Coventry & Warwickshire universities set to take starring role at MIPIM
THE importance of Coventry and Warwickshire’s twin universities in helping to spearhead the local economy will be highlighted at this MIPIM property conference later this month.
Between them, The University of Warwick and Coventry University are investing more than £1bn over the next five years on a range of academic, commercial and accommodation buildings.
Major projects including the Science and Health Building, the Gosford Street public realm improvement works and the new Bishop Gate student accommodation scheme in Coventry, are all key schemes.
While the National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC) and a new conference centre at the University of Warwick, are also set to have a bearing on the expanded role of the universities within the regional – and national – economies.
The universities will be putting their case forward for fresh investment when they appear at the MIPIM event in Cannes on March 15-18.
They will also appear in a panel debate on how higher education has helped sustain the development industry while also driving skills and improving the reputation of their areas.
Les Ratcliffe, chairman of the Coventry and Warwickshire Place board and a member of the Coventry and Warwickshire MIPIM Partnership, said: “Both Coventry and Warwick are outstanding examples of how universities have not only striven to improve on an academic front, but have shown great ambition for their respective campuses and have continued to set the standard in forging links with industry.
“You only have to look at the two campuses to see their level of development and that has a massive knock-on effect for our city and region. Coventry University has worked closely with Coventry City Council to drive up the quality of design and development in the city centre and everyone benefits from those improvements.”
He said this would continue when the council moved its headquarters, and the university took over and developed the site.
“The continued development, coupled with strong links to industry, has led to huge investment,” he added.
He pointed to the £150m NAIC facility as an example, which will see academic and industrial R&D teams working together. Jaguar Land Rover and Tata are major investors in the scheme.
“Not only has that level of expansion driven universities across the UK forward, but it has also been a major source of work for the development and construction industries,” added Mr Ratcliffe.
“We believe Coventry and Warwickshire has been at the very forefront of that development, something which is undoubtedly reflected in the awards our universities have collected in this period.”
Bob Wilson, Business Development Director (Real Estate) at the University of Warwick, and Rob Talliss, Director of Estate Development at Coventry University, will be joined on the panel by Gary Church, Head of Further & Higher Education for global property and construction consultancy Gleeds, and Neil Rose, a director of international architects and designers Broadway Malyan.
