5 minute read
Destination 29MR
DESTINATION 29MR
Opening in 2023, our new building at 29 Marylebone Road is set to become a leading centre for enterprise and innovation.
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When 29 Marylebone Road (29MR) was first planned, few could have imagined what London would look like two years from its completion. A centre for enterprise and innovation, the project was designed to be a place not only for students, but for the wider local community. Here, in 2021, as we try to look beyond COVID-19, 29MR’s unique focus on inclusion and innovation has never been more relevant or more urgent.
A place for innovators and entrepreneurs
London has always been a city of invention. As COVID-19 forces businesses to stop and refocus, responding to a digital revolution and new uncharted territory, this innovative spirit is needed more than ever.
Based at 29MR, the Student Enterprise Centre will become the perfect space for nurturing enterprise talent, as students, graduates and businesses will join in the building to create innovative and exciting collaborations. Budding entrepreneurs will have a dedicated area for forming new start-ups and will be able to benefit from access to innovators and entrepreneurs in residence. Through a blend of in-person and digital working, 29MR will be a hive of activity, welcoming businesses across all kinds of industries to collaborate with our academics, students and graduates.
Within 29MR, a practitioner-staffed centre will be on hand to provide one-stop advice on the many aspects of creating and running a business – from intellectual property and trademarks, to data protection, health and safety. Meanwhile, specialist labs will train our students in the latest digital techniques and support with the production of all-important business prototypes.
The arrival of 29MR will further embed enterprise skills into our students’ courses, empowering students across all disciplines to develop ideas for innovative new businesses.
A new digital dawn
The pandemic has had a monumental impact on the way many businesses operate. For better or for worse, organisations have had to adapt hugely. Online services have been set up where none existed before, while virtual interactions have become the norm and the need to be digitally connected has never been so apparent. Meanwhile COVID-19 has accelerated the trend of home working and much speculation remains over what might be the ‘new normal’ for our working lives in years to come. Whatever the future brings, 29MR will be ready for any eventuality.
As a forum for work and collaboration, 29MR will be ‘digitally always on’. Students, businesses, researchers, and members of the community will always be guaranteed connectivity, equipping them for a world where remote working and digital interfacing are a staple of everyday working life.
Based in the heart of London, 29MR will be a place where students, alumni and our local community can gain the skills they need to compete in this new digital world, through a series of innovative courses. Amidst the building’s distinctive and iconic design, will be specialist equipment and technology, that is currently inaccessible to so many.
Championing social inclusion and diversity
COVID-19 has both highlighted and exacerbated Britain’s deep-rooted social and economic inequalities. It is these inequalities which have led to the skills shortage, as well as working poverty and poor health which have made this pandemic most damaging to Londoners from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds.
In response to these problems, Sadiq Khan’s 2021 Designing London’s Recovery initiative has called on the capital’s businesses, public bodies, educators, and charities to help design a fairer and more sustainable London supporting vulnerable Londoners, and those hit hardest by COVID-19.
Architect’s impression of 29 Marylebone Road
From its inception, the University of Westminster’s central mission has been to educate London; all of London. Today we continue to build on this reputation, helping students from a variety of backgrounds to realise their full potential. Over half of our current students come from within London. Almost 60 per cent are from Black and minority backgrounds; more than a third are from areas ranked as deprived in the UK; and nearly half are the first students in their families to go to university. 29MR will help take this mission to the next level, creating an inclusive and accessible learning environment for students, alumni, and the wider community. It will act as a base for the community to access our short courses and rapidly increasing apprenticeship portfolio, and will expand upon existing student enterprise projects, focused on widening opportunities and inclusion.
The building will act as an engagement hub for our hugely successful Westminster Working Cultures (WWC) programme, which provides a unique global employability experience for students from disadvantaged and underrepresented groups. Meanwhile, our award-winning Mentoring Scheme will welcome hundreds of alumni, industry and business partners to 29MR, to mentor our students as they carve out their career ambitions.
A space for you
Importantly, 29MR will be a space for us to welcome you, our alumni and supporters. A range of activities will take place at 29MR to support you and your business. From providing professional short courses through to specialist business services, and from offering hot-desking space through to recording and studio facilities, 29MR will become a space for you to develop your own professional ambitions and business needs. And for those of you who are already mentoring or providing expertise to our students, we look forward to welcoming you into 29MR as you meet the students you are helping.
Architect’s impression of 29 Marylebone Road
For our wider business community, the building will create a dedicated exhibition space for local events and programmes, a serviced workspace for employers to meet and interview students, and a space where organisations can collaborate with our students and make use of the diverse talent pool they represent.
New horizons
With completion anticipated in 2023, 29MR will offer invaluable resources to Westminster students, alumni, and organisations across London during this transitional moment.
“Our vision is to transform this ten-storey building into our most inclusive centre for collaborative innovation,” Vice-Chancellor and President Peter Bonfield says. “We want to bring together students from across every academic discipline to experience the opportunities of new enterprise whilst nurturing a wider community of aspiring entrepreneurs and businesses.”
HELP US SHAPE OUR STUDENTS’ FUTURES
Funding will be sought for the programme of activities that will be running in the space, including inclusive scholarships, a central enterprise fund and much more. Please email Jordan Scammell, Head of Development and Fundraising: j.scammell@westminster.ac.uk to find out how you can help.
