UCLan is the best northern university for start-up businesses

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has been named the top university in the north of England for producing start-up businesses.

Through the Propeller Student Enterprise Service, UCLan has given formal business and enterprise support to 851 new businesses, including sole traders, in the last six years.

These companies have been created by students and recent graduates, who have received expert help within two years of finishing their academic studies.

This success means UCLan is placed fifth overall in Tide’s newly published list of UK higher education providers.

Professor Graham Baldwin, UCLan's Vice-Chancellor, said: “To be ranked number one in the whole of the north of England for the number of student start-up businesses we’ve helped is absolutely fantastic news.

“Some of the most innovative and bold ideas come out of universities and these are the places where the entrepreneurs of tomorrow can hone their business acumen. I’m delighted our wide range of business support has helped so many business start-ups flourish.

“Our commitment to establishing ourselves as a national leader in enterprise is embedded in our strategic priorities and this news means we know what we’re doing is working well and we can continue to build on that.

UCLan has a dedicated team working with students to help set up their own businesses, as well as offering support throughout the first three years of trading.

Propeller Student Enterprise Service offers skills workshops, online resources, one-to-one support from business mentors, and interaction with a community of local businesses who work from the Propeller Hub, and is based in UCLan’s Media Factory.

Professor Sue Smith, Director of UCLan’s Centre for SME Development, commented: “We pride ourselves on offering so many business opportunities to our students, staff, graduates, and members of our Centre for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

“We work closely with sole traders, limited companies, co-operatives, social enterprises, freelancers, community interest groups, charities, not-for-profits and more to ensure they have the key skills to not only start a business but to continue trading.

“To know we’ve helped so many make that big leap to becoming their own boss is amazing and I know we’re looking forward to working with many more in the future.”

UCLan also made the list for the number of graduates who have secured patents, meaning their intellectual property is protected, being ranked 34th with 63 graduates filing patents by, or on behalf of, UCLan in the UK and overseas.

The data used for this new table has been sourced from HESA’s intellectual property, start-ups and spin-offs data and refers to graduates at universities between the academic years of 2014/15 and 2019/20.