Making a difference to our community
Our partnership activities, business support initiatives, staff and student volunteering, and so much more mean that we have a far greater impact on the local community that just being one of the region's major employers.
Driving and supporting local and regional growth since 1843
Since we were founded in 1843, making a difference to the people, organisations and infrastructure in our community has been a guiding principle in all the work that we do. Our activities and our knowledge positively impact individuals, the city of Nottingham, the East Midlands region, the UK and the wider world. But it's on our very doorstep that our impact is perhaps the most visible.
We make a difference to the community by...
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Universities for Nottingham
We are part of an unprecedented collaboration with the University of Nottingham to understand, plan and advance the impact that we jointly have on Nottingham and the region. The Universities for Nottingham initiative sees us developing a Joint Civic Engagement Plan and a greater impact for the good of the local community and businesses by working together.
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Contributing to over 10,000 jobs
At NTU, we employ around 4,000 people in the local community. However, the activities that we lead through enterprise support programmes have generated over 6,000 additional jobs amongst local businesses, especially within small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We have also part-funded over 500 placements within SMEs.
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Spending and investing in the region
As a large organisation, NTU's turnover is around £300m per year. To grow and sustain such a large university relies heavily on the support, goods and services provided by many local businesses. In fact, we purchase from over 700 companies. Furthermore, our staff and students - many of whom come from outside the region - independently spend significant sums with local businesses.
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Providing knowledge to drive local growth
We play a leading role in ensuring that our local community and businesses have the right skills, knowledge and people to thrive. Our graduates go on to work in large and small companies in and around the city, and our industrial apprenticeships support businesses to grow not just through training, but also through access to funds. Furthermore our academics and research staff develop initiatives, new ideas and offer R&D consultancy to support the growth of local, national and global industry.
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Supporting businesses and enterprise
Where do we start in talking about our work with business and enterprise? It's so vast...
- Our campus is home to the Institute of Director's (IoD) regional office
- The Legal Advice Centre, part of Nottingham Law School, offers a specialist Business and Enterprise service to provide free legal advice and support to local businesses
- We help local businesses and authorities understand how to improve their impact on local growth and measure progress
- Over 900 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have engaged in our support programmes, with £6.5m of public funds for SMEs also accessed through NTU
- We have worked with over 700 businesses and entrepreneurs to develop and launch new products and services
- We have supported our students and graduates to create over 500 new businesses since 2001, with over 85% of them surviving for more than three years
- Student and graduate-led businesses, supported by our business incubator - The Hive - currently employ over 800 people in the local community.
Find out more about our professional services and support.
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Volunteering in the community
All staff and students at NTU are actively encouraged and supported to volunteer their time and skills in the local community, helping others to thrive. Whether volunteering in schools, working with tomorrow's future leaders, or supporting local community initiatives, our staff and students proactively offer their time to help Nottingham thrive.