October 24, 2016, by Tim Utton
Nottingham in Parliament Day – celebrating success stories from Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
Nottingham in Parliament Day, on October 25th 2016, is a celebration of all that’s great about Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. Here’s just a sample of recent good news:
City of Science & Healthcare Innovation
A £30million extension to the BioCity Nottingham building is currently under construction and due to open spring 2017. Safeguarding 250 jobs and expected to create 700 further jobs across the lifetime of the building, this is a Nottingham City Council/BioCity project supported by £6.5million from D2N2’s Local Growth Fund.
£23.6m boost for medical research: medical researchers received a £23.6m package of government funding to expand their pioneering work into new treatments and diagnostics. The University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals Trust will establish a large new Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) which will incorporate two existing smaller Biomedical Research Units in the city.
The Universities of Nottingham, Oxford and Warwick are leading ‘blue sky’ research into artificially-intelligent medical devices that will improve treatment for cancer and intensive care patients and those with chronic wounds.
The Health and Life Sciences Innovation Showcase will bring together leading organisations across the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire health and life sciences sector to display the latest innovations and developments that are benefitting frontline staff and patients.
Medilink East Midlands – also based at BioCity in Nottingham – is launching its £4.9m INSTILS project – Inspiring Networking to Stimulate Technological Innovation in Life Sciences – to help small and medium enterprises in D2N2 LEP area’s life sciences sector with support and advice, to innovate and create new products. D2N2 is contributing £2.49million investment to this project.
A Nottingham service to get people in poor health into homes more suited to their needs has saved housing and care services more than £500,000 in nine months.
Business Talent & Enterprise
A new £5.2m centre for entrepreneurship was opened in the city on October 24th by the Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation. Jo Johnson was guest of honour at the opening of the Ingenuity Centre at The University of Nottingham, which will generate hundreds of jobs by providing offices for technology-driven start-up businesses.
Nottingham is the best university in the UK for graduate employment, according to the just-published Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017. The University is also back in the top 20 after moving up five places this year, due mainly to a significant increase in student satisfaction. It is the biggest rise among the leading universities in the league table and enough to earn a shortlisting for the coveted University of the Year award.
Nottingham Business School joined the world’s top 5% after Nottingham Trent University received accreditation for the quality of its business and management courses from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
Property consultancy Innes England celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016 with the accolade ‘Agent of the Year’. Another business celebrating an anniversary is Cartwright Communications, a PR and digital business, which marked its first decade in 2016. Hugely committed to growing local talent, Cartwright works with further education in the city and has devised its own training programme for young account executives.
Global Connections
An extra £12million for Midlands Connect – the transport connectivity arm of the Midlands Engine – will continue its strategy of better transport connections within the Midlands, and between the region and the rest of UK and rest of world. D2N2 is one of 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships in the Midlands involved in the Midlands Engine.
Newton Funding: from a total of 68 Universities, the University of Nottingham has emerged as the top awardee of British Council Newton Fund Institutional Links grants (13) and is joint top awardee from a total of 160 institutions competing for British Council Newton Fund Researcher Links Workshop awards (6).
The collaborations, which are designed to tackle community issues through science and innovation, include finding alternatives to fossil fuels used in airplanes and producing biodegradable food bags with links formed with countries such as Brazil, Egypt, Philippines and Indonesia. Since the Newton Fund was established in 2014 The University has been awarded a total of £4.5m in funding.
Through the Mojatu Foundation’s “End FGM in a Generation” campaign in UK and beyond, Nottingham city has taken a strong stance and declared Nottingham a “Zero-tolerance to FGM City” – the first city in the UK to do so. Other cities are now keen to follow.
Culture Heritage & Society
£500,000 Arts Council England grant to the Creative Quarter company in Nottingham’s ‘Big House’ programme.
Creative Quarter to lead a consortium of creative and cultural organisations (including the New Art Exchange, The Broadway Cinema, Nottingham City Council and Nottingham Trent University in Nottinghamshire) to support more than 200 local businesses and 90 new ventures.
Nottingham’s Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall secured £1.5milion from Arts Council towards its £3.3m Royal Transformation Project. Nottingham City Council has already confirmed it will provide the remaining £1.8m.
The National Justice Museum will launch in Nottingham in February 2017 – as well as featuring the UK’s largest collection relating to law, justice, crime and punishment, it will deliver education programmes at legal and heritage sites across the UK.
Nottingham’s Strategic Cultural Partnership are celebrating Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature status at Nottingham in Parliament Day, with guests including Stephen Mangan, John Harvey, Stephen Lowe, Tanya Myers, and Hetain Patel.
Nottingham has secured Purple Flag accreditation for a seventh consecutive year – demonstrating that Nottingham is a great, safe and vibrant place for a night out.
The National Biodiversity Network – the UK’s largest partnership for nature – gathers 30,000 biological records per day.
Nottingham Research Futures
Future of transport innovation
D2N2 has invested £6.1million in new cross-Nottingham cycleways – currently being built – as part of Nottingham City Council’s Nottingham Cycle City Ambition Programme. Meanwhile WEGO Couriers are promoting sustainable transport connections to champion the East Midlands as a driver for economic growth.
A £48million investment in East Nottinghamshire’s railway continues: the latest phase of the Railway Upgrade Plan will see the modernisation of signalling as well as a number of level crossing upgrades.
The UK’s first Eco Expressway has created an electric vehicle-only lane, as Nottingham boosts its electric bus fleet and aims to become UK’s leading ‘Cycle City’.
Future of food
Launch of £3.5million FEAST (Food Enterprise Advisory Support Team) programme to help food and drink manufacturers in Nottingham and rest of the D2N2 LEP area looking to expand, take on extra staff, develop new products and access growth financing. Half the £3.5m programme cost will come from D2N2’s EU funding allocation.
The food at two Michelin starred Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms has ensured the place of Nottingham on the international gastronomic stage.
Future of healthcare technologies
Cripps Health Centre, the GP surgery that serves The University of Nottingham has been rated the best in Nottingham by its patients. With around 41,000 patients, Cripps Health Centre is the biggest single-site GP practice in the country.
However, a new health centre is in the pipeline following a £9 million gift to the University by the Cripps Foundation – the largest single donation from a private foundation in the University’s history.
Home of Sport
Nottingham is set to host the UK Corporate Games for the first time in 2017. The UK Corporate Games is Europe’s largest annual multi sports festival for businesses taking place between the 6- 9 July. Marketing Nottingham & Nottinghamshire is helping to build a strong reputation as an event city and a home for major sporting events and is delighted to be working with the UK Corporate Games.
Gold medal for table tennis superstar: an English student at The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) won his second paralympic gold medal.
Nottingham alumni scooped two silver medals in the Rio Olympics with the biggest success taking place out on the water in the canoe slalom and the rowing.
After clocking a time of 102.01 seconds (+0.43 behind the Slovakian gold medallist team) there was a nail biting wait for David Florence (Mathematical Physics 2005 graduate) and teammate Richard Hounslow, as they had to watch the German pair navigate the course before their silver medal could be confirmed.
2005 graduate Melanie Wilson was part of the Women’s eight rowing team who powered from the back of the pack at the halfway point to a photo-finish, claiming the silver medal and scooping the first ever Olympic medal won by a British women’s eight.
Current University of Nottingham students will be able to train in the £40 million David Ross Sports Village – now open.
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