Mayor's View: Five years of impact and well worth a right Royal celebration

ARU Peterborough has marked five years since work began to build our fantastic new university, writes Combined Authority Mayor Paul Bristow.

It is an important milestone, but even more important is the difference the university has already made to our local community. 

To mark the occasion, I joined other local representatives in welcoming HRH The Duke of Gloucester to Peterborough last week. His visit marked the university’s success in widening access to higher education for those who previously felt shut out. 

I remember the case for ARU Peterborough being made when I was the city’s MP, and I backed it, helping secure Government funding for The Lab, the newest addition to the campus. Seeing the Duke meet students and staff last week, five years on from that first milestone, meant a great deal to everyone involved in getting the university off the ground, including me. 

The ambition was always to build a university in Peterborough, for Peterborough — one that could genuinely change people’s lives here. 

More than half of ARU Peterborough’s undergraduates live within the city’s postcode area, and around four in ten say they would not have gone to university without this campus. I have met many students whose prospects have been transformed because higher education was brought to their doorstep.

This summer, I had the honour of attending ARU Peterborough’s graduation ceremony, where students received their degrees in front of family and friends — an achievement that once felt out of reach for many local young adults. Peterborough had long been a higher education cold spot, but thanks to Combined Authority funding and our partnership with Peterborough City Council and ARU, hundreds of students are now graduating with the skills and confidence to build successful careers and strengthen our local economy. 

ARU Peterborough has also worked with more than 200 local businesses and public sector organisations to shape its teaching. Its BOOST programme has already supported hundreds of small businesses across the city. This is a university rooted in Peterborough’s future, offering learning and opportunity that extends well beyond the degrees it awards. 

Recognition has followed. University of the Year for Social Mobility, an award-winning new building in The Lab, and most recently, the Regional Impact Award at this year’s Alliance Awards. Together, these achievements are a powerful validation of the work taking place here. 

As Mayor, I have made it a priority to support initiatives that make a real difference to people’s lives, and ARU Peterborough is a clear example of that. It shows what Combined Authority investment can achieve when directed where it is needed most: opening doors for local people and helping local employers close skills gaps. 

Five years is a significant milestone, and it was an honour to mark it with the Duke, everyone at ARU Peterborough, and our partners. But this is still just the beginning. I believe the next five years will be even more transformative, and as Mayor I will continue to support and work with the university to go further in what it can offer Peterborough and its people.