Partner Article

Newcastle businesses boosted by students

As much as many residents might hate to admit it, students are an important part of the North East’s economy - particularly in Newcastle.

They boost the city’s business by over £12m every year, so Newcastle’s two universities and Newcastle College are teaming up with local businesses to encourage more students to choose Newcastle for study. The city’s higher education establishments are uniting with other city centre businesses to back the campaign to see Newcastle become a Business Improvement District (BID), which could see the city become more ‘student friendly,’ with cleaner, greener and safer streets and better city signage.

Professor Andrew Wathey, Vice-Chancellor at Northumbria University, said: “Students are crucial to Newcastle’s economy, attracting investment to the area and contributing to its social and cultural diversity. The BID will help to make the city centre a more attractive place to live, work and study and this must be good for all of the city’s businesses and organisations.”

There are currently over 80,000 students studying in Newcastle, with each student spending an average of £9,000 during the average 3 years of study, over and above the cost of tuition fees. Newcastle’s restaurants, cinemas, theatres, pubs and clubs are among the main beneficiaries, having recorded huge increases in takings since thousands of freshers arrived last week.

Tom Caulker, owner of city centre night club World Headquarters, said: “The student trade is invaluable to business in Newcastle, significantly impacting our local economy, so anything which has the potential to make Newcastle more attractive to students, gets my vote. “By voting yes to see Newcastle join other top cities in becoming a Business Improvement District, we can make a real difference to the city and a real difference to business, both now and in the future.”

Eligible businesses can vote on whether to establish Newcastle as a BID from October 22 until November 20. For more information visit www.citycentrepartnership.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .