Small Business Charter Award
Christ Church Business School (CCBS) has been accredited with the Small Business Charter Award, in recognition of its commitment to student entrepreneurship, supporting small businesses, and the local economy.
Christ Church Business School have demonstrated their commitment to facilitating engagement between local SMEs and the student body; the school offers a range of Work Based Learning Modules, which embeds real life case studies and experience into the curriculum. Students from the business school are mentored by SMEs, while SMEs gain the benefit of having the students working on briefs within their businesses.
The school also evidence their engagement with SMEs through the Academic Enterprise Champion scheme, implemented to allow the school to align the needs of the local SME community with the work being carried out at CCBS. The scheme offers business advice and financial support to allow business school academics to collaborate and build relationships with local SMEs.
The panel were particularly impressed with the way the CCBS engaged with its advisory board. Comprised of senior business leaders, many of whom are from SMEs, the board have worked closely with the school to influence and shape school strategy and curriculum, with many board members working to embed student employability into the framework of the schools offering.
It is clear that Christ Church Business School are dedicated to embedding entrepreneurship and employability into the curriculum, demonstrated through initiatives such as GradForce, a programme funded by the Office for Students, which gives students and graduates access to support to progress into employment in the SME sector.
The Small Business Charter Award is a national accreditation, assessed by small business leaders, to recognise business schools which demonstrate excellence in supporting small businesses, student enterprise, and the local economy. Christ Church Business School will hold the award for 3 years. There are 62 business schools that hold the SBC Award in the UK and Ireland.
Dr Christopher Russell, Director of Christ Church Business School said:
“We are delighted to have been awarded the prestigious Small Business Charter accreditation. It recognises the key role Christ Church Business School now plays in our region’s innovation and enterprise ecosystem, especially our support of SMEs from start-up to scale-up through training, mentoring, consultancy and research.
We look forward to furthering our relationships with SMEs through opportunities provided by the Small Business Charter such as delivering the Help to Grow: Management Course and joining a network of business schools equally committed to building the backbone of our economy.”
Anne Kiem OBE, Executive Director of the Small Business Charter, and Chief Executive of the Chartered Association of Business Schools said:
“We’d like to congratulate Christ Church Business School on its Small Business Charter Award, given in recognition of the role their work with SMEs and student entrepreneurs plays in their local economy. It is clear that SME engagement and support is part of the framework of the school, and it is fantastic they are helping to create employment opportunities for their graduates with small businesses in their regional ecosystem.”