Plymouth wins enterprise title - for the second time

Plymouth won the regional final of the Enterprising Britain competition for the second year in a row. This year's entry was based around the University of Plymouth and the increasingly central role it is playing in Plymouth's economy. On 11 May the University's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wendy Purcell, led a delegation from Plymouth to give a presentation to a panel of competition judges at the Regional Development Agency's offices in Exeter. This focused on how the University is taking a lead role in transforming the city - physically through iconic buildings like the £36 million Roland Levinsky Building and economically by producing highly-skilled graduates, working with key city organisations, carrying out world-class research and, under the Enterprise Solutions banner, providing facilities and support for individuals, businesses and the community. The presentation also focused on how the University reaches out to schools and people from across the community to help as many people as possible access higher level skills and the ideas and facilities of the University. Responding to some tough questions and a veritable grilling by the expert panel, Plymouth's entry was unanimously endorsed by the judges and selected as a clear winner of the South West regional competition. Plymouth will go forward during autumn to the national finals of Enterprising Britain, where it will compete against other regional winners in a bid to be crowned the most enterprising place in the UK.