BU generates more than £1million a day spending in local economy

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Bournemouth University, its staff and students bring more than £1 million a day to the South West region, a new study has revealed.

The BU Economic Impact Study 2013 looked at student, staff and university-wide spending and found that BU is worth £378 million to the South West region, and £252 million to the local conurbation.

It also revealed that BU supports over 3,145 full-time jobs in the South West – one job for every seven students at the university.

The study was produced by BU’s Professor John Fletcher and Dr Yeganeh Morakabati through staff and student surveys, interviews with major suppliers to BU and the university accounts.

Professor Fletcher said that BU was part of the “fabric of Dorset”.

“Although I am going to talk about numbers, these are lives, these are jobs, these are the people who shop in the shops and drive down the roads,” he said.

“It brings people in who you meet in the street, who enjoy the entertainment, who go to the shops and the beach and spend money, and it creates a vibrant and a young society.”

He added that students and their visiting friends and relatives spent more than £128 million in the area – often at times of year when there is less tourist trade – and that the total combined spending of the university was equivalent to 11,476 households in Dorset.

Speaking at the launch of the study, Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns added that BU’s benefit to the community also came in numerous, intangible ways.

He said: “When I’m asked about the university’s impact on Bournemouth and the region, I have an easy answer. I always say it’s priceless. I now have a number of statistics to hand to give a more informed answer in future.

“But there’s so much more to the students in Bournemouth and academic staff and for what the university does than these numbers – however great they are.”

He added: “Bournemouth would not just be economically and socially diminished without Bournemouth University, it would be decimated without Bournemouth University.”

Jonathan Clark, executive chairman of local digital agency Bright Blue Day, also spoke about the value of BU and its graduates.

The study found that the 5,879 graduates from BU this year will create an extra £1.3 billion in additional earning potential, but Jonathan added that they are also great advocates for the university and the area.

“People who leave and are in the early or later parts of their career are fantastic supporters of BU,” said Jonathan, whose agency has employed a number of BU graduates.

“They recommend BU at every turn, promote the area, come down here for weekends and bring friends to the area. It has an economic impact on us all.”

A similar Economic Impact Study in 2007 found that the total amount spent by BU contributed £241 million to the South West’s regional economic output – a figure that has now grown considerably.

BU Vice-Chancellor Professor John Vinney said: “BU has changed in that time, and our reputation has continued to grow.

“We also contribute in many less tangible ways, bringing a hugely skilled workforce to the area, support for local businesses and simply the introduction of a huge number of young people to help the region be lively, thriving and a good place to be.”

Read the Economic Impact Study 2013 in full

Professor John Fletcher on Gibraltar’s Economy

Bournemouth University’s Professor in Tourism and Director of the ICTHR (International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research), Professor John Fletcher added comment to a report written on Yahoo news about Gibraltar’s booming economy and the trouble the British-owned Island faces.

Recent studies show that the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the island expanded by 7.9 per cent last year to 1.4 billion pounds.

Compared to Britain’s “sluggish” 0.2 per cent GDP increase and Spain’s 1.4 per cent decrease, Gibraltar’s economy can only be described as “booming”.

“I have studied the Gibraltar economy for the past 35 years and I have seen it grow from an economy that provided support to Britain’s Ministry of Defence and was very much a blue collar economy into an economy with a high proportion of well qualified professionals.” Professor John Fletcher said.

Britain has sharply reduced its military presence in Gibraltar only accounting for 6.0 per cent of the local economy in contrast to 60 per cent in the 1960’s.

Dean Eastmond

Dean is a student at Budmouth College in Weymouth, who is working at Bournemouth University in the Press and PR Department. He joined BU on a Sir Samuel Mico Scholarship, which provides 10 students from his college with essential work experience for four weeks over the summer.

Making Silicon Beach a reality

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MPs, businesses and council leaders have joined Bournemouth University and the Arts University Bournemouth in a pledge to enhance and encourage the creative and digital economy in Dorset.

They came together at a Digital Summit, hosted by BU, to sign a manifesto which set in place plans and commitments to make Dorset an international hub for the creative and digital industries.

Tobias Ellwood MP, Conor Burns MP and Tony Williams, chief executive of Bournemouth Borough Council, were among those who joined the vice-chancellors of both Bournemouth’s universities in signing the manifesto.

Professor John Vinney, Vice-Chancellor of Bournemouth University, said: “It will be after today that much of the hard work truly starts. Hopefully, this will be a powerful catalyst for us to take things forward.”

Dorset already has an established and growing creative and digital economy, supported by the world-leading universities.

The manifesto commits to encouraging and nurturing this through supporting start-up businesses, encouraging existing businesses to relocate to the area and raising the profile of the creative and digital industry in Dorset so graduates choose to stay.

Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns, who also sits on the government’s Culture, Media and Sport select committee, praised the idea of the manifesto.

He said: “It’s being focused on and driven by this that we have a huge opportunity to make this work,” he said.

“It’s a fantastic place to live and work. That’s the start of Bournemouth and Poole’s offering to those looking to relocate.”

Bournemouth University has committed up to £40,000 over the next 12 months to help raise the profile of Dorset as a hub for the creative and digital economy, through sponsoring events like the BFX animation and visual effects festival which takes place in September.

Bournemouth Borough Council also pledged to support the development of the digital hub in the area, through investing in infrastructure like super-fast broadband and offering small loans to creative companies.

Chief Executive Tony Williams said: “We recognise that Bournemouth will be a different place because of the digital economy, but we want it to be a better place, a thriving place.”

Representatives from established creative and digital businesses in the area, including Adido and Bright Blue Day, were also at the Digital Summit to offer their ideas and support.

David Ford, CEO of creative agency Bright Blue Day, will chair a working group which will work with the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership to help deliver the objectives of the manifesto.

He said: “There are a number of world class agencies now here doing work around the world, doing an amazing job and competing on that world stage.

“We need to put Dorset on the map and make it an international hub for digital, to make our own Silicon Beach.”