UCLan has ranked top in the north for producing start-ups after assisting 851 graduate businesses in six years.

Through the Propeller Student Enterprise Service, UCLan offered formal business and enterprise support to start-ups, including sole traders during this period.

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Students and recent graduates created the companies and received help within two years of finishing their academic studies.

The success means UCLan is placed fifth overall in Tide’s newly published list of UK higher education providers.

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Professor Graham Baldwin, UCLan Vice-Chancellor, said: “To be ranked number one in the whole of the north of England for the number of student start-up businesses we’ve helped is absolutely fantastic news.

“Some of the most innovative and bold ideas come out of universities, and these are the places where the entrepreneurs of tomorrow can hone their business acumen. I’m delighted our wide range of business support has helped so many business start-ups flourish.

“Our commitment to establishing ourselves as a national enterprise leader is embedded in our strategic priorities, and this news means we know what we’re doing is working well, and we can continue to build on that.”

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UCLan has a team working with students to set up their businesses and offers support throughout the first three years of trading.

Propeller Student Enterprise Service offers skills workshops, online resources, one-to-one support from business mentors, and interaction with a community of local businesses who work from the Propeller Hub, based in UCLan’s Media Factory.

Professor Sue Smith, Director of UCLan’s Centre for SME Development, said: “We pride ourselves on offering so many business opportunities to our students, staff, graduates, and members of our Centre for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

“We work with: sole traders, limited companies, co-operatives, social enterprises, freelancers, community interest groups, charities, not-for-profits, and more, ensuring they have the skills to start a business and continue trading.

“To know we’ve helped so many make that big leap to becoming their own boss is amazing, and I know we’re looking forward to working with many more in the future.”

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UCLan also made the list for the number of graduates who have secured patents, meaning their intellectual property is protected.

The university ranked 34^th, with 63 graduates filing patents by, or on behalf of, UCLan in the UK and overseas.

The data used for the new table was sourced from HESA’s intellectual property, start-ups and spin-offs data for graduates at universities between the academic years of 2014/15 and 2019/20.

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