Two Gloucestershire universities named as catalysts for UK ecomomic growth

The economic impact on Gloucestershire, its business community and the region of two of the county's universities has been recognised and highly rated in new national research.

The significant positive impact on industry, the public sector, the economy and society of two Gloucestershire universities has been praised in a national survey.

Research England took a close look at the impact UK universities were having across a number of areas and published the findings in its Knowledge Exchange Framework 2023 report.

Named in the top 20 per cent of UK universities as having the most 'benefit on the economy and society' was Hartpury University, based just north of Gloucester, with the Cotswolds’ Royal Agricultural University scoring top marks for its work with industry and the public sector.

Hartpury, which only celebrated its fifth anniversary as a university in September 2023, featured in the KEF's top quintile for its high engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

And the RAU, which was part of the STEM cluster of 12 small specialist universities in medicine, technology, science, and engineering, and which also included world-leading medical resear…