Durham University is key to bright future

The importance of having one of the world's top 100 universities is central to Durham's position as a first-class business destination - and there are dynamic plans in place to accelerate the momentum of recent years. Vice-Chancellor Professor Stuart Corbridge passionately believes that Durham University is at the heart of the county's success in attracting and retaining high-calibre employees, and developing successful businesses. He is determined that the university will continue to build on the varied and successful partnerships, forged within the business community, which are driving the county forward in terms of research and development and inward investment. "We have a tremendous supply of really smart people here - students and lecturers - and the more of them we can keep, the better that ultimately has to be for business," he said. "The fact that we have such a deep talent pool of high-quality scientists is a very strong starting point when it comes to attracting businesses." Students coming to Durham make more instinctive entrepreneurs than their parents' generation and it is capturing that entrepreneurial spirit that the university sees as a key focus. Durham University has two main student enterprise societies - Entrepreneurs Durham and Enactus Durham - with more than 3,000 members between them. The strength of that membership underlines the strategic importance the university places on business creation, with students being given invaluable opportunities to develop new skills and commercial acumen by engaging with external organisations.