Durham County Council and Durham University partnership to be more “ambitious”

Durham County Council and Durham University have committed to strengthening their existing partnership, by making their joint working agreement even more ambitious for the county’s economy and communities.

The institutions first signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2017 through which they agreed to work together to raise the national and international profile of County Durham and Durham University with governments, businesses and others to attract talent, money and businesses and benefit local communities.

Now the council and university have refreshed and strengthened the MoU, to reflect current opportunities and facilitate the county’s economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic.

John Hewitt, chief executive of Durham County Council, said: “We greatly value our close working relationship with Durham University and are really pleased to be showing our commitment to that continuing by re-signing the Memorandum of Understanding for a further three years.

“Pooling the skills and areas of expertise at our two institutions behind a shared set of goals can only be to the benefit of County Durham and we very much look forward to working together to strengthen our economy and raise our profile on not only a regional but national and global stage.

“The bid both organisations are working on to make County Durham UK City of Culture 2025 is evidence of the efforts already being made in this regard, and the fact we have just made it to the shortlist of four from the initial 20 competing locations is evidence of what we can deliver when we collaborate.”

Professor Karen O’Brien, vice-chancellor, Durham University, said: “We share Durham County Council’s commitment to driving economic growth that benefits communities across our county.

“The partnership between the council and the university offers us the opportunity to leverage the scale, capability and capacity of our organisations and associated partnerships to make a real, positive difference in the county and on the global stage.

“We are pleased to have strengthened our Memorandum of Understanding and look forward to working with the council and others as we seek to develop shared strategies to level up opportunities in our region.”