Skip to main content

BRISTOL BUSINESS SCHOOL AWARDED SILVER STATUS FOR SMALL BUSINESS CHARTER

Small Business Charter awards recognise outstanding work by universities in supporting small businesses, start-ups and their contribution to local economic growth. Bristol Business School at UWE Bristol is amongst a small group of business schools who have had their award upgraded.

The Small Business Charter awards were established by the Chartered Association of Business Schools, Lord Young and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in order to connect SMEs with world class business school knowledge, facilities and networks. There are now 27 Charter awarded business schools across the UK who continue to help start-ups and small businesses.

Receiving a Small Business Charter Award provides numerous benefits to business schools including the ability to play an active role in national business support initiatives such as the Growth Voucher programme.

Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Jane Harrington was delighted with the award, “Enterprise is at the heart of everything we do here at UWE, from developing entrepreneurial graduates via our innovative Team Entrepreneurship degree to supporting local businesses through various initiatives such as the 'Innovation 4 Growth' programme. We are therefore thrilled to receive the Small Business Charter silver award as it is testament to the hard work of our students and staff in embracing entrepreneurship at all levels within the university.

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, who holds the chair in entrepreneurship and strategy at Bristol Business School said, “This is a wonderful achievement for UWE but we want to build on this success to ensure that we not only develop entrepreneurship within the university but across the West of England region. By developing the old Hewlett Packard plant into one of only four University Enterprise Zones in the UK, we will be supporting innovative local businesses but also ensuring that our talented students and graduates have the support to start and grow their own businesses."

Ian McNaught, Executive Director of the Small Business Charter, said, “The Small Business Charter management board is delighted with the latest awards and upgrades from across the country. Business schools are again showing their impact on SMEs through world class business expertise, programmes and advice. Each business school went through rigorous assessment to gain their awards and we are very pleased with the standards which have been demonstrated in this round of applications.

“The 27 Charter awarded business schools continue to positively influence regional economic growth through engaging small businesses and supporting start-ups. They are key players in their local economies and they are rightly being recognised for that commitment.”

University business schools awarded with Small Business Charter awards have already directly helped over 8000 small businesses – working with them through a range of support including on-site incubators with dedicated space for students and small businesses to start up and grow; dedicated Small Business Growth & Leadership programmes; and strong full time support networks of alumni and local business experts supporting both students and small businesses. These business schools have helped 4,700 students to find work placements in Britain's exciting micro-business and start-up sector.

Popular posts from this blog

THE IMPORTANCE OF FRANCHISING

When we talk about start-ups and entrepreneurship, rarely do we discuss the potential of franchising not only as a way of establishing new ventures in the economy but also as a method of growing existing businesses. According to the British Franchising Association, franchising is the granting of a licence by one person (the franchisor) to another (the franchisee), which entitles the franchisee to own and operate their own business under the brand, systems and proven business model of the franchisor. The franchisee also receives initial training and ongoing support, comprising all the elements necessary to establish a previously untrained person in the business. This enables individuals to start their own businesses without having to develop their own ideas and utilising an existing brand and established market. Of course, whilst each franchise business is owned and operated by the franchisee, the franchisor controls the quality and standards of the way in which the business is
Read more

THE MANUFACTURING STRATEGY FOR WALES

Last night, I received the following comment on the previous post relating to a piece I had written back in early 2007 about the state of the manufacturing sector in Wales. "Dylan, you seem to be ignoring the fact that manufacturers in Wales have written the manufacturing strategy. Small and large manufacturers, all represented at the Manufacturing forum, have co-written this strategy. WAG has recently supported this strategy and have funded a co-ordinator with resources. Manufactures are happy with this progress as they are following the strategy they wanted. I know that the Conservatives have attacked the strategy as they seem to think that WAG wrote the strategy. They couldn't be more wrong. The Manufacturing Strategy was written by manufacturers, for manufacturers and is supported by WAG. If you don't agree with this, then I can invite you to the next Manufacturing Forum and you can explain to the manufacturers how their strategy is wrong....I appreciate that there is
11 comments
Read more

INTRAPRENEURSHIP

Whilst we often consider entrepreneurship to be associated predominantly with new start-ups, larger firms - in order to compete effectively in fast-changing global markets - are adopting more innovative and enterprising approaches to management within their organisations. One of these approaches is the development of entrepreneurship within a corporate environment (or intrapreneurship). Research has shown that intrapreneurship is not easy, and there are considerable differences between an intrapreneurial and a traditional corporate culture, with the latter having an emphasis on a culture and reward system that tends to favour caution in decision-making. For example, large businesses rarely operate on a "gut-feeling" for the market-place, as many entrepreneurs do. Instead, large amounts of data are gathered before any major business decision is made, not only for use in rational business decisions, but also for use as justification if the decision does not produce optimu
Read more