Enterprise Centre on target for business

The University of Derby announced that the name of its new £8 million businesscentre on Bridge Street, in Derby, will be the University of Derby Enterprise Centre.

The university believes that the Enterprise Centre will become a hub for entrepreneurial endeavour and business development, and will provide a perfect city centre location for business innovation, high quality skills development and conferencing.

The university has also revealed what activities and organisations will go on in the building on its completion in spring 2010. These include:

• University of Derby Corporate;
• The Derbyshire business school’s professional courses;
• Business Incubation;
• Innovation for learning;
• Centre for entrepreneurial management;
• Conferencing.

The new Enterprise Centre will be Derbyshire’s premier leadership and management development facility. The university’s business arm - University of Derby Corporate - will operate from the Enterprise Centre.

The University of Derby Corporate dedicates itself to working with employers. By focusing on businesses’ skills and training needs it is able to offer employers services ranging from short bite-sized work-based learning packages to full industry specific courses.

Andrew Hartley, commercial director at the University of Derby, says: "This is an exciting and groundbreaking project which will help the university and the business community to work more closely together.

“The Enterprise Centre will support the development of high-end business in the region and stimulate new business start-ups, encouraging graduates to stay in the region.

“Our University of Derby Corporate initiative is a direct response to Government calls for higher education institutions to do more to foster high level skills in the workforce, and we believe that we can help the workforce learn new and higher skills which will help to create a flourishing business scene in the region.”

The £8 million Enterprise Centre is being funded by Derby City Partnership, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the University of Derby.