College proves its worth to county’s economy
A STUDY into the economic impact of Warwickshire College Group (WCG) has shown that it makes a £705.8million contribution to the regional economy each year.
The report was compiled by economic specialists Emsi.
It found that for every £1 invested by a learner at WCG’s seven colleges across Warwickshire and Worcestershire they get back £4.40 in higher future wages, for every £1 businesses invest in apprenticeships they receive a 41.3 per cent average monthly rate of return, for every £1 invested by an apprentice they get £7.70 back in future earnings, and for every £1 invested by the taxpayer WCG returns £3.90 in benefits.
Taxpayers also see an average annual return of 17.1 per cent on their investment in WCG — higher than 71.4 per cent of the 105 other institutions.
Principal and chief executive, Angela Joyce said: “We have always believed that our colleges impact positively on the regional economy, so I’m delighted to see this success quantified by the report.
“The £706m contribution is a result of our commitment to the communities we serve, in terms of providing educational opportunities and business support, and it’s great to have this additional evidence of how we support job creation and the regional economy by spending our money locally.
“We’ve always felt that we have a positive contribution to make in terms of supporting businesses and developing apprenticeships across the region and the facts from this specially commissioned report really back that up. It’s clear that it’s worth businesses and young people investing in apprenticeships and training.”
The Warwickshire College group is made up of Royal Leamington Spa College, Rugby College, Moreton Morrell College, Pershore College, Warwick Trident College, Evesham College and Malvern Hills College.
The campus in Henley-in-Arden closed in July last year but the college still runs the leisure facilities and last month announced the sale of the rest of the land to a company developing a retirement/care village.
The group has also publicly expressed an interest in taking over Stratford-upon-Avon College.
For the latest on Stratford-upon-Avon College download a copy of the Stratford-upon-Avon Herald HERE
