The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) indirectly contributed £250 million to the North West’s economy according to new research.
The Preston-based university has supported £6.47 million in regeneration projects throughout the North West. The exact figures for its impact to Preston is not known but it is certainly a large amount.
Regeneration projects include graduate retention and entrepreneurship programmes, design and web services, advanced manufacturing support, biomechanical testing, and waste management and crime reduction schemes.
The data was collected as part of the Higher Education Business and Community Interaction Survey.
Bede Mullen, director of knowledge transfer at UCLan said:
These figures demonstrate how competitive the university is both regionally and nationally and the key role it plays in stimulating the region’s regeneration.
With our ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) funding alone, we’ve advised 1,248 small businesses in the last two years, which has directly generated 772 new jobs, safeguarded a further 1,302 and boosted combined sales by an estimated £52m.
Image credit to Amy Ferguson.