15 May 2015
Cranfield University has been crowned the “the UKs most business-engaged university”.
The announcement was made at this week’s coveted National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) event, with Cranfield praised for having achieved “more than 750 collaborations with businesses and governments around the world”.
This recognition follows the recent launch of Universities Mean Business, a South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) prospectus which illustrates how key our seven local universities and their associated business schools are to the UK’s economic wellbeing.
Daniel Mouawad, Chief Executive of SEMLEP, said: “We are righty proud of Cranfield University, which like our other six universities in the South East Midlands is committed to delivering the skills essential for business growth across the area.
“The sheer breadth and scale of the ground breaking intellectual activities that are widespread across the SEMLEP area is extraordinary and our universities and business schools are gateways for both UK based businesses which want to innovate and for international investors who are seeking the optimum location for a new UK business base.”
At this week’s National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) event Cranfield was hailed for its 37 years of work with Rolls Royce undertaking significant research into turbine blade coatings. Cranfield is home to one of Rolls Royce’s International University Technology Centres (UTCs) – the Performance Engineering UTC – and is a member of Rolls Royce’s University Technology Partnership (UTP), researching materials development within Rolls Royce. In this partnership Cranfield is the lead in advanced coating development.
Daniel Mouawad added: “Our recent business survey found that over a third of South East Midlands businesses have skills gaps within their existing workforce and nearly two thirds have found it difficult to recruit, so addressing the skills agenda is vital to our economy.”
Collectively, the South East Midlands Universities (SEMU) generate a combined annual income exceeding £928 million (2012/13) through their higher education, innovation and research activities making them an economically active and vital part of our locality.
Download and read our Universities Mean Business prospectus here.
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