Bruntwood commits £1.25M to Upskilling the Northwest’s young people with UA92

Leading commercial property company, Bruntwood, has partnered with University Academy 92 (UA92), investing £1.25million in the higher education institution.

UA92 is a ground-breaking organisation co-founded by Lancaster University and the Class of ‘92. It offers a range of degree and other academic courses aimed at increasing access to higher education for a wider group of young people across the North West. The partnership has been created to help close the digital skills gap and give northern businesses greater access to local, emerging talent – a vital step in levelling up the region. 

Based in Old Trafford, Manchester, UA92 aims to make higher education accessible to all, through its founding principles of accessibility, social mobility and inclusivity. It is focused on fully preparing graduates for the world of work by offering industry-led courses. UA92 works closely with a range of businesses to provide mentoring, guest lectures and work experience opportunities, in addition to character and personal development guidance. 

Bruntwood has a strong track record in actively collaborating with a broad range of partners to bring about real change in the communities it operates within. This commitment to UA92 is the latest partnership which highlights Bruntwood’s ongoing focus on skills development. 

Chris Oglesby, CEO of Bruntwood said:

“At Bruntwood, we are proud to support a number of organisations across the North West that help to upskill and provide opportunities to young people and underserved groups. UA92 does just that, so we are incredibly excited to partner with them and help more young people from across our region to access the education and opportunities they deserve. 

“Greater Manchester is currently facing a digital skills shortage, and we want to help increase the pool of available talent and help our customers to gain access to the best and brightest the region has to offer. This milestone marks the latest of many proposed collaborations to invest in skills, and reaffirms our commitment to investing in the North’s talent at every step of the journey from education with UA92, to business innovation investment through our co-founded Manchester Angels investment network.

“Our purpose is to create thriving cities and economies. To do that, our communities and societies need to be fair and equal, and we have a part to play in developing that and believe that this investment will help UA92 to unlock the ambition of more people in the North. Our role on the UA92 Board will help join the dots and bolster its strategic leadership. We are committed to continuing to embed ourselves within the communities we operate within and look forward to working with as many of the graduates as possible in future – we can’t wait to see what they do next!”

UA92 opened in 2019 and earlier this year announced it had been awarded a £2million funding grant by Office for Students to open a new Digital Academy later this year. This will deliver enhanced and cutting-edge learning and will increase UA92’s student capacity for digital students almost tenfold, from 65 to 634.

Gary Neville, co-founder at UA92, added:

“We’re delighted that Bruntwood are making such a significant investment in UA92, this will drive our mission to make higher education accessible to all no matter their postcode.

“Bruntwood’s commitment to making real change in their communities, and their support of ground breaking organisations, aligns perfectly with our ethos. This is a stellar opportunity for us to boost access to higher education for as many young people as possible across our region.”

Lancaster University’s Vice-Chancellor Andy Schofield commented:

“Business partnerships have played a vital role in the UA92 vision since inception, enhancing our students’ learning and providing valuable real-life opportunities and experiences.  We are looking forward to working with the Bruntwood team to help provide our students with the distinctive skills and experience they need to succeed in the future.”