Northumbria University,
Newcastle, has been awarded £100,000 from the Santander Universities Enterprise
and Entrepreneurship Fund.
The grant will support the development of an innovative
new enterprise facility designed to focus all of Northumbria’s entrepreneurial support
and expertise into a central hub located in its campus. It will support
businesses, including student start-ups, academic spin-outs and graduate-led
enterprises, and will offer wrap-around
business and innovation support services, entrepreneurship training, management
guidance and mentoring. The number of students accessing enterprise support at
Northumbria is also expected to double to more than 200 a year with the new
facility.
Northumbria is one of 15 institutions across the UK to
benefit from the fund, which was established to celebrate 10 years of Santander
Universities’ programme.
Matt
Hutnell, Director at Santander Universities, commented: “We are delighted to
award this grant to Northumbria University, which will enhance their great
entrepreneurial programme further by supporting an even larger number of
students with their innovative ideas. We are very excited to see it will also
benefit local schools and businesses as well as the wider region.”
Professor Andrew Wathey CBE, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive at
Northumbria, said: “Since 2015 Santander has supported a range of initiatives at
Northumbria. Their focused support for higher education is enhancing the
learning experience and career prospects for our students, and in turn is
creating exciting opportunities for new enterprise.”
Developing the facility
underpins Northumbria’s strategic approach to business, enterprise and
entrepreneurial support, especially in key sectors such as digital design and
tech businesses. It will become a 'front door' for the
University's entrepreneurial activity and create numerous opportunities for
collaborative work with the local community, which will have a direct and
positive impact on the wider North East economy.
The enterprise facility will also allow Northumbria to increase its
wider support for enterprise, including engaging more with schools and creating
an entrepreneurial pathway through secondary education to university and
beyond.
Santander Universities Enterprise
and Entrepreneurship Fund is a £1 million fund designed to support universities
in delivering large-scale projects benefiting over 5,000 people directly and
driving economic benefits across the UK.
The key objectives of the fund include helping to start, run or grow a
business, developing and promoting entrepreneurial skills, culture and
mindsets, championing innovation within businesses and delivering economic,
social or employment benefits to both local and national economies.
Santander Universities was first created in Spain in 1996 by Emilio
Botín, who recognised that universities play an important role in society. He
believed that Santander should support these institutions through the provision
of scholarships, mobility awards, entrepreneurship funding and much more.
Santander Universities now has over 1,200 university partners spanning across
20 countries. In 2007, Santander Universities was launched in the UK and now
has partnerships with over 80 universities, providing over £10m of funding in
2017 to support university staff and students.
For more information on how your business could benefit from working
with Northumbria, or how you could support the University’s enterprise work
through donations please see www.northumbria.ac.uk
