University of Bath School of Management awarded Small Business Charter

The University of Bath School of Management has been awarded the Small Business Charter Award in recognition of its commitment to supporting small businesses, student entrepreneurship, and the local economy.

Bath provides a range of start-up activities for students, including Dragon’s Den style pitching competitions, innovation awards, funding for the Bath Entrepreneurs Society and enterprise programmes designed to lead students through the start-up process, with opportunities to pitch for additional funding. It also offers a dedicated start-up space for students, which is currently host to 21 virtual companies, nine associate members and four residential companies.

The panel were particularly impressed with Bath’s flexible approach to enterprise education. For second year business students onwards, there are no set modules – students can build their timetables from a wide range of modules, allowing those starting or running their own enterprises to apply their learning directly to their own organisations. Further to this, instead of offering a traditional one-year work placement, the School’s BSc Business degree offers the option of two 6-month placements to allow students to gain experience with organisations of different types and sizes.

The University has demonstrated its involvement with SMEs and the local community through its participation of the OfS Intrapreneurial Knowledge Exchange Enterprise Pathway, which pairs teams of students with local businesses to work on dedicated short-term innovation projects. Local SMEs are also involved with the School by providing guest lectures and mentoring to students, with the small businesses largely sourced through the School’s alumni network.

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. The School of Management will hold the award for 3 years. There are now 59 business schools that hold the SBC Award in the UK and Ireland.

Professor Steve Brammer, Dean of the School of Management, said: 

"Working with business, and supporting researchers and students to enable new ideas, innovation and growth is central to the life of the University of Bath, and the School of Management is proud to have its role recognised by the Small Business Charter Award.

“From the work of our researchers in sharing their knowledge and expertise with local companies, to the entrepreneurial education and support for students setting out to start their own business, the new award recognises our commitment to supporting business success.”

Anne Kiem OBE, Executive Director of the Small Business Charter, and Chief Executive of the Chartered Association of Business Schools said:

“We are delighted that Bath School of Management has been accredited with the Small Business Charter Award, given in recognition for their innovative approach to enterprise education and involvement with SMEs in the local community. We look forward to continuing to develop our relationship with them in the future.”