Driving economic growth across the UK
Decades of work to establish networks and build partnerships allows Russell Group institutions to identify and bring together local, national and international teams to drive economic progress.
From semiconductors in South Wales, to cybersecurity in Northern Ireland, precision medicine in Scotland and advanced materials in North West England, our universities are setting an agenda for inclusive and sustainable growth.
Our institutions use their scale, leverage and reach to bring partnerships together that deliver real economic impact through research and innovation. Russell Group investment in facilities is regenerating and reimagining UK cities, and is creating new ways for people to benefit from access to their local universities.
Supporting jobs across the UK
Russell Group universities are often amongst the largest employers in their city, but not just because of their campus-based activities: university research is creating thousands of jobs outside of higher education in new and growing businesses.
Innovation clusters in strategically important sectors such as materials science, AI and semiconductors based around Russell Group universities are home to businesses that are helping transform our economy and boosting employment.
In 2021/22, R&D and innovation activities at Russell Group universities supported more than 250,000 jobs across the UK. 80,000 of these jobs were in start-ups and spinouts created to commercialise university research breakthroughs.
Building for success
Partnerships with local authorities, businesses and others have helped Russell Group universities deliver capital projects that benefit students, researchers and members of their local communities.
Major works programmes around university innovation districts or new campuses are building the knowledge infrastructure the UK needs to develop new clusters of cutting-edge businesses, with these programmes often at the heart of regeneration projects driving regional renewal.
Large developments Russell Group universities are helping deliver frequently include homes for families, hospitality venues, community resources and new public spaces. These projects have a record of creating jobs and wealth by bringing new companies into an area.
Boosting regional investment
Russell Group universities have a proud record of backing innovation-led local businesses.
By closing gaps that have seen some types of business or those located in certain parts of the country struggle to access funding for growth, universities are giving more founders and creators opportunities to thrive.
In tackling challenges such as regional imbalances in access to venture capital investment, our universities are helping create the conditions for economic growth in every corner of the UK, with their research excellence and scale also driving significant Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) around university-led innovation clusters, creating jobs across the country in high-value sectors such as biosciences.
In 2022/23, Russell Group universities secured more than £1 billion of FDI through research grants and contracts.
Backing community enterprise
Russell Group universities are innovation hubs spinning out dozens of new companies every year and creating clusters of high value jobs and economic activity in their regions.
Targeted packages of support for spinouts and community-based small and medium enterprises are helping turn globally important R&D breakthroughs into regional economic impact and skilled jobs.
The kind of assistance our universities provide includes office and lab space to help businesses grow, access to specialised equipment and expertise to develop new products and services, and hands on support for management teams.
