BU and Fintech West brought together 150 business leaders from across the southwest to share thoughts on how to collaborate and grow local economies across the region.
Representatives from small companies to large organisations with headquarters in the area - such as Vitality, Barclays and McCarthy and Stone - visited the university’s Talbot Campus to explore the region’s potential for growth in fintech activity.
Opening the event, Professor Alison Honour, Vice-Chancellor and CEO of Bournemouth University, underlined the importance of universities working in partnership businesses to help them succeed.
“At the centre of our new strategy will be a commitment to deliver the skills that our graduates will need, and that you will need, for a digital future. And we want to work closely with you,” she told attendees. “We’re going to be really focusing on digital skills, data, AI and how that’s embedded into every sector our graduates will be seeking employment in. And we want to provide that talent pipeline for you,” she added.
Professor Honour also underlined some of the latest additions to the BU curriculum, including cyber security degrees and a masters course in FinTech, will help equip future workforces with the most relevant skills, alongside the university’s growing provision of apprenticeships, which has been rated outstanding by Ofsted.
The event marked the launch on Fintech West’s report into Dorset where there are 33 firms active in the sector with strengths in payments, lending, wealth tech and insurance tech. The report highlighted the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole conurbation’s role in the sector – with 75% of the Dorset’s FinTech firms based withing BCP. Fintech West also noted how the region’s universities are becoming more active in the sector.
“Bournemouth University has a key role in driving economic growth in the region and we are open for business. We look forward to working with you and understanding what your needs and priorities are” Professor Honour concluded.
