Minister opens new £8m social spaces

Preston's new university social spaces have been given the official seal of approval by a leading Government '¨minister.
By The Newsroom
Published 5th Apr 2018, 09:18 BST
Updated 6th Apr 2018, 10:51 BST
The official opening of the Universitys Social Spaces, from l-r Students Union Vice-President of Activities Leigh Hewison, UCLan Vice-Chancellor The official opening of UCLan's Social Space: Professor Mike Thomas, Secretary of State from International Trade Dr Liam Fox MP, UCLan Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the University Board David Taylor and third year event management student Gracie Donoghue.The official opening of the Universitys Social Spaces, from l-r Students Union Vice-President of Activities Leigh Hewison, UCLan Vice-Chancellor The official opening of UCLan's Social Space: Professor Mike Thomas, Secretary of State from International Trade Dr Liam Fox MP, UCLan Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the University Board David Taylor and third year event management student Gracie Donoghue.
The official opening of the Universitys Social Spaces, from l-r Students Union Vice-President of Activities Leigh Hewison, UCLan Vice-Chancellor The official opening of UCLan's Social Space: Professor Mike Thomas, Secretary of State from International Trade Dr Liam Fox MP, UCLan Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the University Board David Taylor and third year event management student Gracie Donoghue.

Secretary of State for International Trade, Dr Liam Fox, has officially opened the University of Central Lancashire’s ultra modern multi-million pound creation.

Developed with the Students’ Union, and as a direct result of student feedback, a single-storey ground-floor extension has been added to the existing Foster Building, while a new facility has been built which links Harrington and Greenbank buildings.

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Features of the £8.15m project include glass roofs and indoor hidden gardens, as well as movable furniture

The idea is improve make the campus more pleasant and provide a place for students and staff to come together in a relaxed environment, while incorporating areas for break out activities and informal spaces for 
socialising.

Dr Fox said: “These spaces will be extremely valuable to staff and to students, there’s a lot more to education than what you learn here and the space in which you learn it is extremely important.

“It’s incredibly light, there’s a huge amount of investment going on here, this is part of a £200m Masterplan and it includes the new flagship Engineering and Innovation Centre.

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“As Secretary of State for International Trade, our department is focused on maximising opportunities for British businesses to thrive and the University of Central Lancashire is already one of Preston’s largest employers which contributes £20m a year to the North West economy.”

The official opening coincided with the first Board of Trade Exporting’s event called the Great Ideas Hack.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) partnered with UCLan and Boost, the Lancashire business growth hub, to deliver the event.

Related topics:GovernmentPreston