Huddersfield Business School has been awarded the Small Business Charter in recognition of its commitment to supporting student entrepreneurship, small businesses, and the local economy.
The panel were particularly impressed by Huddersfield’s significant breadth of enterprise and entrepreneurship activity, both within the school and the wider community.
The visibility of Huddersfield Business School as a source of advice for SMEs is extensive; not only does the school work proactively as a partner with other business schools regionally, nationally and internationally, it has forged strong relationships with the Sir George Buckley Leadership Centre, 3M Buckley Innovation Centre and the Leeds City Region ESIF Supply Chain programme to deliver executive training, business advice and business support. Furthermore, Huddersfield takes a lead role in the delivery of the Kirklees Top100, with director level representation on the board of Huddersfield Unlimited, a company formed to support the interest of local companies in the area and attract inward investment to the town.
The scale of public funding which has been secured by the university to deliver small business support programmes is significant. Most recently, £19.2 million of grant funding has been secured and is being used to support 1,869 small businesses. Initiatives which have been particularly well received include regional schemes such as ESIF and Local Growth Fund, as well as national initiatives including the IUK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and collaborative awards.
It is evident that encouraging students to be enterprising and entrepreneurial is a key objective of Huddersfield Business School; this is demonstrated through curricular activities such as the UG ASPIRE modules and Master’s level Consultancy Project. These initiatives involve extensive engagement with local SMEs, who set live projects and challenges for students, alongside a range of workshops and mentoring. From an extra-curricular perspective, the University Enterprise Hub has recently supported 337 student entrepreneurs. In addition, the Global Professional Award, delivered in partnership with the university careers service, was launched in 2019, and to date has supported 6,708 students.
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. Huddersfield Business School will hold the award for five years. There are now 54 business schools that hold the SBC Award in the UK and Ireland.
Professor Jill Johnes, Dean of Huddersfield Business School, said:
“To be awarded all 31 dimensions of the Small Business Charter is testament to Huddersfield Business School’s breadth of support for and impact on SMEs, the community and our students. We are located in an area where SMEs predominate and it is therefore a central part of our mission and vision to support the SMEs community. As such, I’m delighted that we have been awarded the Small Business Charter for the maximum 5 years and look forward to working with the Small Business Charter in extending our support of SMEs further through, for example, the Help to Grow initiative.”
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 Huddersfield Business School the Small Business Charter for five years; testament to their commitment to supporting students and local business. We look forward to welcoming the school to our network of accredited schools delivering the government’s Help to Grow: Management Course, and seeing the school further extend the impacts it has in the regional economy.”