Nathan Bostock, Santander UK's CEO, made his first official visit to the University of Northampton yesterday to meet the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nick Petford, and to sign a three-year renewal agreement for further financial support.
The University of Northampton has strong links with Santander after signing a partnership agreement in 2008 with the Bank’s Universities division. During the ceremony, Nathan Bostock confirmed additional funding for the University to bring the total to over £1m.
The support primarily focuses on promoting international exchanges through scholarships and travel grants, encouraging student entrepreneurial activities, and supporting the mechanical engineering student team in their involvement in Formula Student, an international event held at Silverstone each year organised by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
In the academic year 2016-17, Santander is supporting the University through internships with local SMEs, assisting 55 students in finding employment post-graduation, primarily with local businesses, but also in other locations across the UK.
Nathan Bostock said: “Santander is committed to supporting higher education as well as local communities across the UK. The partnership with the University of Northampton is a great example of how two very different institutions can work together. I have particularly enjoyed meeting Santander scholars and beneficiaries and seeing first-hand the real impact of our joint programmes.”
In addition to the meeting with Professor Nick Petford, Mr Bostock also met with University of Northampton’s Chief Operating Officer, Terry Neville, as well as Santander scholars and other beneficiaries of the partnership.
Santander, through its Santander Universities division, maintains partnerships with close to 1,200 academic institutions in 20 countries. Santander Universities was introduced in the UK in 2007 and the bank is already collaborating with 82 Universities and Higher Education Institutions, with agreements focused on promoting international exchange, entrepreneurial activities and the mobility of students and researchers within the network.
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Santander Universities
Santander, through Santander Universities, tops the list of Fortune 500 in investment in education (Source: Varkey Report/UNESCO). The Bank has established partnerships with over 1,200 universities in 20 countries, of which 82 are in the UK. Through these agreements Santander promotes entrepreneurship, employability and internationalisation. For further information please visit: www.santander.co.uk/universities
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 31 December 2016, the bank serves around 14 million active customers with c20,000 employees and operates through 841 branches (which includes 60 university branches) and 67 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.
Banco Santander (SAN SM, STD US, BNC LN) is a leading retail and commercial bank, headquartered in Spain, with a meaningful market share in 10 core countries in Europe and the Americas. It is among the world’s top banks by market capitalization. The bank’s purpose is to help people and businesses prosper, in a way that is simple, personal and fair. Founded in 1857, Santander had EUR 1.52 trillion in managed funds, 125 million customers, 12,200 branches and 188,000 employees at the close of 2016. Santander made attributable profit of EUR 6,204 million in 2016, an increase of 4% compared to the previous year.
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