Edinburgh Business School, Heriot Watt University has been awarded the Small Business Charter award in recognition of its commitment to supporting the small business community, student entrepreneurship, and the local economy.
The assessor panel were particularly impressed by the university’s approach to keeping SMEs at the heart of what they do. Staff and stakeholders work hard to maintain an agile institution that can adapt quickly to meet the needs of its small business community.
Stakeholders spoke highly of the impact the school’s interventions had and it was clear that the school is very influential in the region, country and internationally. The offering for student entrepreneurship with two dedicated incubator spaces for students, where ‘incubees’ are encouraged to network and develop ideas with their peers, is impressive with entrance gained through a successful pitching process.
The school also provides an extensive range of extra-curricular activities for student entrepreneurs, including a range of support workshops regularly attended by over 500 attendees and a start-up pitching competition, the most recent of which attracted over 170 submissions.
Edinburgh Business School works closely with other business schools to support SMEs, evidenced by their membership of the Scottish University Scale-up Consortium, made up of 16 Scottish business schools who support scale-up through entrepreneur-led and evidence-based education. The school is also a partner of the E Squared initiative, which empowers established entrepreneurs to support the next generation of Scottish SMEs. These partnerships allow SMEs to be more effective in their practices and gives them solid groundwork for becoming Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, deliver learning in incubators, accelerators, or become Professors of Practice in Scottish university business schools.
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. Edinburgh Business School will hold the award for three years. There are now 41 business schools that hold the SBC Award in the UK and Ireland.
Anne Kiem OBE, Executive Director of the Small Business Charter and Chief Executive of the Chartered Association of Business Schools, said:
“We are delighted to award Edinburgh Business School, Heriot Watt University, the Small Business Charter Award. It is clear that EBS have an extensive offering for student entrepreneurship and their support for local SMEs is very impressive. Their approach to keeping SMEs at the heart of everything they do is commendable, and we look forward to working closely with them in the future.”
Heather McGregor, Head of the School of Social Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, said:
“Our accreditation is a testament to our support of the SME community and our work to nurture entrepreneurialism. The fact that we received more dimensions than we applied for demonstrates our commitment to keeping small business and enterprise at the heart of our university. We are planning to launch our first Help to Grow cohort in January and are delighted to be supporting the Small Business Charter in its mission to deliver the programme as part of the Chancellor’s recovery plan in Scotland.”