West Midlands MEP Siôn Simon visited Coventry University on Friday 11 November to discuss economic growth in the region and the university’s impact.
The former Birmingham MP and Labour Party candidate for next year’s West Midlands mayoral elections joined a moment of remembrance in University Square, and then toured parts of the city centre campus with Joanne Dobson, associate pro-vice-chancellor at Coventry University.
Siôn said:
“My visit today has reinforced my view that Coventry University is a genuinely world-class university. It is educating students from all over the world, building partnerships across the industrial sectors of the West Midlands, and across the world. And I learned today that the University’s worth to the region’s economy will be more than £1.5bn by 2020. That’s an extraordinary contribution.
“There are the clear and direct economic contributions to the city and the region. But there is also their partnerships with industry, business and elements of the public sector. The university is helping make us more competitive and more effective – and constantly leading innovation.
“The university is really woven into the fabric of the region.”
In May this year Coventry University joined forces with Birmingham City University and Wolverhampton University to support the West Midlands Combined Authority’s objectives around skills, employment opportunities and productivity.
Working collectively as the West Midlands Combined Universities (WMCU), the partnership brings together the institutions’ applied research and training expertise to develop skills and foster innovation across the region.