Published on 03 February 2023
How north-east universities are working together to help drive forward the levelling up agenda and grow the region’s economy.
Sunderland, Newcastle, Northumbria, Durham and Teesside universities have today (Friday 3 Feb) launched a joint report highlighting the regional impact made by universities across the north-east.
The Innovating Together – Universities in the North East (InTUNE) report showcases the contribution of the five universities to the innovation and business growth agenda in the region, and their potential role in delivering activities which contribute to the Government’s Levelling Up agenda.
This includes support for businesses and the creative industries, R&D collaborations, and workforce training in key sectors.
As key anchor institutions and major employers – between them they support more than 34,000 jobs and contribute £2.2bn annually to the north-east economy – they play a huge role in the health, wellbeing and resilience of communities across the region.
With the launch of the report at the Transforming Tomorrow Together Roundtable, hosted by CEO of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Dame Ottoline Leyser, the aim is to explore the potential for further collaboration for the benefit of the region and local people.
Professor Michael Young, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at the University of Sunderland, said: “This report comes at an exciting time for Sunderland with major investments underway in the city and our University.
“Through applied research and collaborative working with industry, the public sector and our regional university partners, we are committed to making a positive impact on our city and region.
“The combined strength of our five universities will continue to drive economic growth, provide social and cultural benefits and help to improve health and wellbeing across the north-east.”
Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, UKRI Chief Executive, added: "This report demonstrates very clearly how collaboration between diverse regional partners can fuel innovation with real impact. UKRI is committed to working with our partners in the north-east to shape a dynamic, diverse and inclusive research and innovation system that creates high quality jobs and public services, benefitting the whole region."
Working together
Over the past seven years, 465 projects involving two or more of the five universities have been delivered with a research value of £243m.
In 2020/21, the five universities collectively supported over 700 graduate start-ups and 59 spin outs, with almost 80% of these being based in the north-east and benefitting the local economy.
The report focuses on nine joint innovation projects which target some of the region’s priority sectors and were set up to stimulate innovation, support business growth, and improve productivity. To date:
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Eight of the nine are forecast to contribute £33.3m and support 1,524 SMEs, generate an increase in employment of 662 FTE jobs, and help SMEs bring 768 new products/processes to either the market or the firm. To date, these eight projects have created 500 net new jobs and £23m GVA (net), with more jobs and GVA expected to be created in the future, as a result of the investment.
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The ninth project, Northern Accelerator, has been a game changer for commercialisation in north-east England, significantly increasing the average number of spin-outs from 1.8 per annum pre-project, to an average of more than 8 per annum.