Message from Simon Collinson, October 2013

In terms of our ambitions for the accreditation of our taught programmes, I am very pleased to announce that the School has been awarded the maximum 5 Years re-accreditation by AMBA, the Association of MBAs, following the visit by the accreditation team earlier this year in May. A big thanks to Paul Lewis and his team, particularly Eric Swales who led for us on this, plus Claire Simmonds, Victoria Harold, Naomi Baddhan, Frances Bertram, Elaine Baker, Carole Kinahan, Carol Levy and Wendy Ralph. Additional support came from Gloria Barber, Melanie Billingham and Andrew Miles from the Careers and Employability team and Ella Stewart from the alumni relations team. Clearly we impressed them and due to everyone’s efforts we are well on the way to our ultimate goal to secure the Triple-Accreditation (AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB) this academic year.

I am also pleased to inform you that I have been invited by Lord Young to join the Small Business Charter Management Board, which is chaired by Sir Peter Bonfield and includes Business School Deans, senior business leaders and policymakers from around the UK. Its aim is to develop mechanisms for supporting small business growth at the regional level by channelling funds through business schools and universities. This is an important contribution to business engagement and increases the potential for our research to have impact on the business and policy communities.