University of Bradford School of Management has been awarded the Small Business Charter Award. The award recognises the School of Management’s outstanding work to support their local small business community and student entrepreneurship.
Bradford School of Management’s mission is to develop a thriving, inclusive and socially engaged community through responsible management education and research. This mission is reflected through the involvement of entrepreneurs and small business owners who have contributed to developing and shaping this goal. Some of these businesses also play a vital role in the broader university and have helped to shape Bradford University’s governance strategy.
The School of Management’s engagement with their small business community is further strengthened through their long-term commitments set out in its ‘Business and Community Engagement Strategy’, which is at the heart of the school’s agenda.
One of the School’s success stories is its Graduate Entrepreneurship Programme. The programme offers coaching, mentoring, access to funding and library resources to graduates, as well as to new and more experienced entrepreneurs setting up their businesses. Through this programme, the School of Management is also able to support SMEs based overseas who wish to start up a new business in Bradford.
The Small Business Charter award is a national kitemark awarded by the Chartered Association of Business Schools to recognise business schools which demonstrate excellence in supporting small businesses, student enterprise, and the local economy. Bradford will hold the award for three years. There are now 33 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 congratulate the team at University of Bradford School of Management for achieving the Small Business Charter Award. Their work in supporting student employability through placement and internship schemes such as the ‘SummerExperience@Bradford’ and ‘Opportunities Abroad’ is commendable. It is fantastic that some of these internships were reserved for students from high deprivation areas, providing them with opportunities to gain valuable employability skills. Bradford’s School of Management is clearly a vital part of both the local economy and its community.”
Professor Sankar Sivarajah, Head of University of Bradford School of Management, said:
“We are absolutely delighted to gain the Small Business Charter Award which recognises our School and University’s efforts in supporting our students and local small businesses, entrepreneurs and positively contributing to the local economy. We have a long-standing commitment working with businesses and entrepreneurs in the city and region and we want to continue to grow our support to them through our School’s Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) and new business and community engagement initiatives for the benefit of our students and local small business community.”
Dr David Spicer, Director of Business Engagement, University of Bradford School of Management, said:
“As a school we are incredibly proud of the great relationships we have with small businesses which this award recognise. Our students benefit greatly through the experiences, projects and opportunities these businesses provide and similarly we know businesses value the support offered by the School and University through our KTN and by working with us and our students. We have some great plans to further extend this offer and will be launching a new space on campus for businesses and students to work in collaboratively for the new academic year.”