Northern varsities’ impact ‘double value of Premier League’
THE value to the economy of the eight most research-intensive universities in the Northern Powerhouse region is almost double that of the entire Premier League, a report reveals today.
The N8 universities contribute £6.6bn of GVA (gross value added) to the Northern economy per year.
The scale and breadth of the economic impact of the universities is revealed in a report by the N8 Research Partnership – The Power of 8: Knowledge, Innovation and Growth for the North – launched today.
The report also reveals the universities of Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York together generated a total of 119,000 FTE jobs – equivalent to all the jobs within a city the size of Salford.
And it found that the N8 universities attracted £1.26bn of research funding per annum.
The report also highlights the importance of EU funding with some 13%, or £127m, of competitive research funding for the N8 universities coming from the European Union.
Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Manchester, said: “This report demonstrates the very significant positive contribution of the University of Liverpool and its partner institutions across the North of England, helping to create jobs and prosperity in our local communities.”
The research by the N8 Research Partnership, the collaboration body for the northern research-intensive universities, and Viewforth Consulting, was launched today at an event in Leeds.
The findings prompted calls by Professor Koen Lamberts, vice-chancellor of the University of York and chair of N8, for Prime Minister Theresa May to accelerate the Government’s plans by increasing investment in infrastructure and innovation in the North.
Professor Lamberts said: “This research paints a compelling and comprehensive picture of the contribution our universities make to the Northern economy, creating jobs and prosperity for people from all walks of life.
“It makes abundantly clear that N8 universities are not just world-class research institutions, but also major economic enterprises, generating significant revenue and economic activity and driving inward investment.
“The Government’s Northern Powerhouse agenda can and should play a major role in creating an environment that enables our universities to generate even more benefit to the Northern and wider UK economy.
“Such benefit can only come, however, if there is further investment in innovation in the North: in inward investment, in transport and infrastructure.
“We need to be able to attract and retain the world’s most talented academics, researchers and students; we need to ensure that our students, staff and partners can easily access our world-leading facilities; and we need to attract innovative overseas businesses so that we have a genuinely international innovation and enterprise eco-system.”
