Tag: Events

Bristol Business School Hosts the South Gloucestershire Business Show 2025

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Bristol Business School was proud to host the South Gloucestershire Business Show 2025 at UWE’s Conference Centre on 19 – 20 November 2025. The two-day event brought together businesses, community partners and industry experts for discussion, networking and practical learning. The sessions focused on innovation, sustainability, leadership and regional growth.

As part of UWE Bristol’s commitment to supporting business and enterprise across the region, 16 Bristol Business School academics delivered workshops, keynote sessions and panel contributions with the aim of sharing research-informed insights directly with local organisations.

Programme Highlights

The event included a rich programme of sessions led by Business School colleagues. Across the two days, attendees engaged with topics ranging from AI and decision-making to the psychology of customer behaviour, sustainable business models, coaching-led leadership and the future of employee ownership. Workshops and talks were delivered by:

Dr Alison Miles – Rethinking success and sustainability in turbulent times

Dr Christopher Lipp – AI Orchestration for Better Business Decisions

Dr Tom Bowden-Green – Why customers do what they do

Professor Mario Vafeas and Dr Ed Little – Workplace alienation and employee ownership

Professor Mario Vafeas and Ellen Parkes – Knowledge Transfer Partnerships: Collaborating for growth

Briony Whitaker – Rethinking sustainability and the importance of context

Dr Karine Mangion-Thornley – From Manager to Coach

Professor Peter Bradley and Dr Basil Omar – Understanding business models for sustainability

Professor Carol Jarvis and Dr Kay Galpin – (Un)leadership from everywhere

Each session offered practical takeaways for SMEs and provided space for dialogue with academics actively engaged in research and practice across the fields of management, sustainability, innovation and organisational development.

Strengthening Regional Knowledge Exchange

The South Gloucestershire Business Show plays an important role in showcasing the expertise, creativity and resilience of the region’s business community. UWE Bristol was delighted to host this year’s show and to contribute to its programme through the knowledge and experience of Bristol Business School colleagues.

We look forward to continuing our partnership with the South Gloucestershire business community and supporting organisations to innovate, grow and thrive.

UWE Bristol launches Spring Bristol Distinguished Address Series

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The successful Bristol Distinguished Address Series is back for 2020. This series of free public lectures brings top-level business leaders to Bristol and has seen a wide array of inspiring talks since its launch. The talks provide a unique opportunity to hear about the challenges, issues and decisions being made at the highest level of strategic leadership.

UWE Bristol have announced the Spring dates for the Bristol Distinguished Address series that are held at Bristol Business School, with talks from five innovative leaders.

Upcoming Bristol Lectures

Bankers must become Eco-warriors – Dr Bevis Watts, Chief Executive, Triodos Bank UK

29 January 2020

Could banks serve the needs of society better? Are they undermining our long-term ability to sustain ourselves by not actively seeking to address the climate emergency, inequality and societal needs?

Perhaps the first and only environmentalist to lead a UK bank, Dr Bevis Watts puts forward the case that much of the financial sector is undermining efforts to tackle these issues. In fact, the UK’s current banking system holds the potential, through adaptation, to be a catalyst for a sustainable future.

For 25 years in the UK, Triodos Bank has demonstrated a model of sustainable banking that uses the intermediary power of finance to benefit people and the planet. They are also 100% transparent about who they lend to – focusing only on organisations that deliver positive environmental, social or cultural change. With the right values, banks can be a force for good and affect real positive systemic change in society.

What does internationalisation mean in C21st for global corporations? – Katherine Bennett CBE, Senior Vice President, Airbus & Chair, Western Gateway

12 February 2020

Katherine will deliver a lecture on Airbus’ approach to internationalisation. She will touch on internationalisation versus the role of continents from an economic perspective; she will provide a summary of current issues and ambitions within Airbus; she will reflect on the Brexit debate and finally, in light of her new role as Chair of Western Gateway, she will also reflect how a nation’s regional strategies can best be aligned to the future evolution of businesses, both large and small.

Living and moving well together – Xavier Brice, Chief Executive, Sustrans

26 February 2020

Transport shapes our relationship with each other and with our environment. It enables people, goods and ideas to spread and flourish, but it is also the biggest contributor to climate change in the UK and has poisoned the air in our cities and towns.

The history of transport is often presented as a series of technological revolutions – canals, railways, the motor car. We stand on the cusp of another transport revolution. New technologies and business models are bringing electric vehicles, driverless cars, e-scooters, drones and air-taxis, and promising quicker, easier journeys, cleaner air and less carbon. But technology is only ever a means to an end. Xavier’s talk will explore how we need to rethink what we want from transport so that we can all live and move well together.

TV as a Force for Good – Lisa Opie, Managing Director, UK Production, BBC Studios

11 March 2020

Lisa Opie, Managing Director of BBC Studios UK Production, talks about the power of television to drive positive change locally, nationally and internationally. 

BBC Studios world-leading Natural History Unit was recently awarded the prestigious Chatham House Prize for Blue Planet II’s global impact on the issue of ocean plastics. 

Also made in Bristol, DIY SOS highlights social issues and has seen more than 20,000 volunteers give their time and complete over 16 million worth of builds over the last 20 years. 

At a time when it is hard to tell what is real or fake and when there is division and discord, content can play a key role in raising awareness of important issues, bringing communities together and changing the world for the better.

Sustainability – The Long View – Laura Marshall, CEO, Icon Films

25 March 2020

Icon Films was founded in 1990 by husband and wife team Harry and Laura Marshall. Thirty years on the company is still growing, working in a global market in a golden age of scripted and unscripted content. Based in Bristol where being different is the norm, and where disruption and innovation is in the city’s DNA, how does a company evolve to keep succeeding? Is planet content infinite – or are resources and creativity finite? Where do you go when you want to keep going and what do we need to learn from those around us?

You can find more information about the Bristol Distinguished Address Series on the UWE Bristol website. Please use #BristolLectures to discuss the events on Twitter.

UWE Bristol wins Guardian Award for Equity Programme

Author Faculty of Business and Law | Posted on

We were delighted to be finalists at this year’s Guardian University Awards but are over the moon to have actually won! This award means so much to everyone who’s been involved in developing and delivering the Equity Programme ever since our first pilot event in October 2016. It’s been a long and sometimes challenging journey to introduce a progressive positive action scheme like this. Working with students, local employers and national diversity thought leaders, we’ve created something which the University can be really proud of and which offers BAME students a chance to leverage leadership and enterprise skills as they embark upon their graduate careers. 

The Equity programme has 4 pillars: 1-2-1 mentoring, identity and leadership coaching, enterprise education workshops and large evening networking and guest speaker events. National statistics on the performance and progression of ethnic minorities in the labour market (as highlighted by the MacGregor Smith Race in the Workplace Review 2017) have to change and we are proud to be leading the way on the role universities can play in this regard. Finally, we want to thank every facilitator and the external guests who attend our events and enrich our student experience.

Equity evening events run throughout the academic year and are open to the public to attend. We warmly encourage alumni to consider attending the evening events to give our students networking opportunities as well as being part of the collective challenge to diversify the talent pipeline. To find out more please visit www.uwe.ac.uk/equityor email raceequality@uwe.ac.uk

Post written by Dr Zainab Khan- Equity Programme Lead

Case Study: Empowering women through mentoring

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Over the next few weeks we will be sharing some case studies of our academic research from across the Bristol Business School. This case study looks at Professor Sue Durbin and  Empowering women through mentoring.

Written by Jeremy Allen:

In the UK, there is a distinct lack of women in engineering roles and this is prevalent in the aerospace and aviation industries. A project led by UWE Bristol that is four years in the making is helping women to move up the career ladder and to seek support by receiving mentoring from other women in the industry. This work hopes to change the way females are perceived in male-dominated industries and aims to put an end to gender inequality in engineering.

“The UK is the country in Europe that has the least amount of women in engineering and this includes the aerospace industry, where there is a chronic shortage of females,” says project leader Professor Sue Durbin, whose research specialises in gender inequalities in employment in male dominated industries. “Through this project, we want to empower women to gain confidence by receiving non-judgemental female-to-female advice and support, thereby enabling their careers to take off.”

Called ‘alta’, the project enables professional women to access an online platform to help them link up with a suitable female mentor. Based on their answers to online questions, the website’s algorithm then matches up the mentee with the most compatible mentor.

Volunteering mentors are also required to answer questions on the platform to determine whether they have the right skills and personality to oversee someone else’s career development. As well as helping women receive career guidance, alta is beneficial for the mentors, as it helps raise their profile in the profession.

After initial contact, both parties are free to arrange when, where and how often they meet, although they are advised to meet for one to two hours every six weeks.

Under the aegis of the Royal Aeronautical Society, alta is working with Airbus, the Royal Air Force and other partners across the aerospace industry. By signing up to alta and paying a small joining fee, companies can help their female professionals receive mentoring from across the industry – not just from someone in their company.

Such assistance can help women feel valued, to assist them in getting into leadership positions, and increase female retention in the industry. It might also help them gain confidence, receive assistance when they are returning to work after a maternity break, or reduce their suffering from ‘impostor syndrome,’ whereby they feel they don’t deserve to thrive in a male-dominated workplace.

“If we take the Royal Aeronautical Society, it has 25,000 members but just 1700 are women, while in the UK only four percent of pilots are women,” says Professor Durbin. “This puts a lot of pressure on women working in the industry.”

The mentoring project comes at a time when many young women who take STEM subjects are failing to enter the engineering workforce, given the gender stereotyping that can exist in the sector. Professional women engineers also often drop out of the industry or fail to return after maternity leave. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as a “leaky pipeline,” a metaphor used to describe the continuous loss of women in STEM as they climb the career ladder.

Prior to alta’s launch in June 2018, the team organised focus groups, interviews and a survey to decide how the scheme could help professional women in the aerospace and aviation industry. After contacting 250 women, they discovered that existing mentoring was extremely limited in the industry and often did not include women as mentors. They also discovered that women were actively seeking female mentors in senior positions.

“You can’t be who you can’t see,” says Stella Warren, who is Research Associate in the Bristol Leadership and Change Centre and also works on the project. “If you don’t have a female mentor who is a leader in the industry, it is hard to aspire to reaching that same level.”

One mentee who has received mentoring through alta says it has really helped boost her self-belief.

Guest blog post: A student representatives’ perspective of the Times Higher Education awards ceremony

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Guest author: Mia Collins, 3rd Year Business and Management Student 

Currently in my final year of studying Business and Management, I have been fortunate enough to represent the department as its Lead Department Representative and the Finance, Business and Law faculty as its Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Committee member. These roles have demonstrated huge benefits to my educational and professional development, yet, the most monumental opportunity the positions have brought me is attending the Times Higher Education Awards in London. As a typical student does, I have had significant exposure to Bristol’s nightlife – but none of them compare to the night I had at the awards ceremony.

The night began on, rather, a stressful start; having only 1 hour to get to get ‘black tie’ ready, I was under significant pressure– for those who know me well enough, will understand exactly the level of stress I mean. Despite this, I was immensely excited. We ventured over to the JV Marriott Grovesnor House in London, where we were met with bubbly and snacks. Walking into the reception room, in itself, was an experience; everyone had gone above and beyond with their appearance and looked fantastic. Before the night had really began, this was a great opportunity for me to get to know the people who facilitate the day to day operations of UWE; as a team of 14 (2 being myself and Lily Liu, the only students in attendance), were able to get to know the likes of Steve West, Donna Whitehead and lot more. Before one too many glasses of prosecco, we got a #teamUWE picture:

(Don’t we scrub up well!)

After a chatter and a social, we were taken into the main awards hall. Merely walking towards the hall, you are greeted by the most amazing floor imaginable (see below). From the onset, everything about the night was glamourous. Once we (eventually) found our tables, we sat down to a starter of crispy salt cod fritter (essentially, the fanciest fish finger ever), followed by slow braised beef short rib with vegetables, finishing off with a Greek yoghurt tart and petits fours – yum.

As time went on, the more nervous we all became, and before we knew it, our category was up next. We had thankfully been shortlisted, for the second year in a row, Business School of the Year and were up against some intense competition. The category was announced… UWE’s participation was mentioned… a huge cheer from all of our 3 tables… on the very edge of our seats…the winner was announced… and THEN, ah. ESCP Europe Business School were awarded the winners of 2018. Despite not winning, this year(!), we didn’t lose spirit. We were up for Most Innovative Contribution to Business-University Collaboration. Again, we didn’t quite get it this time; we did, however, receive a special commendation for our efforts. Not all bad, eh?

The night didn’t end there – a disco was to follow. Thankfully, we were sat the closest to the stairs, so UWE were the first to get to the dancefloor. I must add, we took over the ENTIRE dance floor, truly a UWE takeover. The night didn’t purely involve partying, it was a great opportunity for me to develop my networking skills and get to meet some senior figures from all across the country – one in particular, the Sponsorship Director of the Times Higher Education awards. After hours of singing our hearts – out at the very top of our lungs – lunging and squatting(?) to the beat and showing the other universities why UWE really are the best, the disco came to an end – it takes a lot of skill and endurance to be the FIRST and LAST ones on the dancefloor, but we executed it so well.

We got back to our hotel in the early hours of the morning and, with no voice left and feet in agony from high heels, we sat in the lobby, each with our takeaway laughing and chatting until it was time for bed.

The night as an entity was phenomenal, I am incredibly grateful to be 1 of the 2 students fortunate enough to attend. I’ve not only taken away great memories from it but have also made great relationships with senior staff whom I would never usually have the opportunity meet. A huge thank you to everyone who facilitated the evening and made it as incredible as it was. Every day I am more and more honoured to represent UWE and everything we achieve. Bring on Business School of the Year 2019!

Below are a few photos from the evening:

Case study: Eliminating Uncertainties and Improving Productivity in Mega Projects using Big Data and Artificial Intelligence

Author Faculty of Business and Law | Posted on

Over the next few weeks we will be sharing some case studies of our academic research from across the Bristol Business School. This case study looks at Professor Lukumon Oyedele and the power of big data in relation to Mega Projects. 

Written by Jeremy Allen:

A series of projects at the Bristol Business School combining cutting-edge digital technologies could potentially revolutionise the way industry tackles management of Mega Projects at the bidding stage. These innovative technologies include Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, Virtual Reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

Professor Lukumon Oyedele and his team of developers have created software that harnesses the power of big data and artificial intelligence to help companies accurately plan and execute Mega Projects (large-scale, complex ventures that typically cost hundreds of millions of pounds).

The software uses advanced analytics to predict a whole range of complex project parameters such as three-points estimates, tender summaries, cash flow, project plans, risks, innovations, opportunities, as well as health and safety incidents.

The project, whose flagship simulation tool is called Big-Data-BIM, is part of a partnership with leading UK construction contractor Balfour Beatty, to help it plan better power infrastructure projects involving the construction of overhead lines, substations and underground cabling. By using the software, the company is able to improve productivity and maximise profit margins.

“When planning a tender for a project, companies often plan for a profit of 10 to 15 percent, but on finishing the project, many struggle to make two percent profit margin,” says Professor Oyedele, who is Assistant Vice-Chancellor and Chair Professor of Enterprise and Project Management.

“The reason is that there are many unseen activities, which are hard to capture during the early design stage. Besides, the design process itself is non-deterministic. This is why when you ask two quantity surveyors how much a project is likely to cost; they often produce different figures.

“With Big-Data-BIM, we are bringing in objectivity to plan the projects and taking care of uncertainties by engaging advanced digital technologies, so that a tender estimate remains accurate until project completion, with minimal deviation from what was planned at the beginning.”

The tool taps into 20 years of Balfour Beatty’s data on power infrastructure projects and learns predictive models that inform the most optimal decisions for executing the given work. The tool informs the business development team at the beginning of the project whether it is likely to succeed or fail.

One of the functions of the software is to create a 3D visual representation of project routes to understand complexity, associated risks (like road and river crossings) and opportunities (such as shared yards and local suppliers). For this purpose, the software taps into Google Maps data and integrates data from the British Geological Survey and Ordnance Survey to discover automatically the number of roads, rivers, and rail crossings.

The tool performs extensive geospatial analysis to find out the optimal construction route and measure distances between route elements with a high degree of accuracy. “This all happens within a twinkle of an eye. Without leaving your office, you can determine the obstacles on the planned route of the cables, or whether there is a river in the way,” says Professor Oyedele.

By mining the huge datasets of health and safety incidents, the software can also determine what kind of injuries might occur on a project, and even produce a detailed analysis of the most probable body parts that could be prone to injury. This can help prepare an accurate health and safety risk assessment before the work begins.

The software provides an intuitive dashboard called “Opportunity on a page” where all predictions are visualised to facilitate data-driven insights for designers to make critical planning decisions.

As a contractor, Balfour Beatty uses the tool to enable it to submit the best bids to clients so that it can have a high chance of winning them. The software is also set to be provided for other industries carrying out linear projects. These are to include water distribution networks, and the rail, roads, as well as oil and gas sectors.

 

Global network celebration dinner in Kuala Lumpur

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On Friday 5th October, the UWE Bristol International Office organised an appreciation dinner in Kuala Lumpur to celebrate our global network of partners and to show appreciation for their efforts in recruiting and supporting our international students.

More than 80 representatives from key strategic dual award and progression partners, as well as leading Malaysian recruitment agencies attended the event.

Amongst the attendees were representatives from one of our partnerships institutions, Taylor’s Univeristy, with whom we run a number of dual awards.

The event was also attended by  representatives from HELP University and INTI International College who send a large number of final year students to our Business, Accounting, Economics and Finance and Law Undergraduate programmes.

Thanks to all involved for organising such a wonderful event.

 

Bristol Business School staff named as part of Bristol’s BME Powerlist

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Earlier this week Bristol 24/7 announced the inaugural BME Powerlist which showcases the city’s 100 most inspiring, successful and influential black and minority ethnic people.

Published on October 1 to mark the start of Black History Month, the project aims to celebrate excellence across a broad spectrum of fields – from activism to arts, politics to business – and provide role models for the next generation.

The Bristol BME Powerlist has been 18 months in the making and is a joint partnership between the University of Bristol, Bristol Students’ Union and Bristol24/7 to showcase and celebrate diversity across the city; with a panel of ten judges whittling down 500 nominations to 100.

Amongst the several alumni and students from UWE Bristol that have been nominated, two members of staff from the Bristol Business School have also been highlighted in the list.

Dr Zainab Khan and Mohamud Mubarak have been selected alongside other UWE staff and students to be on the list.

Dr Zainab Khan is a BME staff forum coordinator at UWE and faculty representative on the Race Equality Task Force. Zainab has been at the forefront of the newly-launched Equity talent management programme. She is also the curator of The Link, Bristol’s largest BME professional networking event, which takes place at the university during Black History Month.

As a Somali refugee, Mohamud Mubarak uses his background in creative ways as a lecturer at UWE. He has helped and inspired countless BME students to achieve their potential and works tirelessly in his own community to promote higher education. Mohamud commented:

“To be featured on the inaugural #BristolBMEPowerlist is a huge honour among such notables. It’s amazing how far Bristol has come”

Everyone named on the list, panel judges and members of the city are invited to an event on Saturday, October 27 to engage in conversations with students and increase BME engagement in local communities. 

Bristol Distinguished Address Series announces autumn speakers

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UWE Bristol is pleased to announce the latest programme of speakers for the forthcoming Bristol Distinguished Address Series. The lecture series has now been certified for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) purposes by the CPD Certification Service*.

Now in its ninth year, the Bristol Distinguished Address Series is well regarded by the City’s business community as the leading place to hear about the challenges, issues and decisions being made at the highest level of strategic leadership.

The Bristol Distinguished Address Series is free to attend and open to members of the business community.

The line up of speakers for the Autumn is:

Wednesday 03 October 2018 : Ashok Vaswani, CEO of Barclays Bank UK, will deliver the University’s prestigious Annual Bolland Lecture entitled, ‘Digital Transformation of Banking’.

Wednesday 17 October 2018: Kevin Ellis, Chair and Senior Partner of PwC UK, will deliver a lecture entitled, ‘The Role of Business in a Disrupted World. Why Business Needs to Work Harder to Show its Positive Contribution to Society’.

Wednesday 7 November 2018: Ruth Hunt, Chief Executive of Stonewall, will deliver a lecture entitled ‘Achieving Social Change’.

Please contact the Media Relations office if you would like to request a media seat or have a media query about this event, email pressoffice@uwe.ac.uk

The series is delivered by the Bristol Business School in partnership with ACCA, Bristol City Council, Bristol Junior Chamber, Bristol Law Society, Bristol Media, Business Leader, Business West, CBI, CIPD, CIPFA, CMI, FSB, IoD, ICAEW and the West of England Combined Authority.

Following the talk, there will be an opportunity for the audience to put forward their issues and questions at this event.

Series organiser, Professor Nicholas O’Regan says, “We are delighted to announce that the series is now CPD accredited. The series is an excellent opportunity for members of the business community in Bristol, as well as our own students, alumni and staff to hear directly from inspirational figures in industry with a wealth of strategic experience and leadership skills at the highest level.”

Find podcasts, video interviews, photos galleries and media coverage from past Bristol Distinguished Address Series events. Follow the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #BristolLectures

To register for the first address please click here.

*For delegates who wish to obtain a CPD Certificate of Attendance, it is the responsibility of delegates to register their details with a member of the events team at the end of the event.

Student event: Start of the Year Careers Forum

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After a summer filled with sunshine, we’re holding a welcome back careers event as part of induction week. The forum will shine a light on opportunities for graduate jobs, placements and internships with leading employers from the South West and across the UK.

The ‘Start of the Year Careers Forum’, will consist of employer stands and breakout sessions. Expect:

  • Employer stands with information and freebies
  • A chance to meet and hear from employers from the South West and across the UK
  • Insights into working in different job roles and sectors
  • Tips to help you stand out in application processes for placements and graduate jobs
  • A window into the future of how technology and other trends are changing jobs and industries

WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 19th September, 10am-2pm, Floor 3 in the Business School

These employers have an interest in speaking specifically to Business students. Employers signed up include:

This event is aimed predominately at second and third years as well as postgraduates in the Faculty of Business and Law, and we will be issuing a full programme shortly.

You do not want to miss out!

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