Henley awarded Small Business Charter

Henley Business School has been accredited with the Small Business Charter Award in recognition of its commitment to supporting student entrepreneurship, the local economy and small businesses.

The Small Business Charter is a national accreditation, which is assessed by small business leaders, and is a mark of excellence for business schools. Henley is one of a small number of business schools to have received the accreditation in the UK, which has been awarded for a period of three years.

In order to achieve the Small Business Charter award, business schools undergo a rigorous assessment to determine the depth and effectiveness of their business engagement and business support.

The assessment panel were particularly impressed by Henley’s wide-ranging programme of start-up support for students, not only within the degree programmes, but also through extra-curricular activities. These include the annual IDEAFEST Student Business Idea Competition, the Summer Start-Up Bootcamp, the Henley Greenshoots Seed Finance Award Scheme, and a dedicated bootcamp for participants and alumni of Henley’s Coaching programmes. Student entrepreneurs are supported by a weekly Business Idea and Start-Up clinic, alongside extensive mentoring. A number of these initiatives have also been successfully implemented in other countries, through Henley’s partnerships with international business schools.

A wide range of entrepreneurship modules are delivered by Henley faculty, which form the basis of five undergraduate and one postgraduate degree, all with an entrepreneurial focus.

Students studying on Masters programmes at the business school undertake consultancy projects with SMEs both in the local Thames Valley region, and also in Poland, in partnership with students from the Wroclaw University of Economics; these consultancy projects have a significant impact on the SMEs involved.

Alongside our student provision, the Henley Business Angels (HBA) network, comprised of experienced business leaders, successful entrepreneurs and investors provides a range of events for local SMEs and individual entrepreneurs to support the start-up process. HBA is one of the most successful Business Angel communities in the UK, which since its establishment has invested over £1.3 million into 27 companies covering a wide range of business sectors.

Professor John Board, Dean of Henley Business School said:

“We are delighted to receive the Small Business Charter Award which recognises the important work Henley does to support start-ups, existing SMEs and student entrepreneurs. Bringing business to life is at the heart of all that we do at Henley, and we help shape the next generation of entrepreneurs and equip them with the skills and acumen they need to build successful businesses and become responsible leaders and innovators. We remain committed to sharing our knowledge and expertise in supporting start-ups and SMEs in the local economy and further afield, particularly in Europe and Africa.”

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 Henley Business School on their attainment of the Small Business Charter Award, given in recognition of their support for student entrepreneurship, small business and their local economy. We look forward to continuing to develop our relationship with them in the coming months, and watching as their impact on small businesses in their region continues to flourish.”