University’s Business School Awarded National Accreditation

The University of Worcester’s Business School has been awarded a national accreditation by the Chartered Association of Business Schools.

The Small Business Charter accreditation, held by only around 60 Business Schools in the country, followed a rigorous assessment process.

Dr Scott Andrews, Deputy Head of the University’s Business School, said: “We are delighted that our hard work on entrepreneurship and building links with the local business community has been recognised in this way. This follows several weeks of rigorous evidence gathering in readiness for assessment panel meetings, for which we were enthusiastically supported by many current and former students, as well as the Hereford & Worcester Chamber of Commerce, the Worcestershire Growth Hub and local employers, to whom we are very grateful.”

This accreditation paves the way for the University to explore delivering the government funded Help to Grow: Management Course programme to SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) leaders from across the region, starting in 2023.

The Chartered ABS champions the UK’s business and management education sector. Its members include 120 business schools and higher education providers, including Worcester. It supports members to maintain world-class standards of teaching and research, while helping shape policy and create opportunities through dialogue with business and government.

The Small Business Charter award recognises business schools that play an effective role in supporting small businesses, local economies and student entrepreneurship. It is a mark of excellence for business schools, which recognises their expertise and effectiveness in student entrepreneurship, supporting small businesses and engagement in the local economy. Excluding Worcester, 62 business schools currently hold the Small Business Charter award.

The Chartered ABS looked at the depth and effectiveness of the team’s business engagement and business support in order to award the accreditation.

Those given the accreditation benefit from being part of a network of business schools focused on enterprise and small business support, knowledge-sharing workshops with other business school award holders throughout the UK, networking for Business School Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, engagement with governments across the UK to inform and influence, and opportunities to conduct research to inform best practice.

Anne Kiem OBE, Executive Director of the Small Business Charter, and Chief Executive of the Chartered Association of Business Schools, said: “We’d like to congratulate Worcester Business School on its Small Business Charter Award. They have demonstrated their dedication to supporting local SMEs and embedding entrepreneurship into the school curriculum. It is fantastic that Worcester use their links with local stakeholders to create a framework of support for SMEs in the local region, and we look forward to continuing to develop our relationship with them.”