The Worcester Business School at the University of Worcester has officially received its Small Business Charter.
The CEO of the Chartered Association of Business Schools, Flora Hamilton, visited the City Campus to hand over the charter in person last month.
It paves the way for the delivery of the UK Government funded Help to Grow Management course to SME leaders across the region and comes at a crucial time for the Business School.
The course is delivered by entrepreneurs and industry experts and involves business focused learning to invest in leadership and management.
In addition to the exciting news of the Help to Grow Management course and after 2 years of hard work, the Executive MBA (Master of Business Administration) Course is also ready to start accepting candidates, with up to 30 successful applicants beginning their studies in January 2024.
The EMBA is aimed at managers and leaders who already have some leadership or management experience in the workplace, including the self-employed and entrepreneurs.
Dr Scott Andrews, the Head of the Worcester Business School says: “The Executive MBA provides access to a range of experiences, working alongside other senior leaders and managers to develop strategic skills across marketing, finance, HR and leadership to be better positioned to face the real challenges of today’s workplace.”
Jacqui Moreley-Brooker graduated with an Executive MBA which was also accredited by the Chartered Management Institute while she was working as an EU Project Manager at Worcestershire County Council.
She says: “After successfully achieving my Exec MBA at the University of Worcester I was keen to maximise the value of my qualification and I applied for Chartered Manager status with the CMI.”
“I am of the view that my learning didn’t end with my MBA” says Jacqui. “I would highly recommend that all business students adopt a lifelong learning approach to their career, to this end, as a highly respected organisation the Worcester Executive MBA working with the CMI brings all the necessary elements together in order to achieve this.”
Meanwhile, the Help to Grow Management Course is a government funded leadership course aimed at Senior Managers in small and medium sized businesses.
Andrew Lewis, Director of Commercial Agency at GJS Dillon, a Worcestershire-based commercial property consultants is a student on the course, he says: “We started 13 years ago with just our Managing Director and we went through a big phase of growth and got to a point where we’d gone from two members of staff to 16. The course is laying the foundations to the next stage of growth, developing from that start-up to SME (small and medium-sized enterprises), helping us grow and reach new markets, new customers and keeping existing customers happy.”
Mo Patel, who is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of MOBU, a health supplements company based in Worcester, is taking the course. “With the growth of the company over the last four years it’s a big desire for myself to continuously learn and improve myself and reach my full potential as a manager. Learning from all of these different business owners here, I think I will be able to implement their ideas and experience into my own business and help it be more successful going forward. This is almost like a mini-MBA and I’ll be able to learn and develop my skills further throughout the course.”
Another student on the Help To Grow course, Adam Bate, Director of Spring Forward Landscaping, based in Wychavon, said: “I started with one of the University’s courses when setting up the business. We have been going for five years. That’s how I saw this course and I was interested. It was a no brainer in terms of the level of funding and we have got to a position in the company where we needed to scale and maintain growth. Our hope is to take the business to the next level. We have had a good foundation for the last number of years, so it’s just learning how to manage a business, manage people and manage that growth.”
For more information and how to apply to begin studying in January 2024, search the University of Worcester website for the Executive Master of Business Administration course.
For information on courses at University of Worcester visit www.worcester.ac.uk or for application enquiries telephone 01905 855111 or email [email protected]