Representation by University of Bedfordshire (University of Bedfordshire)
- Date submitted
- 5 June 2023
- Submitted by
- Non-statutory organisations
I am delighted to have this opportunity to outline some of the benefits we experience as partners of Luton airport, and some of those we foresee because of its expansion. As well as accessibility for our European partners on R&D projects, businesses attending CPD courses and students undertaking exploratory project work at the airport and with suppliers, we jointly embarked on a Luton skills needs analysis, calling in many parts of the airport supply chain to help manage the rapid expansion the Airport was experiencing at that time. That event led to the University developing 4 degree courses specifically related to aviation and airport management, which in turn have attracted over 200 students from far outside the region. We also developed a suite of 2-10 day short courses relating specifically to productivity and lean systems, and again these have proved successful to the airport supply chain, as well as generating over £1.5m to the University. Our Lean Six Sigma Black Belt for the service sector alone has been so popular it now attracts national and European cohorts (via the airport) and is delivered to organisations ranging from Luton manufacturing SMEs and Great Ormond Street Hospital to Siemens and Expedia. In our local economy, as fellow Anchor Tenants aware of your supply chain needs, we support local entrepreneurs by guiding their growth to enable earlier success. The direct impact of this is that the University of Bedfordshire is 4th in the UK for graduate startups that survive and grow for more than 3 years. We also jointly run the annual Airport recruitment fair attended by over 700 delegates, with representation from EasyJet, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Lagardere Retail, TUI, Swissport and Wizz Air. Some of those jobs simply provide students with an income whilst studying, but it is also true that many of the jobs on offer are permanent graduate-level roles with long-term potential for substantial careers. This helps Luton remain a top-ten town for sustainable, well-paid, private sector jobs growth in the UK. The airport also generates substantial funding for charities and community interest organisations, distributed by the Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation. We are working with the Foundation on a three step development programme (Start up, Stand Up, Step Up) for local Community Interest Companies to improve their sustainability and increase their impact, which will effectively double the value of Corporate Social Responsibility spending in Bedfordshire. Future benefits To help plan Luton Rising’s expansion, our joint “Recruit, Retain, Develop” business consultations exposed new apprenticeship needs for business, which we will develop and deliver through our Ofsted-approved provision. They also highlighted future cross-sector needs for data analysis, data visualisation and data presentation. Expansion will enable the development of Green Horizons Park, and we are in active planning discussions with Luton Rising about the creation of a Data Visualisation Joint R&D provision there. This will be a powerful attractor of inward investment to the region, as it will provide insight and talented people to businesses in an increasingly data-driven economy. The expansion of the airport will allow us to work as partners on developing more training provision, such as the recent £50,000 work with Luton Airport’s British School of Aviation to get more women into aviation and engineering, and more of the Supply Chain productivity programmes we ran with you and Luton Borough Council last year. It will enable more joint projects such as the proposed Creative Arts student murals on the departure terminal corridors and we see the expansion accelerating our spin-in and spin-out entrepreneurship in Bedfordshire (our 4Ps model) which we hope to roll out to other Universities in the London/ Oxford/ Cambridge triangle. We note the environmental mitigations in the planned expansion, which are important locally and nationally. As a member of the UK Universities Climate Network and the university that is first in England in the People and Planet Green League, we hope we will be part of the operational groups helping that mitigation. I commend the expansion plans, I believe they will be beneficial to us, to the town and the region. Professor Rebecca Bunting Vice Chancellor