Commercial property company, Bruntwood, has partnered with University Academy 92 (UA92), investing £1.25million in the higher education institution.
UA92 was co-founded by Lancaster University and Manchester United’s storied Class of ‘92, which featured players including Gary and Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes. It offers a range of degree and other academic courses aimed at increasing access to higher education for a wider group of young people across the North West. The partnership has been created to help close the digital skills gap and give northern businesses greater access to local, emerging talent – a vital step in levelling up the region.
Based in Old Trafford, Manchester, UA92 aims to make higher education accessible to all, through its founding principles of accessibility, social mobility and inclusivity. It is focused on fully preparing graduates for the world of work by offering industry-led courses. UA92 works closely with a range of businesses to provide mentoring, guest lectures and work experience opportunities, in addition to character and personal development guidance.
Bruntwood has a strong track record in partnering to bring about real change in the communities it operates in. The commitment to UA92 is the latest partnership highlighting Bruntwood’s ongoing focus on skills development.
Chris Oglesby, CEO of Bruntwood, said: ““Greater Manchester is currently facing a digital skills shortage, and we want to help increase the pool of available talent and help our customers to gain access to the best and brightest the region has to offer. This milestone marks the latest of many proposed collaborations to invest in skills, and reaffirms our commitment to investing in the North’s talent at every step of the journey, from education with UA92, to business innovation investment through our co-founded Manchester Angels investment network.”
UA92 opened in 2019 and earlier this year announced it had been awarded a £2million funding grant by Office for Students to open a new digital academy later this year. This will deliver enhanced and cutting-edge learning and will increase UA92’s student capacity for digital students almost tenfold, from 65 to 634.
Gary Neville, co-founder at UA92, added: “We’re delighted that Bruntwood are making such a significant investment in UA92. This will drive our mission to make higher education accessible to all no matter their postcode.”
