University of Hertfordshire
Herts. Beats Faster.
The University of Hertfordshire is a dynamic and innovative institution with a long history of driving ambition and enterprise across the region. Our inclusive and entrepreneurial nature powers the potential of our students, staff, corporate partners, and members of the community.
We host a thriving community of over 30,000 students from more than 140 countries and have a diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem that ensures businesses, organisations, and students succeed and realise their full potential.
“At a time when the world is radically changing, and every day poses new challenges and needs, we are fuelling the ideas, skills, perspectives and solutions to drive progress and help transform Hertfordshire and the wider country’s economic, social and cultural future”.
Quintin McKellar, Vice-chancellor
Supporting businesses grow, skill-up and innovate
The University of Hertfordshire has a long heritage of supporting businesses and working alongside industry. We are proud to have added £730 million gross value to the national economy, as well as being the number one university in the East of England for graduate social mobility (University of Hertfordshire, Powering Impact Report, 2023).
We recognise socioeconomic issues, innovation challenges and pressing skills needs and have the expertise to collaborate with industry to address these challenges.
To achieve that, we partner with businesses, the public sector, other research organisations, third sector organisations and professional bodies locally, nationally and internationally to provide relevant business, research and innovation support, access to our diverse pool of remarkable academics who are experts in industry fields, and a wide range of development programmes that enable businesses to learn, innovate, and achieve greater productivity.
We have a number of programmes designed to support businesses at every stage of their entrepreneurial journey. From our free-to-access Business Incubator Programme -a 12-month, cohort-based programme for early-stage innovative businesses to bespoke R&D (research and development), consultancy, research and Acceleration support. Businesses working with us are also able to access one-to-one business mentoring from our business advisors and Entrepreneurs in Residence (EiR), networking opportunities and work from our modern co-working spaces. Since launching in 2018, our incubator has supported the development of over 160 start-ups. And over 700 businesses – linked to our four clusters of research excellence: including health and care; science, medicine and technology; advanced materials and manufacturing and screen arts – have benefitted from our multifaceted support since 2020.
Our work-based learning, upskilling programmes and vocationally relevant curriculum are informed by collaboration with employers, professional bodies, stakeholders and government – to ensure we are directly responding to real-world needs.
This career-focused education results in 8,000 graduates entering the job market each year (University of Hertfordshire, Powering Impact Report, 2023), ready with the skills, experience and attributes to boost businesses.
We also offer a range of workforce development programmes and apprenticeships that support businesses of all sizes and sectors. We have four specialist apprenticeship areas; digital, engineering, leadership and manager, and health and care, and deliver these in partnerships with businesses, including SMEs looking to access government funded apprenticeship training.
In particular, our Help to Grow: Management programme for SME business leaders has helped over 100 SME business leaders grow their business fast. You can find out more about this programme on our website.
