Business Engagement
It’s been a busy couple of months for the Business Engagement team and Academics in the Business School. Danielle Rowe, the Business Engagement Officer for the College of Social Sciences and College of Life & Environmental Sciences, has an update on three recent activities:
The team attended the Food Matters Live conference in London to support Professor Isabelle Szmigin who took part in a panel discussion which addressed the issue of obesity. The Panel was very well received by attendees and it encouraged some great discussion about ways in which we can focus on tackling obesity. This is a key research strength that the Business Engagement team are working to develop further industry links with in this sector. If you have any contacts in the food and beverage industry the Business Engagement team would be keen to hear from you.
Exciting collaborative research has been announced as Dr Vivek Soundararajan and Professor Kiran Trehan will be leading a project together with the Impact Hub Birmingham. The Project will be funded by a grant obtained from the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship and will focus on sustainable business and the spaces that are needed to create sustainable entrepreneurs in Birmingham. Vivek has written a fantastic article, ‘Spaces that create sustainable entrepreneurs’, describing the research project; this will be published in the winter 2016 edition of the Business Quarterly Magazine.
Wednesday 30 November saw the 2016 West Midlands Finance Awards take place, hosted by Robert Walters, the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce and the ICAEW. The awards seek to promote and celebrate the outstanding achievements of businesses and individuals within the West Midlands' finance community. Following the successful shortlisting for the Training Body of the Year Award, Birmingham Business School is delighted to announce the achievement of winning this award after facing tough competition from both Kaplan Financial and Birmingham City University for the top spot.
The award recognises the value of Birmingham Business School’s ability to produce excellent finance graduates and highlights the success of the KPMG School Leavers Programme in Accounting, which enrols 56 school-leavers annually, as well as the unique Online MBA, which is the first in the world to be accredited by the Association of MBAs. Both of these programmes show that although Birmingham Business School may be the oldest in the UK, it is very much at the forefront of training the next generation of financial leaders.
Professor Glyn Watson, the current Dean of the Birmingham Business School who was in attendance at the ceremony stated:
“The award is important not just because it recognises the quality of our graduates, the innovative nature of our programmes and our commitment to widening participation; but also because it acknowledges the critical part that we play in supporting the region’s economy.”