The economic impact of the University of the West of England (UWE) on the region has been revealed in a report showing that in 2014/15 it supported more than 8,200 jobs and generated just over £400m.
The independent analysis – the first of its kind – was compiled by Oxford Economics. It shows that the university boosts the city region by stimulating economic activity across a broad range of sectors including construction, accommodation, leisure, transport and tourism. 
For every £1m of economic output the university produced during the year examined in the study, a further £430,000 was supported elsewhere in the local economy. In total it supported 8,280 jobs during the period with one in every 79 jobs in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset and North Somerset dependent on UWE’s existence.
The report’s authors praised the university for helping sustain local businesses through its commitment to purchasing goods and services from local suppliers and highlighted how the spending by its 3,549 staff, 27,800 students and their visitors helped the city to thrive.
The report also underlined the role the university plays in supplying highly-skilled graduates to local employers, attracting students to Bristol from across the globe and developing close links with industry which make a major contribution to innovation, knowledge exchange and business growth.
It says: “UWE Bristol makes a very substantial contribution to the economy of the West of England. It does so through its own operations, its purchases of goods and services from local suppliers, the wage-financed spending of its staff and the expenditure of its students and their visitors.
“Some 59% [of jobs generated] was as a result of the university’s expenditure, with the remainder stimulated by additional students’ and their visitors’ spending.
“The university contributed equivalent to 1.3% of the local economy. As a result of this activity, in 2014/15, the university, its employees, students and their visitors supported a £88.7m tax contribution to the Exchequer.”
UWE’s world-leading research, its close collaboration with industry and support for innovation and growing businesses also have a major economic impact.
The report says: “The university makes a major contribution to innovation, knowledge exchange and business growth. UWE’s iNet innovation programme supported around 1,650 businesses, generating nearly 1,000 jobs, more than 500 new products and £28m in gross value added.
“Other fast-growth high-technology businesses have benefitted from Innovation for Growth, a £7m research and development support scheme run by UWE and financed by the government’s Regional Growth Fund, now in its second phase.
“In September 2016 UWE opened Future Space, one of only four university enterprise zones nationally, which provides business acceleration, start-up and grow-on space for businesses and promotes collaboration between businesses and university researchers.”
UWE graduates are also a major boost to the workforce and supply of skills to businesses and other employers locally. Close to 7,000 students graduate from UWE annually including, last year, more than 900 nurses and other health professionals, and nearly 400 engineers and 250 computer scientists. Six months after graduation, 96% of UWE students are in work or further study – a proportion well ahead of the national average.
The report added: “The university has a major impact on businesses and the local economy through its role in the supply of graduate talent. A significant proportion of the thousands of graduates from the university annually are employed within the city-region, including many of those attracted to study at UWE from elsewhere.”
UWE pro vice-chancellor for research and enterprise Prof Martin Boddy said: “This new report very clearly demonstrates the major impact of UWE on the prosperity of the West of England as a whole – not just as one of the region’s major employers but through buying goods and services from local businesses, attracting students from across the UK and globally, supporting innovation and business growth.
“Not least, the university provides the ready supply of graduates with the skills and aptitudes that businesses and other employers need in order to thrive and succeed.”
