12 education & business
Silver Charter award adds extra sparkle to the School of Business and Law
Just a year after gaining Small Business Charter status, Southampton Solent School of Business and Law has achieved a prestigious Silver Charter award
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.”
Fountain said the award had come at an ”exciting time” for the university and that commitment in business to SMEs would continue to be a top priority.
”The Silver award recognises our leading role in the business community supporting SMEs and acting as an anchor institution to assist the local economy,” she added. ”It will give us access to even more initiatives and support that will benefit the university, its students and the wider business community. We are delighted by the positive feedback from the businesses that we work with.”
Business skills at Southampton Solent School of Business and Law
The accolade comes in recognition of the school’s active participation in supporting small businesses and start-ups from across the region.
Most recently, this activity was showcased in the highly-successful Growth Voucher Programme (GVP) series of workshops and mentoring programme, which the school has been able to access thanks to its Charter status.
Christine Fountain, associate professor in the School of Business and Law, said news of the award came after a very thorough assessment programme.
”We are all extremely proud to receive recognition for the work we do with the local business community and in assisting the local economy,” she said. ”As a university, we have so much to offer in terms of innovation, skills and growth and we want to continue to share that with businesses and encourage them to come and talk to us so they can benefit from our experiences.
”In applying for Silver status, our team worked extremely hard to highlight the ways in which we engage with the external business community and provided examples and case studies of the support we’ve provided.”
www.businessmag.co.uk
The recent GVP programme has been widely applauded by those taking part and evidence of the school’s successful approach came from recipients, many of whom said they considered the mentoring sessions to be the most helpful.
Comments included:
• ”The one-to-ones are where this scheme really stands out.”
• ”My mentor has been brilliant.”
• ”I found the mentor easy to talk to and very caring about how I was getting on in my business. He’s given me great advice and some important introductions.”
• ”The mentoring was the most important thing I got out of the programme.”
Receiving the award means the school will have the opportunity to play an active role in further national business initiatives and Fountain says there will also be the opportunity to create other small business initiatives for the Solent region.
Commenting on the award, Ian McNaught, executive director of the Small Business Charter, said: ”The Small Business Charter
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – SEPTEMBER 2015
It’s only just over a year since the school was presented with the Charter, which recognises UK business schools with ”exceptional levels of engagement” among the local small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) business community, in a special ceremony at Number 10 Downing Street.
Established by the Chartered Association of Business Schools, Lord Young and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, there are now 27 business schools that have been awarded Charter status.
The other institutions to be upgraded to silver are Kingston University, and the University of the West of England.
With a silver in their pocket and gold on the horizon, Fountain says the future for local businesses is now looking extremely bright.
Details: 023-8201-3888
ask@solent.ac.uk www.solent.ac.uk
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