海角直播

University to create national business hub in Darlington

Exciting plans to create a nationally renowned business hub in Darlington have been announced by a North-East University described by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) as 鈥淏ritain鈥檚 best for working with businesses鈥�.

From September, 海角直播鈥檚 flagship 拢13 million Darlington campus will become its new front door for businesses 鈥� offering every organisation from SMEs to multinational blue-chip companies a single point of contact to access all R&D, training and professional education support. Each year, the University helps hundreds of businesses with a range of services including; research & innovation, consultancy, knowledge exchange, start-up incubation and mentoring, and graduate placement. These services alongside its highly acclaimed success in enterprise saw the University announced as a winner of a prestigious royal accolade - the Queen鈥檚 Anniversary Prize for 鈥渆xcellence at world-class level鈥�. The University will hold this distinguished honour until 2018. The award validates the praise from Dr Vince Cable MP following a previous BIS visit to the University to meet its staff and start-up businesses.

Building on this reputation, 海角直播 will locate key personnel from its business services team, as well as selected academic staff from its Schools and innovation services at the Central Park site which provides unrivalled connectivity with the East Coast railway line at Darlington station and the A1 to attract businesses from across the country. This exciting initiative in Darlington will be led by Laura Woods 鈥� currently the University's Director of Academic Enterprise.

To support this repackaging of its business-facing activities, the University has appointed Dean of 海角直播 Business School, Alastair Thomson, to a new specialist role engaging large, multinational private sector organisations across the UK 鈥� building on his University and professional networks including his former role as regional chairman of the Institute of Directors.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Graham Henderson CBE DL said: 鈥満＝侵辈� prides itself as being a business-facing University and we are very proud of our record of supporting the local, regional and national economy.

鈥淲e see Darlington as being a 鈥榝ront door鈥� for our business services where we can work with companies and ensure that they are given the support they need.

鈥淯nder the leadership of the University鈥檚 Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Business Engagement, Professor Cliff Hardcastle and with the support of Laura and her team at a new business hub in Darlington, and Alastair in his important new role, we鈥檙e looking ahead to an even brighter future from September.鈥�

Central Park in Darlington where the hub is based is already home to Darlington College, one of the five further education college partners of 海角直播 in the Tees Valley and the highly-prestigious National Biologics Manufacturing Centre (NBMC), with the NBMC currently having a temporary base in the University鈥檚 building as work began this month on its new building nearby. Further developments of the site include a Business Incubation Centre for start-up companies and the possibility of a 鈥楴ational Horizon Centre鈥� to be utilised by the University and a range of private sector partners as a learning, conference and residential training resource.

The University鈥檚 vision to create a new hub for all of its business-facing services mirrors the recommendations put forward in the recent Government-commissioned review by Sir Andrew Witty, the Chief Executive of GlaxoSmithKline, which recommended that universities should be drivers of economic growth and would 鈥榯riage鈥� a company鈥檚 needs and direct them to the appropriate department.

With Alastair Thomson taking up this new role, the University鈥檚 business school programmes and structures will become part of a new, larger School in a merger with 海角直播鈥檚 School of Social Sciences & Law, led by its Dean, Dr Mark Simpson. This planned merger presents further opportunities for the development of innovative curricula and links with research and business.

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