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Economic downturn can boost university plan
THE plans for Peterborough's university haven't been affected by the ups and downs of the market in recent days.
THE plans for Peterborough's university haven't been affected by the ups and downs of the market in recent days.In fact, the executive director of University Centre Peterborough said universities only got stronger in times of recession.
Linda Jones said: "Historically, universities see an increase in applications when the economy downturns, as people start to think about gaining more skills and, ultimately, making themselves more employable.
"This puts universities in a stronger, rather than a weaker, position."
The funding for University Centre Peterborough is a tricky thing, but, basically, 8.9 million will be spent building a university site within the grounds of Peterborough Regional College.
That money came from the East of England Development Agency and the Higher Education Council: and that money is safe and secure.
In addition to the centre at the college, there will be another three university centres (at least) across the city. These centres are being paid for by the private sector, and central Government.
But given the way that the FTSE and the Dow Jones Index is seesawing, isn't it a bad thing to be depending on private backers?
"No," said Miss Jones. "These are huge, global institutions with a lot of interests in a lot of different areas, and if they go down, the world will be in trouble, not just Peterborough.
"I really think there is no chance of those private backers failing, or not giving us the money they promised.
"In recessions, companies tend to realise that the only way of moving forward and making their company stronger is to invest in people, skills and an educated workforce, and so private companies have got every reason to invest in new university developments.
But with the financial markets in turmoil, Jemma Walton talked to some of the key players to see how Peterborough's development plans might be affected:"University Centre Peterborough really should not be badly affected by what we are seeing in the news at the moment."
Related:
Credit crunch won't stop 1billion Peterborough masterplan, Jemma Walton, 1 October 2008.
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