As Santander Universities enters its second decade in the UK, Santander UK’s CEO, Nathan Bostock, announced additional funding, taking the total investment by Santander Universities to £10.1 million for the academic year 2017-2018.
The announcement took place at the 2017 annual Santander Universities Vice-Chancellors Meeting at the University of Westminster in London, attended by over 40 UK Vice-Chancellors. Since its inception in the UK in 2007, Santander Universities has donated over £60m to UK universities and supported thousands of students, businesses and projects.
Nathan Bostock, CEO of Santander UK, said: “As we enter our second decade of partnership with the higher education sector, I am proud of what we have achieved in building our unique network of over 83 UK university partners and close to 1,200 partners worldwide. More than ever, we recognise the need to help young people capitalise on their skills, their ideas and their potential – regardless of their social, financial or geographical background.
“That is why, as Santander Universities looks to the future of our partnerships, we are not only looking at how we continue our commitment as the largest corporate contributor to higher education in the world, but also at what we can do to increase and enhance our impact over the next 10 years, enabling students and beneficiaries to continue to prosper.”
Four initiatives for 2017 – 2018
Launch of a new £1m Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Fund
Santander has launched a new £1m Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Fund that will support the development of a culture of enterprise and entrepreneurship within universities and their local communities across the UK. Partner universities can bid for up to £100k of funding for projects that aim to: start, run or scale a business; develop and promote entrepreneurial skills, culture and mind-sets; champion or deliver innovation within businesses of any size; or deliver economic, social or employment benefits to the local and national economy.
Student Impact Fund
Santander will launch a new £100,000 Student Impact Fund on crowdfunder.co.uk that aims to address the challenges, issues and priorities of students or student groups across the UK. For students who raise half the cost of their priority project, the Fund may contribute the other half, up to £2,000. The fund will support a minimum of 1,000 people through 50 projects.
SME Internship Programme
Santander will provide further internships for students to gain experience in the SME sector for the academic year 2017/18 through providing £2.5 million in funding. The scheme, introduced in 2012, not only helps to improve the employability of young people but also provides local businesses with access to young talent, investing in local communities and the local economy. To date, Santander has supported over 9,000 internships, many of which lead student interns to secure employment as a direct result.
2018 Entrepreneurship Awards
Santander will commit another £250,000 towards delivering The Entrepreneurship Awards project for 2018. The Awards support and encourage university students and recent graduates to pursue their business ideas through a national pitching competition to identify the best businesses from Santander Universities’ 83 partner universities. Prizes include funding, support and mentoring.
Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bath – who also spoke at the meeting, said: “The support Santander Universities has given, and continues to give, to universities across the country, through their great programmes and initiatives, is outstanding.
“Crucially, it has enabled individual students to go beyond their academic studies, to think and work more broadly whether it is through developing innovative ideas, through their first real work experience or through study or work abroad. Santander’s dedication to Higher Education, as well as its forward thinking, has enabled its universities programme to be the extraordinary accomplishment it is today.”
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Notes to Editors
Santander Universities UK
Santander, through its Santander Universities division, maintains partnerships with close to 1,200 academic institutions in 20 countries. Santander Universities was introduced in the UK in 2007 and the bank is already collaborating with 83 British Universities and Higher Education Institutions, with agreements focused on promoting international exchange, entrepreneurial activities and the mobility of students and researchers within the network.
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 30 June 2017, the bank serves around 14 million active customers with c19,500 employees and operates through 826 branches (which includes 61 university branches) and 65 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.
Banco Santander (SAN SM, STD US, BNC LN) is a leading retail and commercial bank, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain. It has a meaningful market share in 10 core countries in Europe and the Americas, and is among the world’s top banks by market capitalization. At the end of June 2017, Banco Santander had EUR 1.65 trillion in managed funds, 131 million customers, 13,800 branches and 200,000 employees. Banco Santander made attributable profit of EUR 3.6 billion in the first half of 2017, an increase of 24% compared to the same period last year.
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