University’s Business School Awarded Small Business Charter

The Lincoln International Business School (LIBS) has successfully secured the Small Business Charter.

The Charter acknowledges business schools across the UK deemed to be offering world-class support to small businesses and fostering student enterprise.

Applicants to the scheme undergo a rigorous assessment to determine the effectiveness of their business support entrepreneurship and engagement with local SMEs.

In securing the award, the Business School was able to cite the success it has enjoyed in engaging with local businesses and promoting enterprise with students, with the University of Lincoln recently being placed in the country’s top 10 for graduate start-up businesses.

The Business School also highlighted the successes of their business and student programmes including LIBS Connect, a programme focussed on supporting and encouraging knowledge sharing amongst industry leaders and academics, and UoL 4.0 Challenge, which connects students with businesses to explore how digitalisation can lead to new commercial ideas and new ways of working.

The Small Business Charter accreditation allows the Lincoln International Business School to stake a claim as one of the go-to places for business support in the region, and also means the School can now deliver the Government’s Help to Grow: Management Course.

The 12-week Help to Grow: Management Course was introduced by government to help businesses recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, by giving SMEs access to world-class business expertise, including one-to-one support from a business mentor.

The Lincoln International Business School will begin offering the Help to Grow: Management Course in May 2022, and businesses can now register their interest by emailing LIBS_Exec@lincoln.ac.uk.

Dr Craig Marsh, Pro Vice Chancellor and Head of Lincoln International Business School at the University of Lincoln, said: “We are delighted to be awarded Small Business Charter accreditation. This achievement is testament to the strength and depth of our relationships with our regional businesses.

“As a Business School at the heart of a Civic University we are passionate about the contribution we make to the development and growth of our region through skills development, mentoring, knowledge transfer, and our applied research to solving real world challenges.

“This recognition will allow us now to benefit from best practices across like-minded accredited schools across the UK, and in particular it will enable us to engage in the Government’s aspiration of supporting and developing 30,000 SME leaders across the UK through their Help to Grow scheme.”

Ruchi Aggarwal, Director of Business Development, who led the application for the charter, added: ‘We are delighted at the support that the business school and university received from stakeholders across disciplines. Industry, students, alumni, staff – all came together to lend evidence of their experience of support received from LIBS. We would like to acknowledge their contribution and thank them for their excellent support.”