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Business and community

Working collaboratively

We’ve worked collaboratively with businesses and organisations for over 50 years and we’ve gained invaluable insights into some of the key challenges you face and the best ways we can work with you to address them.   

The School of Management has strong industry experience, a great reputation for applied business research and delivers research-led business education. This helps us build mutually beneficial relationships for the School of Management and for the businesses and organisations we collaborate with.

We have welcomed more than 10,000 businesses to the School of Management over the last 20 years. Connecting with us makes you part of a growing community of business and community organisations, academics, researchers, graduates & entrepreneurs on your doorstep and around the world.

A photo of a person networking at the alumni networking event

How we can work with you

Our collaborations can apply our research to your business and provide solutions to the challenges you may face. We also help develop community and alumni organisations in the regional and global business environment. Through our work we can inform and influence the academic and professional development of graduates to ensure they become employees of choice.

We have a range of schemes, projects, networks and more which enable you to get involved in the work we do and help to contribute to success for the University, community, businesses, students and graduates. Find out more about how we can work with you below.

Innovation is also core to our values so if you have new ideas then feel free to get in touch and create your own bespoke pathways allowing you to collaborate in your own way.

Our Triple crown accreditation. Logos for AMBA, EQUIS, and AACSB

Proud to be part of elite group of just 1% of business schools worldwide with the triple-crown.

See all of our awards and accreditations

Small Business Charter

The Small Business Charter recognises business schools playing an effective role in supporting small businesses, local economies and student entrepreneurship. The accreditation showcases the quality of our engagement within the business community, especially in our interaction with SMEs. 

The School of Management was awarded the accreditation in part due to the support we provide local businesses through activities such as the Knowledge Transfer Network. This has since led to us taking part in delivering the Help to Grow Management programme to SMEs in the West Yorkshire region in association with the Small Business Charter.

Responsible Management Podcast

In 2023 the School of Management released the Responsible Management Podcast as a part of the Knowledge Transfer Network.

Each month Professor David Spicer is joined by an academic and industry expert to discuss key themes of responsible management in modern business.

The podcast aims to bring day-to-day business topics to you to help your business understand and overcome challenges and make the most of opportunities.

Find out more about the podcast via the link above including episode details and links to listen.

Our business engagement team

David Spicer

Director of Business Engagement and Senior Lecturer in HRM

David Spicer

David is Director of Business Engagement in the Faculty of Management Law and Social Sciences and is leading on the development of the School of Management's programme and portfolio in respect of small business and entrepreneurship. As of March 2020, he became the Interim Director of Digital Learning, supporting the development of the Faculty's distance learning programmes and students. David has over 20 years experience in higher education and returned to Bradford (where he began his academic career) at the start of the 2019/20 academic year, having previously led the Business School at the University of Salford.

David is a member of the People, Organisations and Entrepreneurship research cluster, and his research interests include organisational learning, change and leadership and he has undertaken research and consultancy and delivered executive education in both SMEs and with large corporate firms. He currently teaches on both the Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes within the School of Management.

Contact

Email
d.p.spicer@bradford.ac.uk
Phone
+441274 232158
David Spicer

Director of Business Engagement and Senior Lecturer in HRM

Elaine Dean

Business Engagement Manager, University of Bradford

Elaine Dean

Elaine joined the Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences as the Business Engagement Manager in April 2019, having worked in the University in various teams in project management and business development roles; linking university support for businesses and the regional community and creating opportunities for businesses to work with the academic team and students to realise the benefits of work based learning.

As the Business Engagement Manager for the Faculty, Elaine manages the delivery of the business and community engagement strategy; focuses on developing strong links with industry and our alumni, to deliver market leading research and development opportunities which benefit students, graduates and employers of the future. In, particular Elaine manages the delivery of the Knowledge Transfer Network, the Career Booster Programme and coordinates the appointment and integration of the Faculty Community Fellows.

Elaine’s previous experience to the university, was in commercial and operational management roles in Burberry plc, looking after the manufacture of the £12m product portfolio for worldwide Burberry fabric sales. 

Elaine is an alumnus of the Executive MBA Programme.

Contact

Email
E.Dean1@bradford.ac.uk
Elaine Dean

Business Engagement Manager, University of Bradford

Rachel Sammut

Help to Grow: Management and BSc Marketing Programme Lead

Professional Photo of Rachel Sammut

Rachel Sammut joined the School of Management in September 2021 as a Lecturer in Marketing and BSc Marketing Programme Lead. Prior to joining the University of Bradford, she spent nearly a decade serving as a Marketing Consultant for leading Digital Marketing agencies across the UK and Canada. Given this experience, her teaching approach is very learner-centric and focuses on the benefits of practical application within learning.

Rachel currently holds a Master of Business Administration and BA(Hons) in Business and Marketing Management from the University of Gloucestershire, along with an Advanced Diploma in Business Administration and Marketing (Brand Management Specialization) from Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology in Canada. She is currently completing her PhD at the University of Bradford, focusing on the impact of voice-controlled smart assistants on consumer behaviour. Her research and teaching interests primarily revolve around digital marketing, consumer behaviour, and artificial intelligence.

Contact

Email
r.sammut2@bradford.ac.uk
Professional Photo of Rachel Sammut

Help to Grow: Management and BSc Marketing Programme Lead

Gokcay Balci

Head of Placements & Assistant Professor

Headshot of Gokcay Balci

Gokcay Balci is currently working as Assist Prof in Logistics and Supply Chain. Previously, he worked as a senior lecturer at the University of Huddersfield between July 2019 and January 2023. Gokcay also worked as a research assistant in Turkey between 2014-2019. Before joining the academia, he worked in the industry as a ship agent and the export manager of a food supplier company. His research focuses on digitalisation, marketing, resilience, and decarbonisation domains in the logistics and supply chain management subject. His research has been published in high tier journals such as Transportation Research Part E, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Computers in Industry, and IJPDLM. He has received a research funding (British Academy / Leverhulme Small Research Grant) in the subject of “Freight transport resilience in the UK in the post-COVID-19 and post-BREXIT era”. He is a chartered member of CILT and the Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Contact

Email
g.balci@bradford.ac.uk
Headshot of Gokcay Balci

Head of Placements & Assistant Professor

Kyle Roscoe-Mitchell

Business Support Administrator, University of Bradford

Kyle Roscoe-Mitchell - Business Support Administrator

Kyle joined the Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences as a Business Support Administrator in April, 2022. Kyle is an alumnus of the University having studied from 2014 to 2018 graduating with degrees in both BSc Business Computing and LLM International Legal Studies.

Since graduating in 2018, Kyle has experience working in both Financial Services and Hospitality & Events. Whilst studying at the University, Kyle gained experience working for local businesses including Bradford Theatres before working as an Events Supervisor for the International Convention Centre after graduating. Kyle then worked in Audit for PwC from 2019 to 2021 gaining an insight into financial operations and studying the Certificate of Finance & Business.

As a Business Support Administrator, Kyle will be working closely with Elaine Dean and supporting in the delivery of business and community engagement strategy and events working on programmes and events including the Career Booster Programme, Knowledge Transfer Network and Help to Grow Scheme.

Contact

Email
k.roscoe-mitchell@bradford.ac.uk
Kyle Roscoe-Mitchell - Business Support Administrator

Business Support Administrator, University of Bradford

Our facilities

Bright Building

Home to the School of Management

Bright Building Terrace

The home of the University of Bradford School of Management sits in the centre of the City campus. The building was created with an ambition to create a highly sustainable low energy building that will incorporate inventive design, innovative materials with low embodied energy, sustainable technologies and ecological enhancements. 

Used as an educational tool through the expression of materials, systems, technologies and structure. The South facing elevation is designed with a twin skin glass wall with a full height open space between each skin to harness heat gains for the winter. Solar flues are a feature of the southern facade to enhance the natural ventilation/cooling. The flues create an enhanced stack effect which draws air from each of the open plan floors creating a natural flow of air to ventilate and cool the rooms. The building is to be constructed from thermally ‘heavy weight’ materials to create high levels of thermal mass that will help to moderate temperature fluctuations internally.

The Bright Building is home to a the Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences support team, our associate deans, the head of School of Management and our state of the art facilities for teaching. It is one the most environmentally friendly buildings in the UK and has achieved the highest ever ‘outstanding’ BREEAM rating for a university building, placing it in the top one percent of UK buildings in terms of sustainability and reducing environmental impact.

The Bright Building houses a number of our key facilities including the Entrepreneur's Lounge, MBA/DBA Teaching Suite and Bloomberg Suite which form our Innovation Hub.

Bright Building Terrace

Home to the School of Management

Bloomberg Suite

Data Analytics Facility

Student using Bloomberg Suite facilities

Our Bloomberg Data Analytics Suite is a state of the art teaching facility. The suite hosts 30 dual-monitor work stations, presenting facilities and a breakout balcony area. The work stations are equipped with a wide range of software including SAS, Sage 50 and SPSS.

Throughout the year the facilities are used for teaching on a range of our Accounting, Finance and Risk Management modules for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.

We also utilise the facilities during our Career Booster week to deliver specialised workshops on a range of software including SAS and Sage 50. This allows students to gain skills and knowledge outside of their scheduled teaching to advance their career aspirations.

Student using Bloomberg Suite facilities

Data Analytics Facility

Entrepreneur's Lounge

Home of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Innovation Hub

The Entrepreneur's Lounge is a dedicated space to collaborative working opportunities. The Hub offers group work areas, direct access into our sun space in the Bright Building and presenting facilities. The space has recently been upgraded to include Microsoft Surface equipment available.

The Entrepreneur's Lounge has hosted a wide range of courses to both internal and external facilitators. We have worked with partners to deliver the Help to Grow: Management programme, apprenticeship degree programmes and our ASEP (Accelerated Student Entrepreneurship Programme). The room has also hosted a wide range of events including the Knowledge Transfer Network and School of Management celebration.

In June 2022 the Entrepreneur's Lounge was also used to host the inaugural Entrepreneurship Festival where academics and external partners collaborated to deliver a week long programme to aspiring entrepreneurs. The space hosted a range of workshops including an entrepreneurial simulation, roundtable discussions and keynote speeches.

Innovation Hub

Home of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

MBA/DBA Suite

Home of MBA/DBA Teaching

Bright Building in summertime shot from outside

Our MBA/DBA Suite is the home to our DBA and MBA programmes delivered in the School of Management. Our award winning programmes are hosted in the teaching facilities which boast flexible room arrangements, presenting facilities and access to our sun space.

The programmes are ranked number 1 globally for value for money, number 3 in the UK for salary increase and number 10 in the world for career progression. The room is available for use for events and teaching and has recently hosted a range of Career Booster workshops including a Management Consultancy Clinic.

The space regularly gets used for faculty meetings, student workshops and as a breakout space for programmes delivered in the Entrepreneur's Lounge.

Bright Building in summertime shot from outside

Home of MBA/DBA Teaching

Consultancy Clinic

The Consultancy Clinic is the School of Management's latest innovative idea which aims to bring local businesses and students together to collaborate for mutually beneficial results. 

The clinic aims to bring in consultancy projects from local businesses who are looking for specialised consultants to provide work and answers to their burning questions. Businesses will submit a project proposal to the School which will then be reviewed and passed onto students who will work through the project with the support of one of our in-house expert academics.

Our students get the experience of working on a real business case and offering their support to help provide output and answers to your businesses project proposals. They get to apply their learning and use the opportunity to build up confidence and gain the real world experience that is so key to taking our graduates to the next level.

If you have a project proposal you would like to make further enquiries or submit a project proposal to the Consultancy Clinic then please email us at bace@bradford.ac.uk.

Get in touch

If you want to join our network, make further enquiries or create your own bespoke pathway then contact us.