UNIVERSITY SETS UP NEW HOME IN GATESHEAD

Gateshead is set to provide a new home for the Open University, as the organisation prepares to become the very first occupier of premises at Gateshead Council's Baltic Business Quarter development.

The University's regional office is moving out of its present home at Regent Centre in Gosforth and re-locating to a brand new office building in Abbots Hill at Gateshead's Baltic Business Quarter, close to the new Gateshead College campus.

The move from Newcastle to Gateshead is well underway with the organisation's last day for contact at their current office being the 16th October. The University will then re-open for business in the new premises on the 21st October when their new contact details should be used.

Councillor David Bollands, cabinet member for Economy, Housing and Transport, says: "We are delighted to welcome the OU to Gateshead. The university have grasped the chance to put themselves at the centre of what is quickly becoming a vibrant and creative business, and educational, environment.

"The presence of Gateshead College directly opposite the Baltic Business Quarter site was probably an important factor in their decision and I have no doubt that the two organisations will find the opportunity to work together in the future."

David Knight, Regional Director of the Open University in the North, said "We have received such a warm welcome from our new friends and neighbours in Gateshead that folk here in the OU's Regional Centre can't wait to move.

"We look forward to working with partners to raise the profile of higher education in Gateshead and providing a better service to our 12000 students from our wonderful new offices."

The new Open University in the North building will be the newest of the university's 13 regional offices around the UK. Some 70 university staff will be based there, supporting around 550 part-time associate lecturers and more than 12,000 students - 6,000 from the North East and Cumbria and 6,000 from across mainland Europe.

The university provides higher education by distance learning to approximately 200,000 students across the world.

Interest in the new Baltic Business Quarter is growing. Energy supplier nPower has already announced that it is setting up its national customer services centre in Gateshead, with building work on three new office buildings for the company getting underway in the New Year. The company is expected to create at least 900 new jobs.

Earlier this month, Gateshead Council announced it was joining forces with international telecoms company Alcatel-Lucent to equip the Baltic Business Quarter with a world-class telecoms infrastructure which will provide unrivalled broadband access which it is expected will attract thousands of high quality jobs to the region.

When completed, the Baltic Business Quarter is expected to create up to 7,000 new jobs