The Prime Minister's entrepreneurship and enterprise advisor, Lord Young of Graffham, visits Faculty of Business and Law
Date: 4 October 2013
With business and enterprise high on the government’s agenda, universities are becoming increasingly important in shaping the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.
This week, Lord Young of Graffham, the Prime Minister’s enterprise advisor, visited London Metropolitan University to witness the novel ways in which its Business School interacts with small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
Lord Young is the author of a recent report which advocates the development of ties between universities and SMEs, describing business schools as ‘anchor institutions’ for new companies. He came to London Met because of its innovative partnerships with industry and its ethos of developing entrepreneurial skills in its graduates.
Lord Young said: “Universities play a vital role in feeding highly skilled employees to new enterprises, but there is still some misunderstanding around how universities and SMEs can benefit each other.
“What I have seen at London Metropolitan University is very encouraging. Their innovative and close partnerships with business represent best practice, and the benefits that these partnerships bring for graduates, SMEs and the University are clear.”
During the visit, on Monday, Lord Young met students and staff at the Moorgate-based Business School, part of the Faculty of Business and Law. The visit reflects the growing interest in the Business School and how it does things differently, with companies such as Bloomberg and IBM among its collaborators. The school also has close ties with London Met’s business incubator, Accelerator, based in the heart of London’s ‘Tech City’.
Professor Stephen Perkins, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law, said: “We introduced Lord Young to the ways in which the Faculty produces London's most business-ready graduates. He met top class current and former students who demonstrated their entrepreneurial skills and the results they are delivering.
“Lord Young witnessed our Bloomberg trading room in operation and saw how our integration of business and law education with business acceleration enables enterprise within emerging high-impact business sectors, which in turn supports UK plc.
“Overall, we demonstrated our distinctiveness working - creativity and culture interacting positively with Commerce and the Law. All happening here, in the Square Mile of the City of London.”
Find out more about the Faculty of Business and Law at London Metropolitan University
