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Business Insight Tuesday February 11 2014

North West United Northern heavyweights come together to promote the International Festival for Business Pages 6-7

Business education gets back to ethics Pages 8-12

Apprenticeships get down to business Forum: pages 2-3 Sir Terry Leahy, left, with Liverpool and Manchester city leaders Mayor Joe Anderson and Sir Richard Leese

Tuesday February 11 2014 | the times

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Business Insight

Welcome

All together now...

It isn’t always the case that you see true harmony between the leaders of Liverpool and Manchester, but the mutual enthusiasm and level of co-operation shown for the pending International Festival for Business 2014 – as covered here on pages 6 and 7 – is an indication that old animosities have been put aside for the common good.

So the smiling faces on the cover of Joe Anderson, Liverpool’s Mayor, and Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, are not there just for the camera. Even Sir Terry Leahy of Tesco fame is shown looking pleased – presumably because he and Lord Heseltine were the first to suggest the festival in a co-authored report more than two years ago.

And there is little doubt that the IFB 2014 has the potential to benefit the old rivals as well as businesses throughout the North of England and the entire UK. Success, then, is the key to spreading happiness.

Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce can also afford to feel happy. Its groundbreaking work in terms of creating apprenticeships to fill the skill gaps – critical to getting the economy truly back on its feet – is likely to be replicated across the country. See The Times Forum on these pages and the article on page 4.

Not only are the Chamber’s initiatives likely to underpin a resurgence of a legal sector suffering from the turbulence caused by legislative changes in delivery, they will also ensure that Manchester retains its number two spot as the digital powerhouse of Europe.

There is, additionally, the impact the Chamber’s projects will have in refining the social skills of our hospitality sector, along with the outstanding research into what we need if the runaway construction sector is not to come off the rails.

Then, of course, there is the best in MBA education available in the top business schools throughout the North, from where the next generation of managers will come to lead us back to prosperity.

Inside

Cover story Fast forward to the big business fest Pages 6-7 The Times Forum Focusing on new-style apprenticeships Pages 2-3 Business education MBA offerings with degrees of difference Pages 8-12 The Times Business Insight reaches more senior business people in the North of England than any other quality newspaper.

Indeed, with 184,000 readers* and reaching almost 20 per cent of the all c-suite executives**, there is no better place to be seen. *Source NRS July 2011 - June 2012 **Source BBS 2011

To advertise in the next North of England edition of Business Insight: Freephone 0800 027 0403 or contact: stuart@timesnorth.co.uk

Forum

on training

Is the new apprentice set to meet skills gap challenge?

Big voices speak out as Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce rethinks old ideas with training initiatives that promise ‘You’re hired!’ results, says Mike Cowley

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ow that the UK economy is considered to have turned the corner, the major roadblock that still lies ahead on the highway to renewed prosperity is the lack of skilled workers to maintain momentum in a constantly evolving workplace.

Only 15 per cent of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), however, are even considering the one proven solution – the apprenticeship route – even though every £1 spent in that area is known to produce a return of £18 for the economy.

Most SMEs have placed the concept on the “too difficult” shelf, often because they are unable to find the right type of training provider.

That is why all eyes are on the groundbreaking work being undertaken by the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce (GMCC) – the largest in the UK with around 4,500 members – in terms of both providing apprenticeships and transforming their image.

The GMCC is believed to be the only Chamber in the UK that has committed to this level of work within the training arena, and has effectively remodelled itself to achieve this. The GMCC’s motivation to focus on skills provision has been driven by the fact that companies wishing to locate businesses will invariably look at being able to source the skills they need.

Gone are the days of apprentices confined to a narrow range of largely manual professions. The new GMCC model, for one, has been instrumental in introducing significant career opportunities in sectors ranging from law, through computer games, to hospitality.

Traditional training programmes have gone out of the window as the GMCC skills and employment team has helped turn the “take what you are given” approach of the past on its head and replace it with schemes which result in “work ready” employees who have genuine ca-

reer prospects at the end of the pipeline.

The team has been able to do this by making maximum use of a Government funding pot known as Employer Ownership of Skills (EOS), which does what it says on the tin and offers employers the opportunity to get in the driving seat.

With the GMCC providing “the hidden wiring” in the middle – the description offered by Louise Timperley who heads the project – they have successfully matched employer group requirements with bespoke training skills, with the result being that even rival companies have come together for the common good in their sector.

With an EOS allocation of £8.5 million, Greater Manchester has become the catalyst for apprenticeship initiatives across a wide range of sectors. This has brought the GMCC’s work to the attention of Government, as well as prompting a wide variety of interest from other UK Chambers.

Such is the impact that the GMCC is having on the apprenticeship front, it became the subject of a Forum run by The Times, with representatives of all the parties involved being brought together to assess the work to date and its implications for UK plc. Collaboration was seen as the key to success, with the GMCC in the middle as the honest broker.

“The whole ethos is employers talking to one another within their sector – deciding what the skill gaps are – then working out how to provide a solution,” said Louise Timperley. “The Chamber has been pivotal in making this happen.”

Anne Tipple, skills advisor at the GMCC, saw the role of the Chamber as “a bridge, independent and trusted, making it happen”.

High on the Forum agenda was the GMCC’s major coup of persuading the Swedish company PlaygroundSquad – a world leader in training for video games producers such as Microsoft, Sony Play-

Station and EA (Electronic Arts) – to locate its UK arm in the Sharp Project in Manchester.

With Greater Manchester being the second-biggest digital technology centre in Europe – London is number one – this is seen as ensuring the City Region remains at the top of the digital tree, with some 120 apprentices in the loop at any one time once the scheme is fully up and running.

There is also likely to be an influx of other games companies, as the presence of PlaygroundSquad normally guarantees a cluster looking for the first pick of the talent after graduation – and Factory Games is already in the process of moving to the same site.

Working with Manchester City Council and Manchester College, the GMCC had to jump through hoops to pave the way for PlaygroundSquad. In Sweden the model involves full-time training, but funding in Manchester is only available where an employer recruits. So PlaygroundSquad have changed their whole delivery model and, rather than just train the learners, they are actually employing them as apprentices.

There was also the issue of relevant UK qualifications, with the Manchester College stepping in to remove this obstacle – and also to provide some funding.

All in all, then, it is seen as a great deal for Manchester, as the courses in Sweden can cost around 10,000 euros. “This is a fantastic opportunity for Manchester,” Tony Foggett, chairman of Manchester Digital, told the Forum. “Many of the skills in which they provide training are cross-industry, so it will not just benefit the games hub but companies involved in digital throughout, including those at MediaCityUK.” Carol Bartram, the Chamber’s person responsible for managing delivery of the EOS programme, agreed. “Digital and IT companies fight to pick the talent that

the times | Tuesday February 11 2014

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Business Insight

L-R: Beverley Ashton (Frederic Robinsons), Miceál Barden (Head of Manchester Law School, MMU), Alasdair Nimmo (The Times), Jim Ness (contracts director, Heyrod) Louise Timperley (head of skills and employment, GMCC), Brad Daniel (training manager, Heyrod) Carol Bartram (manager, Workforce Planners, GMCC), Emily Hemlin (paralegal apprentice, Pannone), John Myers (National Apprenticeship Service), Deborah Walker (business and enterprise manager, MMU), Tony Foggett (Code Computerlove), Jocelyne Underwood (construction sector lead, GMCC), Anne Tipple (skills advisor, GMCC)

It’s about responding to what employers want, not accepting just what’s available off the shelf

comes out of universities,” she said. “PlaygroundSquad is offering training that doesn’t exist within any of our colleges, so that offers real opportunity to develop local talent that can compete with the rest of Europe.”

Under the guidance of The Times Forum chairman, Alasdair Nimmo, publisher of The Times Business Insight North, discussion then moved on to the breakthrough achieved with the introduction of paralegal apprentices for Greater Manchester law firms.

This in itself is changing the entire model of legal delivery, offering apprentices the chance to earn money and still having the opportunity to become solicitors without going through the more traditional graduate route. Backed by the major law firms in Greater Manchester, with Pannone as the lead employer – and

Louise Timperley

with training provided by Manchester Metropolitan University Law School – this is being heralded as yet another significant success story for the GMCC which is likely to be eventually rolled out across the country. (See page 4.)

Next, the Forum turned to another unique initiative in the form of apprenticeships for the hospitality area. Backed by the lead skills employer in the form of Stockport-based Frederic Robinsons

Brewery, this again is likely to establish a totally new concept in training for its sector.

Since it was established in 1838, the brewery has never had an apprentice – and now it is leading a programme which will see some 130 appointed in the initial stage. These will not be confined to the 368 Robinsons outlets, but will also go to the fast-moving Living Ventures restaurant chain and even established representatives of the Asian food sectors.

In this case, the GMCC not only helped with the setting up of the specialist training required, but also effectively transferred one of its key employees to the Robinsons team to make sure it all works. Beverley Ashton, now the consultant training and development manager at Frederic Robinsons, told the Forum how her move had come about.

“Robinsons is a tenanted estate,” she said, “meaning we have 360 small businesses – which was one of the barriers.

So there was not just reluctance to take on apprentices, but they didn’t understand the benefits of training full stop – their focus is on the day job.

“I’m sure Robinsons would agree that if it wasn’t for Chamber’s involvement, they wouldn’t be where they are now.

There was too much jargon around, and the Chamber helped cut through that.

When I set up the Hospitality Employer Skills group, they first said it was too difficult. There was a lack of understanding. Yet when I asked what would be on their wish list, the group felt there wasn’t enough emphasis on customer service, so we made that the heart of the offer.”

She added: “Then we felt the training on offer was prescriptive, but we didn’t have time to rewrite it. What we came up with was not just professional cooking or licensed hospitality. Every candidate goes through apprenticeship-plus – a stand-alone qualification in customer service, either Level 2 or 3, a personal licence and also a wine qualification.

“The take-up for wine and the personal licence is big and an endorsement from the sector. That we now have 60

apprentices on the programme is down to the fact that it is a Robinsons apprenticeship, so it has a trust all of its own.

Within the brewing sector it has become known as the Robinsons model.”

Carol Bartram added her own thoughts. “We are trying to take pain out of it for employers,” she said, “although it has often been painful for us. There came a tipping-point when it was more beneficial for Beverley to be in Robinsons and acting as part of their infrastructure – so we funded it because it was a big opportunity to make a change.

“It is again about being flexible and responding to what employer wants – rather than accepting what is available off-shelf.”

Just how successful this has been to date can be judged by the fact that the British Institute of Innkeeping is now in talks with Robinsons about setting up a hub for its operations in the North West – the first of its kind outside London.

So overall, the GMCC’s apprenticeship initiative has won a sizeable vote of confidence for its work on the skills front.

John Myers, representing the National Apprenticeship Service on the Forum, was quick to endorse what is happening.

“Greater Manchester Chamber has to be applauded,” he said, “for leading the way with the type of innovation which is going to be necessary to make a difference to the skills base both locally and nationally. This is answering a real need.

It is a national leading programme”.

But it was Mr Myers who also pointed out the one shortcoming with apprentice vacancies more generally: getting the message out to the prospective apprentices. “There are lots of apprentice vacancies out there in Greater Manchester that have yet to be filled,” he said.

Louise Timperley, meanwhile, expressed concern that the new wave of funding for employers in the driving seat is unlikely to be available until 2017. “We don’t want to see a dip in activity because of that,” she said. “What we need is to ensure that all the key-roles people continue and UK plc continues to benefit.”

Construction sector masterplan

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he Forum delegates discussed the Chamber-inspired masterplan for the Greater Manchester construction sector, in the form of a “pipeline analysis” which details where all the skill shortages will be found up to and including 2017.

This, for the first time anywhere, will provide a blueprint for apprentice training in order to ensure that with the increase in building infrastructure – some 632 per cent over the next two years – it can be supported directly in terms of skill training.

It also shows just what skills are most needed – floorers, interior fit-out, steel erectors and building envelope specialists – and where there is currently a significant over-supply in areas such as architects and surveyors.

With around 65,000 construction workers required by March 2014 – and only 55,000 currently available – here, uniquely, is the first detailed breakdown of what skills will be needed as we climb out of the recession.

So significant is this body of work that it has already sparked discussion at

Cabinet Office level and there are plans to replicate it across the country.

“I must congratulate people involved in this,” said Jim Ness, contracts director at Heyrod, the lead employer involved in the construction skills sector. “It has got through the maze with analysis and research as to what is needed in the future. There is a lack of people coming in to our industry because it has a poor record and it is very casualised – when we got recruits in the boom those people were out of work very quickly.

“Here, then, is a good opportunity for young people to see there is a future for them in construction. By initiating this, we will replace the ageing workforce we’ve got. Over next five or 10 years, we have a lot to replace. I hope it will be a start for other Chambers to see what they can deliver.”

Jocelyne Underwood, the construction sector lead for the GMCC, told the Forum: “What the pipeline analysis has allowed us to do is see what the requirement is. The industry is complex. We knew there was a

need, but we didn’t know where.

Overall, there is a shortfall of 77 per cent, but when it comes to jobs in architecture there is an over-supply of 674 per cent.

“For the first time, we have the details and are in a position to say ‘You need to stop training’ in, say bricklaying and look at cladding. We are in talks with the Cabinet Office about this. We have done it in Greater Manchester and it is something that can be rolled out. Once you know where the skills gaps are, you can do something about it.”

And the organisation assigned to do something about it is the training arm at Heyrod. So here is an example of competitive companies setting old rivalries aside for the overall benefit of the sector.

“In the civil engineering industry, we are in trouble,” said Brad Daniel, the Heyrod training manager. “That’s why the sector has had to put issues like competition to one side and see the big picture. Without the Chamber as the honest broker, we couldn’t have done this.”

Tuesday February 11 2014 | the times

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Business Insight

Apprenticeships

You’re hired already!

Early starters-in-law

Student-paralegal apprentices taking home real wages are changing work ideas in Manchester, says Mike Cowley

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s befits one of the brightest A-level students in her year at Stockport’s Aquinas College, bubbly 19-year-old Emily Hemlin is studying at the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) Law School, with the intention of eventually achieving her dream of becoming a solicitor.

Unlike most of the would-be lawyers to be found at MMU, however, she won’t be leaving saddled with around £30,000 in debt and no guarantee of employment. In fact, the students on the course are being paid on average £12,000 a year.

This is because Emily Hemlin and her classmates are the first wave of 47 paralegal apprentices now attached to 15 Manchester law firms – and who get the benefits of a paid job along with those of a student setting out in life.

Paralegals are among a number of apprenticeship schemes initiated by the skills and employment team at the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce (GMCC), using a form of Government funding known as Employer Ownership of Skills (EOS – see pages 2 and 3).

What EOS does is to put employers in the driving seat when it comes to training to fill the skill gaps in their sectors. In this case, it involved most of the leading law firms in Greater Manchester forming a group chaired by Pannone’s managing partner.

The requirement for paralegal apprentices has arisen because of significant changes in the legal profession. One of the key transformers was the introduction of legislation known as Alternative Business Structures, which allows nonlegal firms – such as the Stobart Group – to offer legal advice.

This has also seen a number of insurance companies get together to enter the field as part of a rush to market – which one pundit suggested could well see legal advice eventually available at supermarket checkouts. Such was the threat of new competition – at a time when law firms were still reeling from the effects of the recession – that a serious level of navelgazing began as firms began to re-examine their business models.

One area that came under the microscope was expensive graduate recruitment, which for many years has been out of kilter, in that the number going to law firms was tiny related to the initial university intake. A recent survey of legal graduates highlighted the problem, when 73 per cent said they would not have tak-

Emma Holt: Certain types of legal work can be done in a different way, she says

This has led to lots of firms looking at how they deliver their work

en law had they realised how difficult it was to secure a position. Then, of course, there was the massive debt they faced.

So the GMCC skills team saw an opening for more cost-effective paralegal apprentices – with apprentices being a new role in law firms. This coincided with the introduction of a qualification which would enable apprentices to progress from Level 3 (A-level standard) all the way up to Level 7 (the equivalent of being a solicitor), without going via the old degree route.

Emma Holt of Pannone, who chairs the legal sector employer skills group at the GMCC, says the move to paralegals has come about because of “a collision of things” – legislative changes, changes in the way litigation is funded, non-lawyer ownership of law firms, advances in technology, the effects of the recession, and high university fees without the guarantee of a job at the end for graduates.

“This has led to lots of firms looking at how they deliver their work,” she says, “as certain types of legal work can be done in a different way, always ensuring that clients have easier access to quality legal services. We were also concerned that education was preparing people for jobs that weren’t there, given the change in the sector. Then there are bright A-level students who can’t afford to become solicitors by going the traditional route.”

Emma Holt believes the introduction of paralegal apprentices provides the opportunity for firms such as Pannone

to work with the brightest youngsters straight from school, and to open up the profession to those who have the right qualities but might otherwise have never considered a career in law.

“This is a great opportunity to qualify and get paid for it,” she says, “which

Emily Hemlin: It’s the ‘perfect job’ should appeal to both the students and their parents.” But what of the ones who do not go on to qualify as solicitors? “We hope that they will be with the firms for a long time – the roles will be valued by the firms.”

What really guaranteed that the scheme was a runner was when the MMU Law School agreed to be the training provider, so ensuring the course had maximum credibility. And Miceál Barden, the school head, was among the first to appreciate the potential benefits for the university.

“There was fortuitous timing involved here,” he says. “Firms realised there was a need to deliver in a better way – ultimately a need for the less-qualified to offer legal services at a much lower cost. The university traditional model then was no longer going to be the sole route.

“We recognised that if we didn’t change as well, then our traditional model of doing business was going to die. If we had stuck our head in the sand with the legal system changing round us, we would suffer as a result. This is a really happy coincidence for us, in that it has let us get far closer to employers and develop far better relationships. So it is a win-win as far as we are concerned.”

Deborah Walker, business and development manager at the MMU Law School, echoes these sentiments. “There is no ceiling for the apprentices,” she says. “They can go on and qualify to whatever level suits them in order to maximise their careers.”

And this is just what Emily Hemlin intends to do. A straight-A student – she got 14 GCSEs followed by an A* in law, her subject of choice – she is revelling in both her work as a paralegal with Pannone and her student life at MMU. She regularly attends client meetings, has been to court shadowing a solicitor and taking notes, even once finding herself on her own with a barrister on a domestic case when the solicitor was not available, and so receiving a thorough immersion in legal life. At the same time, she is not missing out on student life either, whether in terms of tuition or just as importantly fun.

Describing herself as a typical 19-yearold, Ms Hemlin was in the thick of the action at Freshers’ Week, has a student card to get in on all the offers, and has built up a social relationship with other paralegals on the course. She sees being a paralegal as “the perfect job”, and is aware that many of her friends who want to take law are “starting to panic” over the debts they will face and the uncertainty of life offered after a degree course.

“My mum and dad are over the moon about it,” she says. “They would have supported me if I had decided to go to university, but now they recognise I have got the best of both worlds.”

Meanwhile, all the parties involved are thrilled by the success of the venture, the only concern to date being the need to get the message out to the widest possible audience – both among the students and, just as importantly, their parents.

Emily Hemlin, for instance, only heard through a non-traditional channel. “My gran read about it in the paper and told me,” she says, “or I would never have known of this amazing opportunity.”

the times | Tuesday February 11 2014

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Tuesday February 11 2014 | the times

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Business Insight

Cover story

The balance-boosting fest This summer’s International Festival for Business will be the biggest British business event in more than 60 years and could help to drive UK export performance for a generation to come, writes Lucas Brown

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t is only now that the true impact is being felt of a report written more than two years ago by Lord Heseltine and Sir Terry Leahy. Rebalancing Britain: Policy or slogan? examined how Liverpool City Region might encourage economic growth, and one of its key recommendations was that the area should host an international exposition – or expo – on behalf of the UK. Fast-forward to the present and that idea, from being just a twinkle in the eye of the Tory grandee and the captain of British business, is looming large as a reality. Organisers and business leaders are predicting that the International Festival for Business (IFB 2014) could be transformational for those taking part.

Thus it was that Sir Terry found himself recently sharing a platform in Manchester Town Hall with other business luminaries and also with the civic leaders of Liverpool and Manchester, Mayor Joe Anderson and Sir Richard Leese – two political heavyweights who continue to redefine conventional notions of leadership in the UK. The message which emerged from the gathering was clear: the North West has the kind of economic and political critical mass which can make it a centre of gravity for growth and influence, and which can go some way towards rebalancing – in more ways than one – the UK economy.

A second message to emerge was, in some respects, even more important: that the IFB 2014, which will take place in Liverpool in June and July, can be a game-changer for the region and for those businesses which take part.

Sir Terry, in an opinion piece for The Times Business Insight North (see below), gives an indication of his view of the po-

tential of the IFB 2014 when he writes that, had there been such a event when he was in charge of Tesco, it could have significantly accelerated their overseas expansion.

The IFB 2014 is a global showcase of British industry, bringing the world of business to Liverpool, the City Region and the North West for 50 days this coming summer. It is regarded as a key driver of the Government’s mission to double UK exports by 2020.

Comprising up to 200 events along with a complementary cultural programme (including Royal de Luxe’s giant street theatre event representing the UK’s flagship 2014 First World War commemoration), the festival is a key part of the Government’s ambition to promote economic growth and rebalance the economy. Liverpool and its City Region can expect an influx of hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the world.

The IFB 2014 will also offer considerable opportunities for SMEs – small and medium-sized businesses – from across the UK to make international connections, exchange new ideas, promote their products, create new partnerships and seek new sources of finance. Individual conferences and exhibitions will be held at venues throughout the Liverpool City Region, with events also taking place in Manchester and Sheffield.

The festival will coincide with the staging of The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, which will attract a global TV audience of around 450 million and in the region of 200,000 spectators to the famous Wirral links.

There will also be a focus on key UK business sectors and themes, including

Civic and business leaders: From left, Sir Richard Leese, Mayor Joe Anderson, Sir Terry Leahy, Max Steinberg, Sir Howard Bernstein, Ged Fitzgerald, Mike Blackburn and Michael Oglesby

Opportunity to show off our business acumen and excellence

maritime, logistics and energy, higher education, manufacturing, science and technology, professional and financial services, low carbon and renewables, and creative and digital.

“The International Festival for Business is an example of how Liverpool and Manchester can work together for the interests of the North West,” said Joe Anderson, the Mayor of Liverpool. “In a globally competitive marketplace for investment, Northern city leaders, businesses and universities need to collaborate if we are going to sustain the national economic recovery, and the IFB 2014 is an opportunity to show off our business acumen and excellence.”

Sir Richard Leese said: “It is vital, if we are to create real growth in the North, that Manchester and Liverpool work together where possible, and I am sure that the IFB 2014’s success will shine a light, not only on our two cities but on the North West and the North of England too.”

Highlights of the programme include the BT Global Leaders’ Summit, when the civic, political and business leaders from 150 leading cities will gather to discuss the challenges facing cities, regions and countries. UKTI (UK Trade & Investment) will also showcase the best of British business over two days when it stages the British Business Embassy. This was a hugely successful part of Britain’s 2012 Olympic business legacy, attracting some 4,000 global business figures.

That event is just one of 13 UKTI events scheduled for the festival – a demonstration, say organisers, of the Government’s support for the event.

“Britain punches above its weight around the world,” said John Cridland, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, “but we are only 60 million in a 7 billion world, so we have to make ourselves well known, we have to shout pretty loud – and I can’t think of a better place to be doing that than Liverpool.”

Tale of two cities firing the engine of growth

By Sir Terry Leahy, IFB 2014 ambassador

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wish there had been an International Festival for Business when Tesco was about to embark on its international expansion. It would have made it a lot easier to develop contacts and to forge partnerships which are the key to successful expansion abroad. As it was, it took us a decade to become an international force to be reckoned with.

Business growth is all about relationships. It’s about the people you meet – sometimes entirely randomly – and the connections you forge. Those relationships cre-

ate opportunity: new partners, new suppliers and new customers.

Liverpool this summer will be the time and the place for business people from across the UK to make such connections and grab such opportunities.

It isn’t just Liverpool, of course, and it is profoundly encouraging to see two great Northern cities – Liverpool and Manchester – working together to make the IFB 2014 a success. Events are taking place in Sheffield, Cheshire and Hull as well.

Liverpool and Manchester together have a gravitational pull which can be a force on the global stage. They are superb brands with world-class assets and, I believe, the

IFB 2014 will provide a once-in-ageneration opportunity for those who run businesses in these cities.

If I were starting out in business today, or if I were still at the helm of a multi-billion-pound global business such as Tesco, I would be at the IFB 2014 in June. I would be instructing my executives to register as delegates and I would be instructing them to think hard and think creatively about how we should be involved.

Every business in the UK should consider investing their time in the IFB 2014. The return on that investment could be enormous. So my message today is to do just that: get involved, invest a little time and take your business to the next level.

Sir Terry Leahy: Business growth is all about relationships, he says

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Business Insight

Welcome to the ‘beating heart’

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rganisers of the International Festival for Business 2014 have unveiled the design of the IFB Hub, which will be the festival’s nerve centre for seven weeks this summer.

Acoustic business-to-business (B2B) pods, a UK Investment Showcase, an IFB Business Club Lounge, business speed dating and Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson in residence throughout are just some of the opportunities that will be on offer.

The IFB Hub, spread over three floors of a new office building – No.1 Mann Island, situated next to one of the city’s historic docks – will act as the “beating heart” of the festival. Features include an IT-equipped first-floor welcome area featuring displays of investment opportunities in the UK. The third floor will be transformed into an International Trade and Investment zone, where UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and UK Export Finance (UKEF) will be on hand to provide “export health checks”, while international promotion associations from across the globe will liaise with delegates about the opportunities in their countries.

In the Professional Services Centre, lawyers, bankers and accountants, along with staff from other professional bodies, will provide free initial consultancy on what businesses need to do to make their

The IFB Hub: providing services and information on three floors international ambitions a reality. Also on this level there will be numerous B2B acoustic pods, where the Hub’s business speed dating meetings can take place (and which can be booked for meetings).

The fourth floor will have a 200-capacity theatre for events, more conference pods, and a media area with indoor and outdoor broadcast facilities overlooking Liverpool’s UNESCO World Heritage waterfront.

Mayor Anderson will work from a dedicated office on this floor throughout the IFB 2014, where he will meet various guests from all over the world who are visiting the city for the festival. The Hub

Businesses urged to join delegates’ club

T

he organisers of the International Festival for Business 2014 aim to set up 5,000 meetings for businesses with potential new customers, partners and suppliers through a bespoke business brokerage service. Companies which join the newly launched IFB Business Club will be able to access a range of facilities and services during the 50-day festival, including the brokerage service.

Members will have the opportunity to gain business advice via one-to-one appointments and business brokerage sessions with specialists in particular sectors and markets. Advisors will come from a range of key bodies, including UKTI (UK Trade & Investment), the CBI (Confederation of British Industry), the British Chambers of Commerce, the

manufacturers’ organisation EEF and the Federation of Small Businesses.

Individual brokerage sessions will cover all aspects of international trade and export, focusing in particular on supporting small and medium-sized businesses to expand into international markets.

Organisers are emphasising that companies must join the IFB Business Club to be able to gain access to the business brokerage sessions, which are designed to support the festival’s drive to assist businesses in extending their international reach.

IFB Business Club members will also enjoy benefits including IFB 2014 programme information, access to transport links, free Wi-Fi, free hot-desk facilities and meeting spaces, use of an IFB

will have free Wi-Fi, hot and cold refreshment facilities and numerous lounge and hot-desking clusters.

The Hub has been designed by Liverpool company Evoke Solutions and created by Adlib Lighting, both situated and doing business within the Liverpool City Region.

“The IFB 2014 is spread across the city and the wider City Region,” said festival director Ian McCarthy, “so we wanted to give businesses not only somewhere to meet, but access to the sort of consultative and advisory services that would actually help kick-start potential business deals while they are still in Liverpool.”

2014 trading floor in the IFB Hub and an ongoing programme of free trade, investment and market and sector events.

“At the heart of our vision for the festival was how businesses from across Liverpool City Region and the UK could benefit from a 50-day festival with a truly international scope,” said Joe Anderson, the Mayor of Liverpool.

“It is the IFB Hub that realises this ambition, and the IFB Business Club is the essence of the festival, through which all businesses, large and small, can move to the next level.”

Max Steinberg, chair of IFB 2014, added: “By becoming a member, your business requirements will be pinpointed very quickly, enabling us to put you in front of the right people, whether for advice on IP [intellectual property] from lawyers, or sitting down with UK or international buyers, investors or suppliers and doing deals.

“We had a small business club at World Expo in Shanghai, and since 2010 it has generated millions of pounds’ worth of contracts for members – and I am absolutely confident we will surpass that at the IFB 2014.”

How to join the IFB 2014’s free Business Club You can register now to join the IFB Business Club and take advantage of these unique and free business opportunities.

The IFB App

As a registered IFB Business Club member, you will gain free access to the IFB App in order to personalise and maximise your festival experience. The IFB App will be available to download from April 2014.

IFB Business Brokerage One of the IFB 2014’s prime objectives is to foster new business

relationships that may lead to direct commercial trade and investment outcomes for UK companies. The IFB 2014 team has created a number of mechanisms to match up potential customers, suppliers and investors before and during the festival.

This service is called IFB Business Brokerage and is free of charge.

Opportunities include:

Numerous individual IFB 2014 events with an explicit focus on “meet the buyer” (both UK and international) and on brokering new business-to-business (B2B) contacts, for example UKTI’s

seven target market events focusing on Africa, Benelux/EU, China/ Hong Kong, India, Latin America, South East Asia and the US.

The opportunity to network with trade delegations and international buyers from around the world at the IFB Hub, and associated introductions to potential international investors and supply partners.

B2B meeting slots with senior buyers from more than 20 of the largest corporates in the UK.

A “bulletin board” for UK and international business opportunities.

Highlights of the International Festival for Business 2014

Africa Rising, 9-12 June A high-profile conference which will provide a platform for African businesses and countries within several different industry sectors to demonstrate the opportunities across the continent. It will act as a facilitator, with interactive sessions and information providing a comprehensive route for investors and companies wishing to do business in Africa’s growing economy.

International Business and Diplomatic Exchange (IBDE) Global Economic Forum, 16-18 June A platform to discuss global economic challenges and to explore strategic business, trade and investment opportunities worldwide in the quest to set global economic growth back on track. The forum will boost the profile of the UK and other international business interests and expertise, and will provide the gateway for prospective investors interested in exploring the global FDI (foreign direct investment) climate and other opportunities.

BT Global Leaders’ Summit, 18 June Around 150 city leaders from around the world will come together for three days to debate the opportunities and challenges facing cities in the 21st century. This signature event has been developed with United Cities and Local Governments, a leading international organisation which counts more than 1,000 cities across 95 countries among its members.

Accelerate ’14, 20 June Building on the success of Accelerate 2013, an outstanding line-up of speakers from the worlds of business, media, culture, politics and sport will take part in this leading enterprise conference. The one-day event will provide a unique accelerator for growth, motivating and connecting high-potential businesses to become the world-beating organisations that will lead the UK’s economic fightback.

Global India Business Meeting – Horasis, 22-23 June The Global India Business Meeting is the foremost annual gathering of Indian business leaders and their global counterparts. The meeting will include 300 senior decision-makers from business and government.

Informed by the outcomes of the national elections, the meeting will engage participants to provide a holistic and timely perspective on the future direction for India.

National Federation of Builders – Embracing Change, 24-25 June This two-day event will in-

clude the NFB annual general meeting, construction-related business meetings and a celebratory evening gala dinner.

The business meetings will all relate to relevant and topical issues affecting SMEs – small and medium-sized businesses – in the construction industry.

Regen Europe, 25-26 June A key event for regeneration practitioners from around Europe, where they can listen, learn, discuss and debate the challenges facing our major towns and cities as they seek to emerge stronger from recent economic challenges.

World Corporate Games, 26-29 June Featuring the ultimate mix of sport, business and tourism, the World Corporate Games has placed unrivalled games opportunities in the hands of many of the world’s most successful companies. The four-day event will attract more than 8,000 delegates from blue chip companies and international industry bodies.

The event aids the realisation of how sports and games can revolutionise business.

UK Property Forum, 1-2 July The UK Property Forum will provide a national and international platform for property developers, investors, agents, architects and end-users to consider the latest industry trends and network on a global platform. The property industry comes together at this summit event at a critical time in the recovery of the UK and the international property market.

Sound City Digital, 15-17 July Building on the hugely successful international music festival, Sound City Digital will take an in-depth look at the game-changing impact that the digital revolution is having on the global music industry.

Made in the UK, 21-22 July The UK manufacturing awards event, this will provide a celebration of the best design and product development across the country.

It will include an awards ceremony, an exhibition and a series of conferences focusing on manufacturing challenges and opportunities.

International Sport Business Congress, 21-22 July Taking place in Manchester and Liverpool, this is an event where the diverse global sports sector meets business, commerce and leading academics and analysts to identify the latest trends in sport, economics, branding and media. There will also be the opportunity to take advantage of global networking opportunities and receive the latest insights from leading figures in sport and business.

Tuesday February 11 2014 | the times

8

Business Insight

Business education

Brave new creative world Two new pathways – digital and sporting – are now showing the modern way to success for MBA students at Salford Business School, writes Phil Smith

Appealing to the digital revolution

T

S

alford Business School at the University of Salford has celebrated 25 years of management education with the launch of two new specialist pathways to add to its flexible MBA portfolio – in a year when it is also embarking on a campaign to support the creative ingenuity of small and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs. The unique pathways in digital business and sports business have been developed for Salford’s AMBA-accredited MBA, with students able to join the programme at any one of six starting dates throughout the year.

Salford Business School is earning an ever-growing reputation for its “Executive Lifestyle Learning” approach – which is geared to meet the demands of aspiring global business leaders and involves intensive teaching blocks followed by customised, blended learning resources and online support.

MBA students can join the programme in September, November, January, March, June or July, with full-time students completing their programme in a year and part-time/executive students typically taking two years. Salford can also deliver the MBA on an in-company basis for employers keen to develop groups of managers.

The opportunity to study unique pathways in digital business and sports business, as well as the more traditional standalone MBA, is just the latest innovation at Salford Business School – with each pathway formulated in partnership with the university’s world-leading research centres.

Whichever route an MBA student takes, it leads to a degree of the highest quality, accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA). This internationally recognised kitemark is only awarded to programmes of the highest standard, after rigorous inspection and evaluation.

“Our overall objective is to create leadership development for a borderless digital world,” says Professor Amanda Broderick, dean of Salford Business School.

“We are in the unique position of delivering our MBA programme at MediaCityUK – one of the most exciting initiatives in the world – and our MBAs get the opportunity to work with, and alongside, leading organisations in the digital, media and creative industries.

“Building on this ethos, we are promoting 2014 as the Year of the Creative SME. As a top-three university for engaging with SMEs, our approach includes providing SMEs with advice and access to start-up loans and growth vouchers, increasing the flow of highly qualified students and graduates into SMEs, facilitating research partnerships and student live projects with SMEs, and offering a free online course in digital marketing.”

The MBA Business Innovation Live Project enables businesses of all sizes to benefit from professional consultancy services at no cost, as MBA students work with organisations for up to 10 weeks, helping to resolve business challenges or problems. The company and the MBA student agree objectives, scope, deliverables and timeframe and then work on a consultancy basis.

There have been many Salford MBA success stories over the years, with students signing up from across the UK and

Leafy life: Salford Business School hosts students in ‘executive lifestyle learning’

Prof Amanda Broderick

One of the world’s most exciting initiatives

Managing big business in sport

T

he Salford MBA: Sports Business has been developed by the university’s world-respected Centre for Sports Business and is a unique MBA option specifically tailored to executives working within sport and related industries.

This programme takes full advantage of the University of Salford’s enviable position at the heart of the North West, a region synonymous with sport at regional, national and international levels. BBC Sport is a neighbour of the university at MediaCityUK, and two of the biggest brands in world football – Manchester United and Manchester City – are on the doorstep.

The sports business pathway is aimed at those who aspire to work at the highest levels in the sports industry, and provides a mix of modules that develop business administration skills in combination with a bespoke module – managing the business of sport – which provides the marketplace-specific aspect of the pathway. The MBA Innovation Live Project focuses on an aspect of sports business close to the student’s area of interest.

MBA students on this pathway will have access to some of the world’s top academics in sports business. These include Dr Ian McHale, director of the Centre for Sports Business

overseas, including from China, India, the Middle East, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Libya and Mongolia.

UK alumni include Shelly Parkin, chief operating officer of Money Advice Group, and Ged Fitzgerald, chief executive of Liverpool City Council. “I chose Salford for my MBA for several reasons,” says Mr Fitzgerald. “It was a new and progressive course with a challenging blend of input, integration and application.

“It also enabled me to learn a lot about excellent private sector organisational experience and thinking, and to apply it to the public sector. It was a fundamental asset in shaping my career and continues to help me in leading a major, complex organisation.”

Rami Al-Awartani was the customer services manager at Jordan Ahli Bank when he decided it was time for a change and so enrolled on the Salford MBA. He is now project manager at Omnix International LLC. “Doing the MBA has really paid off for me,” he says. “It totally changed the way I think about business and has helped me develop the skills to work in a much more strategic role.

“I am currently based in Jordan but working in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iraq, so it has certainly led to many new interesting experiences.”

For more information, visit www.salford.ac.uk/business-school/businessmanagement-courses/salford-mba

Research and an expert in statistics in sports; co-director Professor Chris Brady, an expert in football finance and the business of sport; and Professor David Forrest, an economist with specific expertise in the spheres of gambling and sport.

Salford Business School’s director of the MBA and Executive Programmes, Dr Brian McGarrie, considers the sports business pathway to be an exciting innovation and one that would add further distinction to the Salford MBA. “We all know how big the business of sport is here in the UK and internationally,” Dr McGarrie says, “and the exciting element of this, and the digital business pathway, is that they provide options for those who want to tailor their learning experience and build upon their existing knowledge in specific disciplines.”

he Salford MBA: Digital Business has been launched to meet increasing demand for digitalsavvy business executives who can operate seamlessly in today’s digitised, global business environment.

Designed specifically for those who want to take advantage of the growing digital skills gap, this programme is the ideal way for senior managers to learn the strategic skills that will facilitate informed decision-making in the face of a rapidly changing technological and economic landscape.

Salford’s digital business pathway is taught out of the university’s state-of-the-art facilities based in MediaCityUK. Teaching on the pathway is informed by the Centre for Digital Business, the University of Salford’s internationally recognised research facility, and delivered in a unique, creative business environment.

The digital business pathway comprises three modules consistent across the MBA programme, with a fourth module, digital innovation, providing the subject specific specialism required to address the needs of employers in this area.

The MBA Innovation Live Project focuses on an aspect of digital business close to the student’s area of interest.

“Digital business is major innovation factor for all organisations and it has the potential to unlock new business opportunities as well as improve existing business practices,” says MBA proDr Heinze gramme tutor and co-director of the Centre for Digital Business, Dr Aleksej Heinze.

“Disruptive technology, in particular, is a major driver for many new business models.

“Our applied and practical research in the Centre for Digital Business will feed directly into the MBA programme. For example, our Passport to Trade 2.0 project researches the social media practices and guides in over 30 European countries – and the knowledge and resource created will allow our digital MBA students to approach international trade with a new dimension of social media.

“Being based at MediaCityUK, next door to the BBC in what is the creative and digital talent hub of the UK, is a unique offer for MBA students.”

the times | Tuesday February 11 2014

9

The Salford MBA One of the most flexible MBA programmes in the world Our MBA modules address time-critical business needs, developing innovative thinking and providing solutions to tackle complex business issues and leverage market opportunities in the business, sports business and digital sectors.

Our MBA enables you to: ❚ Receive an MBA that is AMBA accredited - an internationally recognised guarantee of quality demanded by the highest calibre management graduates and employers

You can join our MBA programme at any one of six starting dates throughout the year, on a full-time, part-time, modular, in-company or international basis, and on multiple specialist pathways.

❚ Study in state-of-the-art facilities at MediaCityUK; one of the most exciting, innovative and creative locations in the UK, home to the BBC, ITV and many creative and digital businesses, and close to some of the biggest sporting brands in the world.

❚ The Salford MBA ❚ The Salford MBA: Digital Business ❚ The Salford MBA: Sports Business

Whichever route to an MBA you take, you are guaranteed a degree of the highest quality.

www.salford.ac.uk/mba

Meet Salford MBA tutors at our Postgraduate Open Evening, on February 26, 2014 Book your place at: www.salford.ac.uk/visit Or contact Dr. Brian McGarrie, our Director of MBA and Executive Programmes. e: b.mcgarrie@salford.ac.uk t: 0161 295 4305

Tuesday February 11 2014 | the times

10

Business Insight

Business education

Learning with local impact Real experience in commerce gives the MBA programme an edge at Bradford University School of Management, says Mike Cowley

D

r Craig Johnson knows what makes for good management.

After all, he has posed the question to the chief executives and human resource directors of 170 FTSE and AIM listed companies – and has got the answers.

Dr Johnson’s research, along with his commercial experience, puts him in an enviable position as director of studies for the full-time and part-time MBA programmes at Bradford University School of Management. And the school itself is no slouch when it comes to knowing what makes good managers tick, having been in the business for 50 years – which makes it not only older than its peers at Oxford and Cambridge, but also the first university-based business school in England.

As well as offering one of Europe’s top 30 MBA programmes, it is part of an elite group of fewer than 1 per cent of the world’s business schools holding the “Triple Crown” of accreditations: AMBA (Association of Masters of Business Administration), EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) and AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business).

It is this reputation and focus on real management issues that has helped the Bradford school to become woven into the fabric of Northern business, working both with and for household names such as Morrisons, Pace, Asda, Hallmark Cards and the Yorkshire Building Society.

“We’re fortunate to have one of the UK’s leading management schools in the city,” says a Pace spokesperson, “and Bradford University proved its breadth of teaching knowledge”.

Even at a time of emergence from recession, when demand for MBAs tends to reflect the nervousness of the market, Bradford is reporting increased demand across its MBA programmes. More than 750 students are currently studying the Bradford MBA worldwide, and the programme’s flexible study options and practical applied approach is appealing to the busy working professionals who need to manage their studies alongside their work.

The Full-Time MBA, which attracts strong interest internationally, is holding up well, while the Accelerated MBA – a relatively new full-time study option where the academic teaching is condensed into seven months – is proving popular with those who want to study full-time while minimising time spent out of the workplace.

But the real growth can be found in Bradford’s Distance Learning MBA and the Executive Part-Time MBA, where interest from Northern companies and business is particularly high. The appeal of the part-time programme is its structure,

‘Breadth of teaching knowledge’ in practice: Dr Johnson passes on management skills to his class... which delivers all teaching requirements through nine weekend sessions, thus allowing students to continue working while they study. Weekend study is also good for their companies, which do not lose the services of key managers.

Further evidence of just how in tune Bradford is with business can be seen from its latest intake of Executive Part-Time MBA students, more than half of whom are sponsored by regionally based companies. Asda, Bunzl Greenham, Hallmark Cards, Damart and Emerald Publishing are among those to have sent managers to Bradford.

We help companies and educate people at the same time

The Triple Crown jewels Accreditations are often the best guide to picking the cream of the crop with business schools. So Bradford University School of Management’s Triple Crown – of AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB – says all that needs to be said, in that the combination of all three accreditations has been achieved by under 1 per cent of business schools worldwide.

AMBA (Association of Masters of Business Administration) is the most important, as this limits candidates to those with a minimum of three years of experience – so ensuring mutual learning from the cohort as well as networking with it.

EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) is focused on looking at raising the overall standard of management education worldwide, and assessing institutions as a whole – not just degree programmes, but also all the activities and sub-units of the institution.

AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) provides internationally recognised, specialised accreditation for business and accounting programmes across all levels.

...and gives one-to-one advice Like many of his colleagues in the Bradford MBA faculty, Dr Johnson did not start out life as an academic; instead, he spent some 20 years in the arguably less cosseted commercial world, working in both the public and private sectors.

With skills as a software engineer and experience as an operations manager, he joined the University of Bradford in a commercial role, acquired an MA in action learning and then moved into an academic role at the School of Management.

Action learning – where students are called upon to find solutions to real business problems – is a key theme at Bradford. No matter which course is chosen – full-time, part-time or accelerated – the cornerstone of MBA thinking at Bradford can best be summed up by three terms: Practical, Interactive and Relevant.

“Companies and managers are looking for the School of Management to give their people exposure,” Dr Johnson says, “to not just a wide range of business disciplines and issues, but to real, relevant and practical knowledge that can be applied straight back to their workplace”.

Case studies and business simulation are an integral part of the MBA programme at Bradford, and teaching is kept fresh by study trips – for instance to Poland, to examine the post-communist era management – and also via guest lec-

tures, with recent speakers coming from Lloyds Bank and Jaguar Land Rover.

Another practical diversion for the students is a trading room simulator, where they can get hands-on experience of what happens at “market central”.

All MBA students must conduct an original and detailed investigation of a specific business or management issue as part of their final management project, and every year the school receives up to 60 project opportunities from local businesses looking for help with a range of issues.

Recent examples which the MBA students have come up with include:

A business case to enhance the Leeds– Carlisle rail service.

Identification of a new international market for a small to medium-sized enterprise packaging company.

A marketing strategy for Bradford’s UNESCO City of Film status.

The introduction of an environmental management system for a marketing agency.

A project for Northumbrian Water went down well with the company’s Andrew Moore, and not just because he happens to be an MBA alumnus from Bradford. “We found the combination of the previous work background along with their newly taught knowledge brought unique insight into our project area,” Mr Moore says.

Nor are the projects always restricted to the North of England. A Bradford School of Management MBA student team came up with a “lean manufacturing” solution to increase efficiency for Ford at Dagenham, which has since been rolled out throughout the company.

“Here we have a win-win situation, in that we help companies and educate people at the same time,” Dr Johnson says. “This is not just an academic exercise, but has real impact on real business life.”

All this, then, shapes the management that can help restore the North to the

prosperity it once enjoyed – something of which Craig Johnson and the rest of the MBA team are constantly mindful.

“What I learned from the answers I received from the FTSE and AIM listed executives,” he says, “is reflected very much in our university’s philosophy of ‘Making knowledge work’.

“Good management is about maximisation with balance. At Bradford University School of Management we understand the needs of businesses and managers and the relevance of management education to real-life business, never forgetting the importance of connections with our regional community and organisations.”

the times | Tuesday February 11 2014

11

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Tuesday February 11 2014 | the times

12

Business Insight

Business education

Taking a fresh look at the business of ethics Giving the students a moral compass is central to the MBA programme run by Newcastle University, says Mike Cowley

A

Scottish academic whose engineer father instilled in him that “good enough was not good enough” continues to follow this same doctrine in his latest incarnation – that of playing a key role at Newcastle University Business School. The son of a working-class family – his father worked for Rolls-Royce and his mother was a cleaner – Professor Alan McKinlay is a conscientious academic who wears his principles on his sleeve.

As director of MBA programmes and executive education in the increasingly lauded business school at one of the Russell Group’s elite universities, there are no half-measures for him when it comes to including a moral compass as part of any successful business mix. While many organisations appear to have only woken up to this reality since the banking crisis of 2008, for Professor McKinlay it has long been a central plank in his successful 30-year career in academia.

With a PhD from Oxford University, he has a track record of successfully combining teaching positions at higher education learning institutions – including St Andrews, Glasgow and HeriotWatt universities – with consulting for blue chip multinationals including Pfizer, Ford and Tata.

Professor McKinlay’s current input is serving to reinforce Newcastle University Business School’s growing reputation as a producer of quality graduates ready to take their place in the constantly evolving business world. This approach to business education is on the money today, when an increasing emphasis on ethics is seeking to blunt the sharp edges of capitalism without compromising the plc model.

Newcastle is one of only 144 business schools worldwide to receive accreditation from the European Foundation for Management Development, and close to 100 per cent of its employment-seeking graduates secure jobs within six months.

With 3,000 students and more than 170 lecturers, the business school is playing a key role in the economic revival of the North East, and its commercial impact is being felt globally.

During the course of his career, Professor McKinlay has become recognised as a world authority on business history – and echoes of the past are now helping shape the future of Newcastle University Business School. Key to the professor’s thinking is his research into mobile phone pacesetter Motorola in the early 1990s – the subject of his book to be published in two months under the title Inside the Factory of the Future: Work, Power and Authority in Microelectronics.

Prof McKinlay and his school, right Seen at the time as a radical experiment in business, Motorola is described

by Professor McKinlay as “a flagship for management values”, where the hierarchy was turned on its head and “management became something you bolted on to make things better”. He argues, however, that Motorola is doing “much more poorly” today.

“There are two interpretations for the downturn,” he says. “One is that their designs did not keep up with the technology and their products were just wrong.

The second and much more intriguing possibility is that they lost sight of the very values that had made them innovative, competitive and dynamic in the first place. They became a sales-driven organisation rather than one that dealt with their employees and customers through trust and integrity.

“What we are doing at Newcastle is to provide people with that moral compass, and at the same time give them the technical expertise which makes business work – one without the other seems to me to be asking for trouble.”

Professor McKinlay believes that the UK is witnessing “an ethical turn in business”, with major financial institutions in particular realising that they need to go back to what made them great. “They need to unlearn some of the bad habits they have picked up over the last 20 years or so,” he says, “before they can learn new ethical ones.”

While convinced that there are real lessons to be drawn from the past, the professor and his colleagues are very much preoccupied with the future at Newcastle University Business School – which has always enjoyed a reputation for innovation. Since his arrival in March

2013, Alan McKinlay has already found time to make his own mark on the MBA innovation front.

The full-time MBA programme has become more focused on project work and action learning. This, in itself, has had an impact on pedagogy, as there is now more emphasis on collaborative learning and a focus on industry exposure. Students work with commercial clients such as Sage who bring an organisational or strategic issue to the groups, and they are given a deadline to provide a solution.

The “personal and professional transformation” module which runs throughout the MBA programme is another unique selling point in the “me too” world of business schools. At the beginning of the programme, students create their own personal development plan which identifies their future career aspirations and what they need to develop in order to reach their goal.

Professor McKinlay is also making an impact in the area of executive education, which he feels most business schools have “only played at up to now”.

In effect, these are customised courses tailored to meet the demands of North East companies, and they can be offered in a range of on-demand formats from half-day workshops upwards. “The objective here,” he says, “is to hone or extend skills to give businesses the edge – the same type of offering as the MBA in that it provides a place for reflection and improved practice. What we are not here to do is to teach skills they are good at already.”

A breakthrough approach to delivering executive education is through the business school’s Living Lab. Here, organisations are helped to connect very complex and previously disparate information systems. This has had particular appeal to the public sector in general and to the health and social services in particular, because of a need for joined-up thinking as they become more subject to market forces.

Now Newcastle University Business School is looking to substantially extend its executive education to companies throughout the region. “We have laid out the welcome mat,” says Professor McKinlay. “We are very keen to work with companies in the region and believe the ground-breaking research undertaken at the business school would have a tangible impact on their business practice.”

With ethics being a plank in its overall offering, Newcastle is currently looking to recruit Executive MBA entrants for the February 2014 intake, with a specific interest in students from the third sector.

A series of scholarships linked to this initiative has been recently launched.

Gillian Hewitson, chief executive of Newcastle Futures – a not-for-profit company offering a free and confidential service which helps the local un-

They need to unlearn some of the bad habits they have picked up before they can learn new ethical ones

employed access job and training opportunities – is a recent Executive MBA alumna. “Anyone considering whether the Executive MBA could benefit their development or organisation shouldn’t hesitate,” she says. “The experience has radically changed my view of learning. I developed skills in research and communication which I never realised I could have. It has been the most valuable and enjoyable experience of my career so far.”

Meanwhile, Professor McKinlay’s indepth knowledge of business history is again in demand. Having recently researched the origins of British banking, he is now involved in a project to examine the way in which financial institutions currently treat people in debt. “We are looking into ways to get institutions to think about individuals as people, not just as bundles of debt,” he says. “If we can get companies to think in more holistic terms, then there is a chance creditors will liquidate more of the debt.

“Again, we are back to the moral compass and the key role it can play in a successful business, and its role in the community.”

the times | Tuesday February 11 2014

13

My MBA provided me with the time to assess my next career steps. I no longer see my career as a series of short term moves, rather a sustainable and tactical approach to achieving a bigger goal.

Lily, MBA student

#reputable

To find out more about the Newcastle MBA programmes email: mba@ncl.ac.uk or visit:

ncl.ac.uk/nubs

14

Tuesday February 11 2014 | the times

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£800 million currently being invested in our city’s infrastructure

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Nottingham is the number one target for graduate employers.

The Guardian

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£51 million of finance available to Nottingham businesses

Nottingham is the bellwether of the British economy, well networked to the UK and globally

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Mark Carney, Governor, Bank of England

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the times | Tuesday February 11 2014

8,900 net new private sector jobs created 2010 - 2012

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Centre for Core Cities

Nottingham gives you more Duport Business Confidence Report

Everyone’s talking about Nottingham Join the conversation: @growingnottingham.com www.growingnottingham.com

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