Jo Lappin, CEO Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership

Cumbria LEP support UoC given its significant transformation that it has made, and the successes delivered in 2021/22. The visibility of the University has increased considerably based on the extensive capital programmes that are underway in both Carlisle and Barrow to extend the footprint and make the University an anchor of place making and shaping. This profile has been further enhanced by the work in securing national workforce development contracts with globally recognised businesses including BAE, BBC, and Rolls-Royce. The University has demonstrated strategic leadership for the skills agenda across Cumbria through the Vice-Chancellor’s role as Co-Chair of Cumbria’s People, Employment and Skills Strategy Group, which brings together the skills ‘system’ to ensure that the needs of the economy and businesses are met. This has drawn in a wide range of partners to focus on addressing Cumbria’s labour and skills challenges, with the former being particularly challenging, given Cumbria’s declining working age population. The Vice-Chancellor is also part of the wider economic leadership of Cumbria through her active and committed participation on the Board of the Cumbria LEP.

It is particularly pleasing to see the significant increase that has been achieved in both student numbers and revenue streams by the University. These are real and tangible measures of the turnaround that has been achieved. The approval of the Cumbria School of Medicine is also a considerable success, creating a facility, which will support Cumbria’s aspiration to improve health service provision and achieving this through home grown talent, given the current difficulties in attracting health professionals to the area. The University of Cumbria has made significant progress in creating a modern and expanding university in a rural environment with a highly dispersed population and deserves recognition for this.