Ten years of Bath Business School

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A business school for the 21st century: BSU celebrates ten years of Bath Business School

Wednesday, 20 August, 2025

Bath Spa University is known for its professionally creative ethos, and part of that can be credited to its Bath Business School. BSU’s undergraduate and postgraduate Business and Management degrees offer a range of pathways, from Fashion and Marketing to Accounting, Festival and Event Management and International Business at its Bath and London sites. This year marks the School’s tenth birthday, and there’s plenty to celebrate. 

The Bath Business School trademark was officially registered on Christmas Day, 2015 – a wonderful Christmas gift for its founder and first Head of School, Professor Georgina Andrews who is now BSU's Vice-Chancellor. 

Looking back ten years to the founding of the School, Georgina said: 

“When I joined Bath Spa University 10 years ago the business department had a strong reputation for high quality teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level, with a small but dedicated team of academics. The launch of Bath Business School in 2015 marked a strategic investment of resources to support a period of rapid growth. Our distinctive mission could be summed up in two words: ‘creative’ and ‘enterprising’. This reflected the creative ethos of the University as a whole.” 

Over the following two years the University doubled the number of business academics, transformed its curriculum, secured six new professional accreditation opportunities for students, developed new modules and courses that reflected its distinctive mission, and grew its student numbers.  

Throughout the Business School’s initial development, Georgina said the biggest challenge was the intense competitiveness of the Business School environment. 

“We tackled this by identifying our own distinctive identity as the UK's first 'creative' Business School. We also worked hard to ensure that rapid growth did not compromise academic standards, or our strong sense of community,” she said. 

Now led by Head of School Dr Diana Reader, Bath Business School continues to thrive. Throughout its history, the School has been led by inspiring women, supported by a diverse staff to create a vibrant community for budding entrepreneurs to learn. 

Georgina said: 

“The Business School senior leadership team reflects the diversity of our staff and student demographics. I am delighted that the School has such strong and talented leaders, who have earned their positions through their hard work and exceptional abilities.  

“By placing creative enterprise at the heart of all we do, whilst embracing responsible management and sustainable development, we have built a vibrant Business School for the 21st Century.” 

Ten years of Bath Business School 

Since its launch, Bath Business School and its courses have gone from strength to strength, solidifying partnerships, launching exciting new courses and gaining various recognitions along the way. 

The School successfully secured six professional recognition opportunities in 2016 and 2017 from the Chartered Institute of Management Accounting/SAGE, Thomson Reuters, Prince2 Project Management, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the Institute of Hospitality, and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, all resulting in career-enhancing professional accreditations for its students. 

2018 saw the School featured on the ITN Productions programme The Impact Factor, a news and current affairs-style programme reporting on the impact UK business schools have on the UK’s economy and on society.

At the end of 2019, Bath Business School announced the launch of its LLB (Hons) Law course. The first cohort began their studies in September 2020. 

2022 saw the launch of Bath Law Clinic, a pro bono legal advice centre run as a partnership between BSU, Stone King LLP and the Citizens Advice Bureau. BSU Law students, under the guidance of experienced solicitors from Stone King, deliver free legal advice and representation to individuals who contact the Citizens Advice Bureau. 

Also in 2022, Bath Business School became the first, and only, higher education provider in the South West to offer students at undergraduate level the opportunity to gain an internationally-recognised accreditation from the Digital Marketing Institute. 

In 2025, the Business School was pleased to unveil a new mock courtroom at its Newton Park campus – serving as an exciting capstone for the School’s first ten years. The courtroom, sponsored by local solicitors Mogers Drewett, will be used for co-curricular activities such as mooting, mock trials, assessments and training.  

Coming around full circle, Georgina – as Vice-Chancellor of BSU – officially opened the courtroom at an event where she joined BSU Course Director for Law Steve Goulton and colleagues from Mogers Drewett to observe while students made legal arguments before a judge. 

Recognising excellence 

Under Georgina’s leadership, Bath Business School was shortlisted for the Times Higher Education (THE) Business School of the Year twice – in 2018 and again in 2020 – with another nomination in between in 2019 as finalists for the Bath Life Awards in the Education category. 

The THE Awards are widely recognised as the “Oscars” of the higher education sector, regularly attracting hundreds of entries. The Business School of the Year Award recognises the business school that demonstrates the most outstanding overall performance during the academic year, while the Bath Life Awards recognise outstanding teaching establishments in the city. 

The Bath Law Clinic was shortlisted for two categories in the 2023 LawWorks Pro Bono Awards, nominated for its outstanding work under the Best Contribution by a Pro Bono Clinic and Best New Pro Bono Activity categories. The clinic's work has had a profound impact on the local community and is a vital resource in providing legal assistance. 

Summing up what makes her most proud about the School, Georgina said: 

“I am extremely proud of the initiatives we implemented to promote responsible management and sustainability, and to tackle inequalities and discrimination. We are actively engaged in accelerating economic growth and developing social enterprise. By applying creativity to global and social challenges we are supporting our graduates to change their lives and hence change the world. 

“I am most proud of all of the staff, students, alumni and partners who form part of our community of learners, and who have worked together to create such a vibrant and successful Business School.” 

 

Ready to get down to business? Find out more about Business and Management courses at BSU.