London School of Business and Finance

Not to be confused with London Business School or London School of Economics.

London School of Business and Finance (LSBF)
Motto	Shaping Success in Business and Finance
Established	2003
Type	Private for-profit business school
Rector and CEO	Professor Dr Maurits Van Rooijen
Vice-Rector	Professor James Kirkbride
Patron	Prince Michael of Kent
Location	London, United Kingdom
Campuses	London, Birmingham, Manchester, Toronto, Singapore
Website	http://www.lsbf.org.uk

The London School of Business and Finance (informally LSBF) is a private business school based in London, United Kingdom. The school is part of a for-profit education group with campuses in five countries and online. It is completely separate from and not affiliated with the similarly-named London Business School (LBS, which is the graduate business school of the University of London) or the London School of Economics.

LSBF offers Master's degree programmes in management, finance and marketing; bachelor's degrees; executive and corporate training; and professional qualification training for the ACCA, CFA, CIM and CIMA qualifications. LSBF is based in Holborn, with two campuses in central London. All degrees are awarded by parter institutions, since LSBF does not have degree-awarding powers of its own. In addition the school has campuses in Manchester and Birmingham, United Kingdom; Toronto, Canada; and Singapore. LSBF's teaching and education philosophy is based on offering students the opportunity to pursue both an academic degree and a professional qualification simultaneously.

On 26 February 2014, the British High Commissioner to Singapore opened LSBF’s New CBD Campus in the heart of the financial district in Singapore.

History

LSBF Sceptre Court campus in Tower Hill, London

The London School of Business and Finance was founded by entrepreneur Aaron Etingen in 2003. It began as a provider of accountancy and finance programmes and training for professional qualifications such as ACCA and CIMA, later expanding to provide undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in partnership with other higher education institutions.

LSBF opened its first campus outside of the UK in Toronto, Canada, in February 2011. In June 2011, LSBF opened an institute in Singapore, the first Asia-Pacific campus of a UK-based business school. At both international offices, the school provides accounting programmes and professional qualification training.

In March 2010 LSBF launched an MBA that students may complete in as little as eight weekends. To accomplish this, LSBF offers one of the eight required courses on campus each weekend, allowing students to acquire an MBA in a relatively short period of time compared to as long as two to three years at traditional institutions.

In October 2011, the British television channel BBC Three featured the LSBF School of English in a documentary about a group of young immigrants who went to the UK to realise their professional ambitions. One of the students was an LSBF student who enrolled for an English course to be prepared for an important job interview.

In December 2011, Prince Michael of Kent chaired the inaugural lecture of a new series of annual business lectures in partnership with the Royal Society of Arts. The guest speaker was former Director-General of the CBI and former Minister of State for Trade & Investment, Lord Digby Jones.

In April 2012, LSBF formed a partnership with London Metropolitan University, as part of which a suite of new London Metropolitan University-validated undergraduate, postgraduate and professional programmes were delivered by LSBF at its UK campuses, for both UK and international students.In December 2012 this joint partnership was ended by mutual agreement, with both LSBF and London Metropolitan University issuing the following press release "Both parties have agreed that, although much had been achieved during this period, given the basis on which the partnership had begun, and the changes in the higher education market, it would be better for each institution to take independent paths."

In October 2012, LSBF appointed Professor Dr Maurits Van Rooijen as its new CEO and Rector.

One of LSBF'S buildings in Holborn, London

In March 2013, LSBF teamed up with Liverpool Football Club to launch a new educational institution that will offer management and leadership training by teaching transferable skills from the football and the business worlds. It was the first time a Premier League club and a business school have joined forces to launch an educational institution. The new programme will be branded ELITES – Education and Learning Initiative Training Entrepreneurs in Sport.

On 21 April 2013, LSBF was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise for its achievements in international trade.

In May 2013, LSBF announced a partnership with eCornell, the e-learning arm of Cornell University, to offer online executive education in the UK, Russia and South America. Both organisations worked together during more than 18 months and successfully recruited students for a range of eCornell programmes.

In October 2013, the ITV TV series Exposure featured a story about private colleges in the UK. It highlighted questionable practices by LSBF, including in relation to their admissions process and their refund policies. In response, LSBF said that its student recruitment staff are provided with rigorous training and are subject to clear guidelines which comply fully with best professional and ethical practice. The school also said that it fully complies with its obligations to deal with requests for refunds fairly and promptly and that the backlog (caused by administrative issues affecting partners) had been addressed.

In February 2014 it was reported three partnerships with UK universities (the universities of Lincoln, Bradford and Central Lancashire) had come to an end. According to LSBF's website, academic partnerships exist with Concordia University Chicago, the Grenoble Graduate School of Business, the International Telematic University, and NCUK, the consortium of British universities based in the north of the country.

One of LSBF campuses in Holborn, London

On 24 June 2014, the UK Home Office suspended LSBF's license to sponsor international students, due to "numerous, broader failings" in respect of LSBF's sponsorship duties, an allegation LSBF denies. On 5 September 2014, LSBF was reinstated on the Tier 4 register as a Highly Trusted Sponsor. An earlier investigation by the Home Office Home Office was conducted in 2013 in relation to LSBF's partnership with Glyndwr University.

Earlier in 2014, LSBF was the winner of two Global Business Excellence Awards 2014 in the ‘Outstanding Educational Service’ category. The school’s founder and executive chairman won the ‘Outstanding Executive’ award for his leadership and approach to the delivery of high quality education.

LSBF is one of the institutions that have taken part in the government’s policy to widen participation in higher education courses, by introducing Higher National Diplomas and Higher National Certification programmes which are funded by the government. Following a report by the National Audit Office which looked into higher education funding, LSBF said, through letters published by The Guardian and Times Higher Education, that private provision can make an equally positive contribution and that the alternative sector too requires reliable benchmarking data to avoid popular opinion being influenced by prejudice. “The NAO report will be valuable if it stimulates debate about what matters in education. It’s about empowering individuals, regardless of their ethnicity, age or background, and giving them the best opportunities, said LSBF’s chief executive, Maurits van Rooijen

Campuses and locations

One of LSBF campuses in Holborn, London

LSBF is based in Central London. In the United Kingdom it has offices in Holborn and in the City of London, Manchester and Birmingham. LSBF currently has international offices in Singapore and Toronto, Canada, which offer preparatory courses for the ACCA professional qualification as well as Executive and Corporate Training. Early in 2014, the school expanded its Singapore campus to new sites in Springleaf Tower, right in the heart of Tanjong Pagar, Singapore's Central Business District.

LSBF has representative offices in Colombia, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.

In February 2015, LSBF officially opened its Sceptre Court Campus in Tower Hill at the edge of London's financial district. The site has a fully functional trading floor, classrooms and offices and can accommodate nearly 3,000 students, offering courses including MBAs, Masters in Finance and Masters in Marketing

Organisation and administration

Governance

In October 2012, LSBF appointed Professor Dr Maurits Van Rooijen as its new CEO and Rector to expand innovation and academic development. Prior to his appointment at LSBF, Prof Van Rooijen was Rector Magnificus and CEO of the triple-accredited Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands. With a career spanning 25 years, Prof Van Rooijen is an economic historian with a PhD in Green Urbanisation from the University of Utrecht. He has held positions at several universities across the globe, including University of Leiden, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and University of Westminster.

Professor James Kirkbride has been Vice-Rector of LSBF since September 2010. LSBF's patron is Prince Michael of Kent.

Ownership

LSBF Sceptre Court Campus

LSBF is a member of Global University Systems, (GUS) which also counts the London College of Contemporary Arts, St Patrick's College, London, and the GISMA Business School as member schools.

LSBF is a company limited by guarantee and part of the LSBF Group, which also includes the London College of Contemporary Arts (LCCA), the e-learning platform InterActive, Finance Business Training (FBT), School of Fashion and Design London(SFDLondon) and The Language Gallery.

St Patrick's and LSBF work together in a 'friendly' alliance cooperation called The Central London Campus Alliance (CLCA) and share some back office functions. The CLCA schools share resources, best-practice, recruitment channels and other core functions. They remain distinct and separate legal entities with distinct and separate management teams running day-to-day operations. Professor Daniel Khan OBE is Principal of St. Patrick's College

Academics

LSBF has five faculties including Accounting, Finance, Law, Management and Marketing. LSBF academic faculty members are regularly asked to add comment by the media on wider market issues as well as LSBF and partner initiatives.

Programmes

LSBF collaborates with Grenoble Graduate School of Business to provide two-year master's degree programmes including MBA, MSc in Finance, and Master of International Business (MIB) and MSc Fashion and Luxury Management in addition to one undergraduate degree, the Bachelor in International Business. The school also provides dual MBA programs, which combine an MBA degree with another program, such as ACCA, CFA or CIMA.

LSBF offers a range of undergraduate, postgraduate and professional programmes, including MBA Global, MSc Finance & Investment, BSc Business Management and Diplomas in Accounting & Finance and Strategic & Financial Management.

The school also offers an MA in International Business Law awarded by the International Telematic University UNINETTUNO.

LSBF is also certified by the ACCA for tuition for the Diploma in Financial Management. LSBF is an ACCA Approved Learning Provider Gold, in the London, Birmingham and Manchester campuses. It is also an ACCA Approved Learning Provider Platinum in the Singapore campus.

Professor and Vice Rector, James Kirkbride, speaking at the LSBF 2011 Summer graduation ceremony

Online programmes

LSBF delivers a wide range of programmes through the e-learning platform InterActive. This includes MBA, MSc in Finance, MSc in Marketing, ACCA, CIMA, CFA and a range of over 20 online Postgraduate Certificates. Through InterActive, students have access to online classrooms, discussion forums and a range of resources including live and recorded video lectures, 24-hour technical support service, online library and Harvard Business School 'Case in Point' publications to support their learning activities.

In 2010 LSBF developed two applications using the social media platform Facebook: The LSBF Prep Centre for ACCA, a comprehensive study resource for students of ACCA, in a ‘try before you buy’ manner. The application offers study material that is available for all to view, free of charge.

Rankings

LSBF is not currently ranked in any of the main UK or international university rankings. However, some of its partnering institutions, such as the Grenoble Graduate School of Business, do appear in national and international rankings. LSBF did not participate in the Research Assessment Exercise.

QAA assessments

In 2012, LSBF and its sister school, the Birmingham-based Finance Business Training (FBT), have gone through a series of assessments made by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). The first report, published on August 2012, followed inspections at FBT concluding that the former partnership between FBT and the University of Wales (terminated in 2011) presented several issues, including over-recruitment and problems in the admissions process, leading to the acceptance of students that, at the time, did not meet the requirements.

Most recently, the above issues were reassessed in a review carried out by the QAA in September 2012, which concluded that LSBF has put in place measures to strengthen its quality management arrangements. The Review for Educational Oversight, published on 12 December 2012, concluded that “London School of Business & Finance is fulfilling its responsibilities for managing and enhancing the quality of the intended learning opportunities it provides for students”. Furthermore, it gave LSBF a qualified confidence judgement on its academic standards and on the awards offered at the school.

Scholarships and bursaries

LSBF Sceptre Court Campus (interior)

LSBF's patron, Prince Michael of Kent, sponsors a scholarship scheme at the LSBF for students from emerging markets countries. LSBF's other scholarship programmes include a Corporate scholarship, with a focus on connecting students directly with corporate employers via the LSBF Corporate Division, and The Women in Business Scholarship, intended to help more females to become corporate leaders. There are also scholarships sponsored by LSBF's Principal and Vice Rector.

In November 2013, LSBF launched Springboard Scholarship which defers tuition fees for some cash-strapped students until after they have completed their course and their salary has risen by 50 per cent. If their salary doesn't increase by half within two years of completion they won't pay a penny. Up to 50 students will be selected on merit. It was the first time a school in the UK has adopted the 'buy now, pay later' approach to postgraduate learning and is seen by education experts as a solution to the cost of university fees.

LSBF offers bursaries to Singaporean students who have completed the ACCA to pursue master's degrees online, or in the UK.

External lectures

David Blunkett, the former UK Home Secretary and Education Secretary, has taken part in a range of thought leadership interviews with business and political leaders such as a Richard Branson, Deborah Meaden, Sir John Major, Kenneth Baker and Tony Blair.

In December 2011, Prince Michael of Kent chaired the inaugural lecture of a new series of annual business lectures in partnership with the Royal Society of Arts. The guest speaker was former Director-General of the CBI and former Minister of State for Trade & Investment, Lord Digby Jones.

See also

• List of business schools in Europe

External links

• London School of Business and Finance website