in driving regional economic and social recovery. It has never been more important, given the enormous challenges created by Covid-19, and the huge opportunities to shape the North East’s economic landscape through our research and our
graduates, that we work together to address need and maximise impact.” Professor Wathey notes that the skills of graduates from Northumbria will also have an important role to play in the future success of businesses and sectors during the Covid-19 recovery process: “We know that Northumbria’s investments in high-level skills, research, entrepreneurship and
economic growth, and improving employment opportunities, are key to helping the North East build forward better and shape a better future. As the largest provider of graduates in the North East’s professional and managerial jobs market, we are also strongly placed to deliver highly skilled graduates to the regional workforce as it grows, modernises and develops.” Find out more about UUK’s #GettingResults campaign at www.universitiesuk.ac.uk
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