A rebrand of the University of Bolton has been approved, despite objections from other North West institutions.
It will now be called the University of Greater Manchester, entirely dropping the name of its home town.
The move was approved by the regulator, Office for Students (OfS) yesterday, even though the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Salford said that it would lead to confusion and that it was “misleading.”
It’s the second North West University to undergo a rebrand this week, with the University of Central Lancashire ditching “Central” from its name. That was approved even though an OfS consultation found that 90% of respondents felt that the name “was, or has the potential to be, confusing or misleading” – given that Lancaster University’s official name is the University of Lancaster.
The same consultation for the University of Bolton showed that only 676 (36%) of the 1,187 respondents thought its proposed name could be confusing or misleading.
“This is an historic moment for this University. You are now staff of the University of Greater Manchester,” Professor George E Holmes DL, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Greater Manchester told staff yesterday.
“Bolton is an amazing town and it is our base, and it is our home where we intend to stay, it is the home of the University of Greater Manchester, now in Bolton.”
The name change was submitted 17 months ago, with the support of governors and current and past Students’ Union Presidents of the University.
However, it led to other Greater Manchester universities issuing a number of legal challenges over trademark applications and registrations made by the University of Bolton, which they said impinged on their own registered trademarks.
An independent economic impact assessment report commissioned by the University earlier this year, revealed that the benefit to the local economy “would be millions of pounds a year.”
“This is an institution that students and staff can be remarkably proud of,” continued Professor Holmes.
“The name change is very good news for our students, very good news for the institution, very good news for the town and amazing news for jobs.”
Students who graduate in 2025 will receive degree certificates from the University of Greater Manchester.
