It is owned, funded and developed by the University of Surrey (now also known as UniS) Guildford. Its predecessor was Battersea Polytechnic. This institution was established over 100 years ago to serve the technology-based businesses that were being set up along the South Bank of the Thames in London at that time.

A Royal Charter created the University of Surrey in 1966. Guildford Borough wanted a university and in collaboration with the County Council attracted the "new" university to Guildford. The motive for this was in part to replace jobs being lost from the town's declining manufacturing base, then particularly associated with the automotive industry. This is an example of an early shift from manufacturing to a knowledge-based local economy.

Since then the University has developed to meet the demands of national higher education policy ever since. Student numbers have increased, particularly since the restriction on their recruitment was removed in 1997. UniS has also strengthened its regional economic development role, which has also become explicit government policy for higher education in the period since 1997. The Surrey Research Park has been at the forefront of this strategy.

The tradition of working closely with industry, developed by Battersea Polytechnic, continues through courses in Engineering, Science and applied aspects of the humanities. These feature a "sandwich" (co-op education) programme in which an "industrial professional training year" forms part of the four-year degree programme. UniS has extensive research contracts and links with industry and the Surrey Research Park was originally promoted to extend this important policy of cooperation with industry.