Vice-Chancellor Richard B Davies said:

“The opening today isn’t just about having a Santander bank on campus, it’s also about strengthening our partnership with Santander, a company which recognises the benefits of higher education and shares our desire to create new opportunities for staff and students.

“Swansea University aims to provide a holistic and comfortable environment for its students with modern facilities in which they can study, where they can develop essential life skills and increase their employability chances.

“Through our partnership with Santander we will be able to give students valuable international experience by giving them opportunities to study or work abroad which will enable them to develop a range of life skills and experience different teaching techniques.

“The Santander partnership will also provide support for new student start-ups and an internship scheme which places students with local small and medium sized companies.  With Swansea University already in 15^th place in the UK and top in Wales for providing opportunities for its graduates to go on to good jobs or further study this partnership will give students the opportunity to gain valuable work experience.”

Santander Divisional Retail Director, Matt Hutnell said:

“Globally Santander has entered into over 1,200 agreements to help student mobility and enable staff to connect with other institutions.

“With this branch we are taking forward our partnership with Swansea University and sharing our three common goals; internationalisation, transfer of knowledge, and fostering of entrepreneurial skills.

“We look forward to widening our partnership with the opening of another branch of Santander bank on the new Bay Campus. We can’t wait to get it up and running.” 

 Stephanie Jones, Branch and University Relationship Manager, Santander UK said:

“We are delighted to be able to strengthen our relationship with the university even further by opening this branch. We welcome any member of the university community to visit us to find out about our products but also to learn about the funding that we provide to the university which allows many students and researchers to reach their academic goals.”

The partnership, established in 2014, enables the University to develop and strengthen collaborative links internationally as well as create new opportunities for staff and students. The agreement includes scholarships for international students studying at Swansea University and travel bursaries for Swansea staff and students to visit overseas universities which are also part of the network. There is also an entrepreneurial support fund for new student start-ups and an internship scheme which places students with local small and medium sized companies, allowing them to gain valuable work experience.

• The Swansea University, Singleton Campus branch of Santander Bank is now open to the public Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm except Wednesday 10am to 5pm. The branch provides exactly the same services as any other Santander high street branch.
• For more information about the International Development Office, Swansea University go to http://www.swansea.ac.uk/international/
• For more information about studying for a MSc/PgD in Public and Human Health Promotion, Swansea University go to http://www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/humanandhealthsciences/public-health-and-health-promotion  

Picture 1: Swansea University Vice-Chancellor cuts the ribbon to open the Singleton Campus Santander branch. (Left to right):  Matt Hutnell, Santander Universities UK Divisional Retail Director, Vice-Chancellor Richard B Davies, Stephanie Jones, Santander Universities UK Swansea University Relationship Branch Manager.

Picture 2: (Left to right): Stephanie Jones, Santander Universities UK Swansea University Relationship Branch Manager, Cristina Monteiro-Mudresh Regional Manager (Latin America) International Development Office Swansea University, Gloria Restrepo Swansea University Santander scholarship student, Sian Impey Acting Head of International Development Office Swansea University.