Mayor's View: First graduations are the start of a bright future

It was a pleasure to join the celebrations with the first graduates – many of them local – from our new university, ARU Peterborough, on Friday.

Held at the cathedral, it was a great to see students reflect with family, friends and university staff on all their hard work and achievements.

It’s a milestone moment in our city’s history, but it’s easy to forget how far we’ve come. Less than 10 years ago, the prospect of a new university seemed as far off as ever. A pipe dream.

As MP for Peterborough, I worked with the partners behind ARU Peterborough, the Combined Authority, the city council and Anglia Ruskin University, to get the funding to make this happen.

The bigger picture from those graduations is the opportunity which has now been unlocked.

ARU Peterborough has transformed our city from a higher education “cold spot” into a place that better supports talented people who would like to have a future here. In the past, they may have felt like leaving was the only option.

ARU Peterborough was established with a specific purpose to give people the skills they need for a good job in the local economy. From the outset, ARU Peterborough’s courses have been developed with employers in mind and graduates are ready to hit the ground running when they get into the workplace.

Take James from Yaxley. At 26, he’s a bit older than the typical student, but ARU Peterborough gave him the opportunity to get the computer science degree he always wanted. He’s now about to start work at local firm Indra Park Air. Without ARU Peterborough, he wouldn’t have had the chance, and now he’s in the career he wants, and his employer is benefitting from new talent.

It’s a textbook example of what ARU Peterborough is here to do. It’s why I back it, and why I made it a priority as MP to secure £20 million in Government to help build the Lab, the university’s newest building, which opened last year.

Our graduates have shown us what’s possible when Peterborough works as a team, shows energy and vision and invests in our city. We should build on that momentum.

So, let’s follow through on getting spades in the ground this year for delivery of Peterborough Station Quarter. An upgraded the station, a pleasant route to town and using brownfield land for homes and jobs will help transform our city.

Let’s deliver my ambition for a top-class community stadium – a home for the Posh, a concert venue and a new pool – helping make the city centre a destination for local people and visitors alike.

We’ve now proved we can create a university in a cold‑spot. I’ll work to make sure the graduations are not the finish line, but a springboard for what comes next to reinvigorate Peterborough.

We’re on the right track to turning our city into one of the UK’s great success stories.