Nathan Bostock, Santander UK's CEO made his first official visit to the University of Leeds yesterday to meet the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Alan Langlands, and to sign a new three-year renewal agreement with further financial support for the leading UK academic institution.
The University of Leeds has strong links with the bank after signing a partnership agreement in 2007 with its Universities division. During a signing ceremony in The Great Hall, Nathan Bostock confirmed additional funding for the University to bring the total to close to £2m.
In addition to the meeting with Sir Alan Langlands, Mr Bostock also met with Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Tom Ward, Greg Miller, Head of Student Placement as well as staff and students who have benefitted from the partnership. The support primarily focuses on promoting international exchanges through scholarships and travel grants, encouraging student entrepreneurial activities, and supporting employability through internships and work placements with local SMEs.
In the academic year 2015-16, the University’s internships team created and supported 45 internships and seven work placements backed by £74,500 of partnership funding. The internship scheme has placed a total of 170 students and graduates into local businesses, helping final year students to find employment, primarily in Leeds, 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 and the University of Leeds is one of our oldest and most valued partners. It’s been great to meet students and staff, and see first-hand the real impact of our joint programmes. I particularly enjoyed meeting the participants of our internship scheme which is helping to improve the employability of young people in the region as well as helping local businesses access new skills and talent.”
Vice-Chancellor, Sir Alan Langlands said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Nathan Bostock and his colleagues from Santander today. Our partnership is a brilliant example of how two very different institutions can work together and we run some excellent joint programmes that not only help our students but also support our local community.”
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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 81 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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