It gives me great pleasure to introduce British Institute of Technology, England annual report once again at the House of Lords. Against a background of economic austerity hoping that the turbulence is behind us only to be told another recession is on its way. It has been a difficult period for many areas of UK business and education that has seen many changes in the regulatory framework in which it operates. Yet BITE has continued to forge its own place in the market, leading in the development of the private HE sector.

As Key Stakeholders in the future of BITE we are pleased that you have been able to come to this review of our Court and we hope that having seen the Annual Report you might be able to engage with us as we plan for the next phase of our development. With economic pressures on students in higher education, many are struggling to get on to, and support themselves, on programmes that can help fulfill their potential. It is for this reason that during the year we have developed our relationship with the European University of Business in Poznan, Poland. We are now focusing on a range of programmes specifically targeted at what employers have informed us that they want from new graduates and employees. BITE’s education and skills programmes are supporting current and future business needs.

We are also helping students on our programmes to take their first steps in starting their own businesses. UK GDP relies substantially on the growth of Small Medium Enterprises. BITE is working with pioneering start-up companies by supporting their business ideas and providing subsidised offices and technology hub.

BITE has taken on a number of challenging tasks in the past year such as identifying biometric solutions in line with the future development of Heathrow airport. BITE was invited to help identify companies who can provide the technology and solutions. One very important area is how to monitor activity leading up to booked flights. There is an array of intelligence required that can only be done by using a combination of skills.

They say great mind think alike, it is well documented at BITE that two years before Apple came out with Iphone BITE was thinking in the same line, I was working with our researcher for a dual sim iphone technology and was in the process of trade marking iphone, thanks to our then publishing head who did not file the trade mark application which was sitting on his desktop. Only when Steve Job made the announcement I was reminded that not only do you need great minds in technology but you also need great innovators. BITE is delighted to work with some of the leading technology companies in the UK. In the energy sector BITE is working with the National Nuclear Laboratory to help nations like the United Arab Emirates in security. Leading on from the Prime Minister's ideas in supporting the UAE with its civil nuclear aspiration the UK has proposed that it can help the UAE in emergencies. BITE’s strategy is to have a representation office in over 100 nations by 2020 working with companies, government departments and academia.

BITE in Association with Rolls Royce is delighted that the 2015 award for Championing Technology has been received by Lord Willetts as thanks to him today after 25years we have a British Astronaut back in space. His work as the Universities and Science minister has sparked a new awakening for the science and technology in the UK. Distinguish guests, I recall my days of youth when after watching the play about Alibaba and the forty thieve I was nicknamed Alibaba, however I cannot have dreamed that such name would one day be the biggest IPO in the world and of the history of internet to date. My interactions with the likes of Sir Tim Burners Lee, Bill Gates and Dr Lawrence Roberts the then director of Arpanet gives me great pleasure in restating that the exponential growth of the Internet is still very much in its infancy. The single largest virtual economy what we see today has already taken over the real world transactions. I am delighted the panel at BITE in association with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Entrepreneurship has awarded the Nobel Award for Entrepreneurship to Mr Jack Ma the Chairman Emirtus of Alibaba the 21st Century pantomime of the internet.

BITE work in encouraging secondary school people into science and technology is more than mere words. The "YouCan" project launched in 2014 aims to make Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths more interesting to school pupils by supporting their creative ideas. BITE has supported 7 schools with funding upto £25,000 for projects that will inspire future generations.

BITE is delighted with the exceptional work that the pupils of Year 11 Science at the St Mary's School, Gerrard Cross have achieved in the "You Can" project partly funded by BITE in association with Dr Sanjib Bhakta at University of London to develop TB OR NOT TB drug solution. (not Shakespeare but young scientist at St Mary’s School thinking how to save human life’s throughout our world) I would like to congratulate the team led by Mrs Penny Baggott who always believed in the pupils' aspirations, Mrs Jo Kingston who continued to inspire the pupils and the pupils, Yedi Barkeji, Georgia Cave-Hawkes, Anu Chahal, Anisha Dhillon, Sophie Fisher, Sasha Hurst, Lucy Roach and Dr Sanjib Bhakta. Hence the UK Creative School of the Year 2015/16 Award was won by St Mary's School, Gerrards Cross.

During the year BITE was inspected by the Quality Assurance Agency, the QAA, and BITE met expectations in all areas. I would like to thank all our staff for helping to achieve this. Over its last 16 years, BITE has continually consulted with industry and HE experts and has shown flexibility in responding to changes in the HE sector both in terms of government policy and student expectations.

I would like to thank everyone who has helped us in this process and wish you all merry Christmas and happy New Year.