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Economic impact

Driving economic growth in Coventry

In 2011/2012...

The total value of the University of Warwick’s economic impact on the city of Coventry was £222m.

This economic impact was mostly created by the 13,179 University of Warwick students living in the city and on Warwick’s campus, whose expenditure was worth £132.3m to the Coventry economy. Therefore, the average annual economic impact of each Warwick student to Coventry’s economy was £10,039. This figure is based on methodology developed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and is reduced to take into account student term-times, living in the family home and circular spending.

2,607 members of the University of Warwick and Students’ Union staff live in Coventry, creating £54m of economic benefit. The University and Students’ Union generated £36.2m of economic impact by purchasing goods and services from 504 Coventry businesses. This economic impact was worth 4,739 extra jobs to Coventry.

Innovation

University of Warwick Science Park

Now owned outright by the University, the Science Park provides a full range of business support services to businesses in Coventry and elsewhere in the West Midlands. These services have benefitted over 1800 companies in the last 8 years, attracted 24 businesses to the region, created 66 companies and safeguarded 291 jobs. The Science Park is currently home to 140 tenants on four sites.

Helping regional manufacturing thrive

WMG (formerly Warwick Manufacturing Group) has developed a close relationship with Jaguar Land Rover, a major employer in the region. JLR has located 180 of its R&D staff on campus as part of a programme which will generate £100m of collaborative research over 10 years. WMG have also led the Premium Automotive Research and Development Programme (PARD) designed to assist the automotive supply base in the region. An independent evaluation concluded that it has assisted 605 businesses, generated £55.5m in value added and safeguarded 5,496 jobs.

Supporting SMEs in Coventry and Warwickshire

The International Institute for Product and Service Innovation (IIPSI) is a dedicated facility to help West Midlands SMEs access world-leading technology to develop leading, innovative products and services. It is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the University of Warwick. IIPSI is expected to create or safeguard over 200 jobs and catalyse start-ups through a funded support programme for West Midlands SMEs that will run until the end of June 2015.

Education and Training

Providing high quality education and skills to support Coventry’s economy

In 2012/13 the University of Warwick was ranked as the best University in the Midlands by all four major UK university league tables. It was placed 5th by the Guardian, 6th by the Complete University Guide, 10th by the Sunday Times, and 8th by the Times Good University Guide. Warwick graduates account for 3% of the West Midlands population with NVQ Level 4 qualifications and above, a significant proportion of the region’s highly skilled labour force. There are currently 6,426 Warwick graduates registered as living in Coventry, with hundreds more living in the region but working in the city.

WMG Academy for Young Engineers

In September 2014, the University of Warwick will open the WMG Academy for Young Engineers, a brand new school and part of a family of University Technical Colleges – schools for 14–18 year olds which are led by businesses and a university. The WMG Academy will take all that is good from mainstream education and add in a host of skills which will prepare young people from the local area for employment or higher education. A key feature of the curriculum will be a close working relationship with local and national employers. Employers will be involved in setting the Academy’s curriculum, which includes technical projects which are based on the day-today problems and situations they have to resolve in their companies. The University is already working with Jaguar Land Rover, National Grid, SCC, Prodrive, Ricardo, Automotive Insulations, Squires Gears, Dassault Systemes, Bosch and Tata Motors, and hopes that many more businesses will also join us.

University innovation brings benefits to Coventry’s health community

In 2012, the University of Warwick, GE Healthcare, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust (UHCW) and Coventry City Council joined forces to create the Warwick Healthcare Partnership. WHP will seek solutions to the chronic diseases responsible for millions of deaths worldwide each year. The new consortium brings together expertise from academia, industry, medicine and the community, to address the key health problems that affect resource-poor communities both locally and overseas. In 2009 the Clinical Trials Unit building was completed at Gibbet Hill at a cost of £4m. The Unit now boasts 24 separate trials across its four major work streams of musculoskeletal conditions including injury prevention and management, cancer, clinical trials methodology and systematic reviews. This resource is also credited with raising the quality of clinical practice in the local area.

Global connections

As part of the University’s internationally-renowned approach to working with business, WMG has developed a close relationship with Jaguar Land Rover, a major employer in the region. JLR has located 180 of its R&D staff on campus as part of a programme which will generate £100m of collaborative research over 10 years. JLR and Tata are also funding, with the UK government, the development of the National Automotive Innovation Campus at Warwick; a £100m investment in a state-of-the-art new building on the University’s campus announced at the end of 2012.

Our international students make up 40% of all Warwick Volunteers, and organise events like One World Week, which, with over 200 student volunteers, is arguably the world’s largest student-run international event.

Culture and community

Students as a part of the Coventry community

Viva La Yog! is a social enterprise set up by three final year students, supported by Warwick Students’ Union and Ernst & Young. They aim to tackle socio-economic disadvantage in the Coventry area by financing nutritional classes for school children through the sale of their organic, home-made frozen yoghurt. Working with local schools, Viva La Yog! will engage Coventry children living in poverty through fun tasting and activity sessions, whilst educating them about the importance of a healthy, balanced diet.

Warwick Volunteers

Warwick Volunteers is one of the UK’s largest and most popular student volunteering schemes. It attracts 2500 registrants each year and its mentoring scheme alone has been estimated to have a social-economic worth of £1m to the local community.