Enterprising Times

Enterprising Times Newsletter of the Faculty of Business, Education and Law

September/October 2014

Students volunteer at Stone Food and Drink Festival

Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

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Editorial

There has been a lot of good news lately (see pages 21-22 for Celebrating Staff Success) but I wanted to pick out in particular the following – three new Associate Professors: Dr Stephen Malone, Dr Mehtap Hisarciklilar and Kris Lines (see page 6 for more details). Dr Malcolm Ash successfully completed his Doctorate in Education at the University of Derby. The title of the thesis is ‘Knowledge that counts: an examination of the theory practice gap between business and marketing academics and business practitioners examined in terms of their respective epistemic stances’. Finally, well done to all the students who took part in the Stone Food and Drink Festival; you worked very well and had a good time. Thanks to Tom and Garikai for putting this issue together. Jon Front cover image (left to right): Anthony Lucas, Mario Da Silva Fontan, Celia Sanchez Garcia, Vega Sanchez, James Gillespie (Touchstone Wines), Isabella Ruiz Gualda and Hans Ramon Schuischel at the Stone Food and Drink Festival. Touchstone Wines can be found in Stone. For tastings and events go to http://www.touchstonewines.co.uk/. To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter please email [email protected]. Back issues can be found at http://www.staffs.ac.uk/enterprisingtimes

Contents

Editorial...................................................................................2

University Diploma in Professional Selling – For Business...15

Tourism Management Institute (TMI) Annual Convention to be hosted by Stoke-on-Trent – Paul Williams..............................3

Letter of commendation from The Chartered Institute for Marketing...............................................................................15

Staff profile – Professor David Williamson..............................4

BERA ‘Insights’ article – Professor Tehmina Basit................16

New teacher training book from School of Education team – Duncan Hindmarch..................................................................5

Law School publications – Frances Seabridge.....................16

Facebook Likes! Utilising Facebook special interest group sites to engage and capture student interest effectively – Ruby Hammer...................................................................................5 Associate Professors...............................................................6

School of Education Doctoral Researchers storm annual BERA Conference – Sharon Inglis........................................17 ‘Europe’, conference papers and Law School’s RiT/online systems project.....................................................................19 More success for Growing Concern – Dave Allman..............20

MA Economics of Globalisation and European Integration residential visit and trips – Ian Jackson and Jenny Herbert....7

Celebrating Staff Success.....................................................21

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2014, 17th-21st November – Stephen Malone......................................................................8

Article in Human Resource Management Journal – Peter Beszter..................................................................................22

Stone Food and Drink Festival – Jon Fairburn........................9

Staffordshire University Twitter accounts..............................23

Two current EU Lifelong Learning Programme projects: PECOS4SMEs and STEP4ALL – Gianluca Coppola, Eurocrea Merchant...............................................................................11

Events...................................................................................24

Steelite Charity Ball...............................................................12 Academic visit from University of Malaga – Sandra Booth....13 Events Management students engage with ‘The 3rd Annual Chilli Festival’ at the Dorothy Clive Garden – Carol Southall.14

Distribution of Enterprising Times..........................................26 Notes for contributors............................................................26 Re-use of material.................................................................26 Deadlines for 2014 and 2015................................................26


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Tourism Management Institute (TMI) Annual Convention to be hosted by Stoke-on-Trent – Paul Williams Convention programme:

Monday 10th November 14.00- Optional but highly recommended visit to Emma Bridgwater pottery, including opportunity to 15.30 see pottery at work and try your hand (TBA). Transport TBA 16.00- Tour of the Potteries Museum and The Staffordshire Hoard, with presentation by hosts. 17.00 Return to Moat House Hotel for 17.30 19.00- ‘England successes and futures’, James Berresford, VisitEngland. Venue: Moat House 19.30 Hotel. Also presentation of new TMI Fellows 19.30- Team building and buffet dinner at The Moat House 21.00 Tuesday 11th November 08.30 Tourism Management Institute – Annual General Meeting 09.00 Registration, arrival drinks and sponsor displays 09.30 Welcome Neil McCollum, TMI President 09.40 The Emma Bridgwater story – and the Matthew Rice, Director, Emma Bridgwater regeneration of Stoke on Trent 10.10 Pre-election Tourism Policies Kurt Janson, Tourism Alliance 10.40 The Tour de France story Peter Dodd, Welcome to Yorkshire 11.10 Tea/coffee 11.40 International tourism trends David Edwards, VisitBritain 12.10 Destination Branding: story telling and story John Till, Owner, thinkingplace doing 12.40 Making BIDS work for your Destination Mo Aswat, The Mosaic Partnership 13.10 Lunch – and opportunity to network and meet sponsors Workshops – Digital and Workshops – Case Studies Workshops – Destination Diversification Measurement and Development 14.10 Google and the latest in Scottish and Danish Destination benchmarking digital – Stuart Devlin, destinations – a comparison case study – Ian Thomas and e-Strategy of evolving purposes Kevin Millington, Newcastle and roles – Constantia Gateshead Initiative and ACORN T-Stats Anastasiadou, Edinburgh Napier University 14.40 Attraction development – Destinations – a source of So much more than Andrew Keeling wellness and well-being: assessment – TBA, Quality in trends and opportunities Tourism – Paul Bamber, University College Birmingham 15.00 Tea/coffee 15.30 International Destination Case Study (theme Tom Buncle, Yellow Railroad TBC) 16.00 Reflections on Tourism Development Victor T. C. Middleton OBE 16.30

Closing comments

Neil McCollum, TMI President


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The Tourism Management Institute (TMI) is the Destination Management of the Tourism Society. The institute is a network of professionals who promote and develop destinations the UK, Europe and worldwide. As the TMI’s Head of Professional Development, Paul Williams, Head of the Business School is also a member of both the Executive Board and National Council of the Institute. This year’s TMI Annual Convention will be on 10th-11th November in Stoke-on-Trent and as well as a full conference programme (see table) which will take place at the Moat House, Festival Park, there will also be an optional study visit/factory tour to the Emma Bridgewater pottery as well as a chance to hear Cathy Shingler, Interpretation Officer at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, showcase the celebrated Staffordshire Hoard. This year, Staffordshire University is sponsoring the event which will provide a number of opportunities for Tourism and Events Management students to support the event organisers and engage with the workshop programme as part of their course. For tourism practitioners, educators and students aspiring to work in the travel tourism and hospitality sectors, the convention promises to be an opportunity to keep up to date with the latest developments and learn from the experience of some of the foremost destination management professionals. Highlights include the Chief Executive of Visit England discussing England’s tourism successes and futures and, with just 6 months until the General Election, Kurt Janson from the Tourism Alliance will be offering some pre-election tourism policy insights. Matthew Rice will also present the Emma Bridgewater Story, linking this to the tourism-led regeneration of North Staffordshire. And to cap it all, Victor Middleton OBE, arguably the guru of tourism education for almost 50 years will be bringing the convention to a close by reflecting on tourism development throughout this time. Contact Paul at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294064.

Staff profile – Professor David Williamson

David has come back to Staffordshire University after eight years at the University of Manchester! In 1986 David joined what was then Staffordshire Polytechnic and stayed until 2006. He then moved to the School of Law at the University of Manchester as a Senior Research Fellow in Regulation. During his time at Manchester he helped set-up and manage the Manchester Centre for Regulation and Governance (ManReg) and from 2012 was Director of Teaching and Learning. David will maintain his research links with Manchester as an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Law.

David joins as Associate Dean for Scholarship, Enterprise and Research, and Professor of Regulation and Governance. His most recent teaching has included courses on regulation, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and environmental law. The focus of his research has evolved over time, from an interest in how small and medium firms respond to environmental regulation to issues around regulation and governance more generally. He is currently finishing a monograph on regulation and a second edition to a textbook on business strategy, and has recently submitted, as a partner in an international academic consortium, a Horizon 2020 application on food waste. Contact David at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294144. Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

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New teacher training book from School of Education team – Duncan Hindmarch

Dr Lynn Machin, Duncan Hindmarch, Sandra Murray and Tina Richardson have just published their second teacher training book for the further education sector. Both of these books support trainees on the new nationally accredited suite of awards and are taught directly by Staffordshire University as well as the university’s partner colleges. Launched in September 2014, A Complete Guide to the Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training follows the successful A Complete Guide to the Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training which was released in 2013. The guides are published by an award-winning publishing company, Critical Publishing, who describe the Certificate book as one of their best sellers, to the extent that a second edition will be brought out next year. Both books provide the essential knowledge and understanding for new teachers to the sector, supported by practical examples and case studies. The level 5 book encourages trainees to deepen their understanding of key education issues as well as critically reflect in order to improve their professional practice. The books have been written collaboratively by the team through Dropbox file sharing, which allows us to see the progress of colleagues. This has proven to be a great motivator in terms of enabling us to meet tight deadlines. The team intends to take this approach further with a website to promote education called: ‘Teach, Write, Research’. Lynn Machin and Duncan Hindmarch will also be contributing to a schools focused book titled Supporting Primary Teaching and Learning which is due out May 2015. Contact Duncan at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294216.

Facebook Likes! Utilising Facebook special interest group sites to engage and capture student interest effectively – Ruby Hammer Higher education increasingly recognises that, used responsibly, social media including Facebook, can be harnessed for educational benefit. Whilst originally created for individuals to socialise, latest features allow it to be effectively used to create ‘special interest’ group sites for a range of activities and ‘likes’. Features which allow individuals to create bespoke personal ‘profile’ pages also allow users to publish content, contribute to groups and participate in communities online.

The aim of the Curriculum Enrichment Project is to work collaboratively with students to understand more effectively what students prefer when using Facebook. The latest generation of features allows students to sign-up to or ‘like’ special interest groups and such an approach removes some of the public/private issues generated by ordinary use. In conjunction with student contributions to development, the proposal is to create a module Facebook page to support communication of events and issues in Environmental Law and Sustainability and a general Law School Facebook page to promote events and employability issues. The project will then compare and contrast both sites to see what patterns and best practices emerge in student user trends. Such findings will also be triangulated against the traditional use of Blackboard as a communication and announcement tool. Contact Ruby at [email protected]. Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

Enterprising Times Associate Professors

We are delighted that Dr Mehtap Hisarciklilar, Kris Lines and Dr Stephen Malone have been appointed Associate Professors. Associate Professors are defined by their growing distinction, standing and leadership in their subject, discipline and/or practice. Through their research and scholarship, external engagement and teaching, associate professors contribute to the advancement of the university’s reputation. Dr Mehtap Hisarciklilar, Associate Professor of Economics The award of Associate Professorship celebrates Mehtap’s significant contribution to teaching, knowledge transfer and research. Her expertise in economics and applied econometrics has seen her publish numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, take part in externally funded projects, supervise postgraduate students, and undertake editorial and reviewer roles. Mehtap has presented her work at various international conferences and she has taken part in the organisation of national and international academic meetings. Her research expertise is in the field of labour, gender, education and international economics. Mehtap has been working at Staffordshire University since 2011. She is the coordinator of the OSF-Staffordshire University PhD Scholarship Programme. In addition to her former employment at Istanbul Technical University, she has been invited to various universities for teaching and research, including Bahcesehir University, Dogus University, European University of Lefke, University of Nottingham, University of Sussex, and University American College. Kris Lines, Associate Professor of Sports Law The award of Associate Professor celebrates Kris’ contribution to teaching and research. His expertise is in Sports Law, primarily personal injury, anti-doping and the regulation of sports governing bodies. He has published numerous articles in academic, sportsspecific and practitioner guides and has presented at a number of national and international conferences. Kris works very closely with colleagues at both Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia and Warsaw University, Poland. Kris is a current performance coach for British Gymnastics and spends his time coaching trampoline, gymnastics, cheerleading, parkour and anything that involves throwing yourself through the air with twist and rotation. Most recently, Kris has been working in the field of e-learning and social media and has delivered workshops and presentations on innovative pedagogy with the Higher Education Academy. Dr Stephen Malone, Associate Professor of Enterprise The award of Associate Professorship recognises Stephen’s contribution to teaching and learning, enterprise and research. Stephen has over thirty years’ experience in business as Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

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a professional manager, small-business proprietor, director, consultant, academic and academic manager. He teaches and supervises on the professional doctorate, DBA, as well as teaching and supervising armed forces students on the MBA. His interests lie in the area of small business management, consultancy and research methods. He has led and continues to lead academic teams, has been a Principal Fellow for Research Informed Teaching and he is presently Enterprise Development Manager for the Faculty of Business, Education and Law. He has also developed new enterprise initiatives and curriculum and is a reviewer for three academic journals. Stephen publishes in the area of small business and enterprise where he is particularly interested in entrepreneurial learning, which is the field in which he completed his PhD. Contact Mehtap, Kris and Stephen as follows: • at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294278 • at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294088 • at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294039

MA Economics of Globalisation and European Integration residential visit and trips – Ian Jackson and Jenny Herbert

In September, the students on the MA Economics of Globalisation and European Integration (EGEI) attended a two-day residential in Hartington, Derbyshire. The first day consisted of a walk in the Peak District followed by team-building games back at the Hartington Youth Hostel, which was the base for the trip. The second day included visits to National Trust properties at Biddulph Grange and Little Moreton Hall. The students are based in the Business School and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. On 3rd October a trip was organised for the MA students and also some of the Business School’s PhD Economics students. The day started with a visit to the Monkey Forest followed by a walk along the lake to Trentham Gardens. After time spent in the retail village for lunch the Head Gardener of the Trentham Estate walked the group around the gardens and gave a talk on the history of its development. Finally students braved the barefoot walk and investigated the maze. The weather was marvellous and it was a great day out showing off one of Stoke’s best tourist attractions. For more information about the MA Economics of Globalisation and European Integration (EGEI) go to http://bit.ly/1toFaM6. Contact Ian at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294211, or Jenny at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294065. Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

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Global Entrepreneurship Week 2014, 17th-21st November – Stephen Malone

Global Entrepreneurship Week is an international campaign to promote entrepreneurship. Stephen Malone, Enterprise Development Manager in the Faculty of Business, Education and Law, is coordinating a programme of events to be held at Staffordshire University. The draft programme is as follows (venues will be announced shortly): Running throughout the week: The Apprentice Challenge Monday 17th 11.00 Opening Session: Professor Michael Gunn Vice-Chancellor, ‘The challenge of becoming an enterprising University’ 11.30-12.30 Ben Dyer: launch of ‘The Apprentice Challenge’ 12.30-13.15 Lunch 13.15

Guest Speaker and Entrepreneur: Fraser Doherty of SuperJam

14.30-15.30 The Lord Bilimoria: Guest Speaker, Founder of Cobra Beer, Chairman, and Entrepreneur tells his story 16.00-17.00 ‘Commercial Acumen’: SGH Martineau Tuesday 18th Staff/student slots (TBC)

Lord Stafford (TBC)

Student marketing presentations (TBC)

Staff slots (TBC)

17.00

Apprentice Report

Tuesday 18th-Wednesday 19th 21.00-09.00 ALL NIGHTER BUSINESS CHALLENGE, LRV Students’ Union Wednesday 19th – Schools Dragons’ Den Day Client Interviewing and Negotiation Competition Semi-Final, Law School

17.00

Alternative Business Structures in Legal Services: Knight’s Professional services Apprentice Report

Thursday 20th – Colleges Dragons’ Den Day 11.00 Presentation on our Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Gerry Brennan 17.00

Apprentice Report

Friday 21st 12.00-13.00 Staff Session: ‘Practice-based enterprise education’. Presentation by Associate Professor Stephen Malone 13.00-14.00 Discussion and staff feedback on generating enterprising activities 13.00

Ben Dyer, Ryman and Gandy’s flip flops judging the Apprentice Challenge and presenting

Staff/student slots (TBC)

17.00

Apprentice final winners announced

Contact Stephen at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294039. Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

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Stone Food and Drink Festival – Jon Fairburn

The 10th Stone Food and Drink Festival saw a wide range of participation from Business School students especially on the Tourism Management and Events Management courses. The first ever visitor study is now being analysed and students were also involved in running the social media campaign over the weekend, as well as acting as guides at the festival. Professor Jon Fairburn said, ‘For the majority of students we built the festival into one of the final year modules for the Tourism Management students. This allowed them to get some experience in visitor studies questionnaires before they go on to use these skills in their own dissertations. It was a very good example of practice based learning. We could see from so many of the students how their confidence grew during the day and how much they enjoyed the event.’ Greta Liaudanskaite (Tourism Management) will now analyse all the data collected at the festival for her final year dissertation. Dr Jana Fiserova who is supervising the data analysis said, ‘So often you see visitor studies that are just a set of descriptive data with no real statistical analysis. We will be training the students in statistical techniques using SPSS and Excel so that we have a rigorous evidence base to help the organisers plan for the festival next year.’ Sue Clews, a Marketing lecturer, also took her journalism class to the festival, and Carol Southall and Linda Phillips were also in attendance providing support to the students and making new contacts. Student comments on the experience include: Raquel Marin Lopez: ‘I had the chance to enjoy and experience the food and drink festival that took place in Stone last weekend, and it turned out being a great experience. I would, with no Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

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doubt, recommend to anybody. As a student of Tourism Management I saw the festival from a different point of view to that of a visitor. It’s hard work to organize such an event full of different activities all related to food and drink, such as the cookery classes, chef demonstrations, tastings or the wide range of different food spots.’ Celia Sánchez: ‘My experience as a member of the survey team for the Stone Food and Drink Festival was amazing because I learnt a lot about these kind of fairs and other festivals as well. Firstly, I felt very nervous and a little bit uncomfortable because I was afraid of my language, but then I checked that I could speak with everyone and I understood them and they, me.’ Hannah Mannion: ‘Most recently, I volunteered as part of a team collating data; this took place to analyse growth in the Stone Food and Drink Festival. The opportunity was fantastic and one I would never have thought to get involved with previous to starting my course. The festival opened doors to a range of new opportunities by networking with other businesses throughout the weekend.’ Vega Sánchez: ‘In general, my experience at the food and drink festival in Stone as a member of the survey team was amazing. At first, I felt a bit shy asking people but I got used to them quickly. Then I started enjoying it because I realised people were more open-minded than I thought. I also liked the wide range of food stands which provided food tasting. At the end, the Spanish survey members were invited to assist the British wine exposition. It was a really great opportunity to taste their wine and know how excellent it tastes!’ Rebekah Clarke: ‘This event was a great experience which helped me improve on my interpersonal skills and confidence when speaking to guests on their visit.’ For more information contact Jon Fairburn at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294094.


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Two current EU Lifelong Learning Programme projects: PECOS4SMEs and STEP4ALL – Gianluca Coppola, Eurocrea Merchant PECOS4SMEs PECOS4SMEs stands for ‘Personalized e-commerce strategies for SMEs’. The idea behind the project is the implementation of a personalised training system for SMEs in order to improve their e-commerce skills and be in position to reap the benefits of the Internet as a revenue channel. The aim of the project is to offer personalised training to SMEs on cross border e-commerce strategies, by capitalising on the use of social media to approach consumers and search engine optimisation (SEO)/search engine marketing (SEM) techniques and tools, through the adoption of features that will make their websites more friendly to the foreign consumer (e.g. usability, personalised products, transparency, security, delivery/return options, etc.), Web 2.0, etc. By following the completion of the training, SMEs will be in position to implement a personalised e-Commerce strategy. The starting point of the project is that online purchases are increasing unequally across the EU. Overall, online purchasing has doubled between 2005 and 2010 across the 27 EU member states. However, the EU-27 average hides large cross-country differences, with fewer than 25 per cent of individuals having made an online purchase in 11 member states compared with more than 50 per cent in 8 other member states. High growth mainly occurred in countries where e-commerce was already widespread in 2005, and consumers in southern and eastern Europe are much less likely to have purchased goods and services online. However, northern European countries are currently reaping more than twice the benefits from the Internet as a contributor to their net GDP than their crisis-driven southern counterparts. Such a lack of knowledge comes at high cost: plenty of SMEs would like to increase their cross border e-commerce revenue, but aren’t sure exactly what to do about it as there is no comprehensive advice on the variety of possibilities and such specialised knowledge is not sufficiently available or comes at high cost. STEP4ALL STEP4ALL stands for ‘Supporting Training on European Projects for All’. The project is a Multilateral Partnership co-funded by the European Commission within the Lifelong Learning Programme. Its consortium of 9 partners aims to create a network of vocational education and training (VET) stakeholders to promote transnational cooperation and the exchange of best practices in the VET sector on EU-project management and procedures to access European funds. As a first step, partners have conducted an investigation on the state of the art of access to EU funds in their countries and collect the results in regional reports. Based on the achieved results, they have worked together for the production of three short guides, providing technical and theoretical bases for future project designers and managers. The last step has been the testing of the products with the participation of the target group representatives. The major outcomes of the project are the three short guides, providing a technical and theoretical basis for future EU-project designers and managers, which are available in all project languages: EN, IT, SK, SP, TU, HU, GR, DU, BG, PT, LT. The content of the guides deals with: 1. The European Union: history, institutions, functioning


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2. Principal programmes managed by the European Commission 3. Short guide on Project Cycle Management and Financial and Administrative Management As a basis for the production of the short guides, each partner has conducted an investigation on its own country/region and produced a Regional Report (in English and in their own national language), including also a list of best practices. The guides are available to download from the project website. For more information about the PECOS4SMEs and STEP4ALL projects, contact Gianluca at [email protected] or visit www.pecos4smes.eu and www.step4all.eu.

Funded with support from the European Commission

Steelite Charity Ball

Top left: University students and graduates at the Steelite International Charity Ball – Charnelle Merritt, Kayleigh Heith, Garikai Simango, Muryum Bhayat, Nicola Sanders and Agnieszka Biernat. Top right: with Professor Susan Foreman. Bottom left: with VC Professor Michael Gunn. Bottom right: with Steelite Chief Executive, Kevin Oakes

Six students were recently asked to join staff at the Steelite Charity Ball. All the students had been involved in a range of projects in Burslem in the last year. Staff present included the Vice Chancellor Michael Gunn, Professor Susan Foreman (Dean of the Faculty), Paul Williams (Head of the Business School) and Professor Jon Fairburn. A wide range of local charities was supported at the event. Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

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Academic visit from University of Malaga – Sandra Booth

From 15th July until 7th August 2014 we were fortunate to host the visit of Dr Alvaro Simon De Blas here in the Stoke-on-Trent Business Village. Alvaro is an economics lecturer from the University of Malaga as well as the Director General of his local Business Innovation Centre and President of the European Business Incubator Network. He chose to come to Staffordshire University in order to continue his research into practical and theoretical Business Incubation, a subject particularly relevant to the work we do here, and because of his connections with the Staffordshire Business and Innovation Centre (BIC). He had a very hectic month starting off straight away by attending the Business School’s Graduation awards ceremony where he met Sandra Booth, Professor Susan Foreman and the Vice Chancellor. This was swiftly followed by meetings with Rachel Nicholson from Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Geoff Riley, the Director of the North Staffordshire Business Innovation Centre who Alvaro works closely with within the BIC network. This was followed by meetings with a whole range of people from across the university and the City Council, including staff from Enterprise and Commercial Development (ECD) and the Faculty of Business, Education and Law (FBEL), as well as lots of visits to areas of interest in Staffordshire including factory tours at Wades and Wedgwood. Alvaro was especially Left to Right: Andrew Briggs, Janet Mortezazadeh-Daragheh,Marie Pandolfo,Geoff Riley, Marie Simon interested in the de Blas, Sandra Booth, Professor Michael Gunn and Dr Alvaro Simon de Blas enjoying an evening reception at the Potters Club programmes set up within Staffordshire University to help support and incubate local SMEs which culminate in the work that we do in the Business Villages, as university led incubation is not as widespread in Spain. Alvaro visited the Stoke and Stafford Business Villages and was thoroughly impressed by how we are supporting our clients. Whilst he was staying with us he had meetings with Professors Geoff Pugh and Jon Fairburn from the Centre for Applied Business Research, whose GPrix project perfectly reflects Alvaro’s own research into assessing the success of incubation and business support programmes. We believe that this will lead to a great academic partnership between Staffordshire and Malaga Universities as well as creating opportunities for collaboration between ECD and FBEL. ‘It has been a pleasure to have this placement here and progress in my research with Professor Geoff Pugh and also being able to discuss projects of mutual interest between Staffordshire and Malaga Universities as well as both BICs. I’m also thankful to the friendly staff of the ECD Business Village where I shared an office and to Thomas Bray for his assistance.’’ Alvaro’s visit was very productive for his research and in helping to create links with other European experts in SME incubation. It also strengthened ties between Staffordshire University, the North Staffordshire BIC and the European BICS network. Contact Sandra at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1785 353808. Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

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Events Management students engage with ‘The 3rd Annual Chilli Festival’ at the Dorothy Clive Garden – Carol Southall Following a meeting with Julia Roberts, Marketing Manager at the Dorothy Clive Garden (DCG) in Willoughbridge, near Market Drayton in Shropshire, fast-track Events Management student Nicola Sanders was ‘recruited’ as events assistant, helping to plan, organise and manage events at the garden and gaining invaluable experience of events management in the process.

For her first event Nicki was joined by fellow Events Management students Brea Lane and Christy Wall, who enjoyed a day volunteering at the garden’s 3rd Annual Chilli Festival on Sunday 21st September. The event involved a chilli eating contest, chilli market stalls, the best chilli sauce contest, salsa dancing, live music and cookery classes, and activities for children. There were also demonstrations from freelance food writer and cookery teacher Sumayya Usmani. Julia Roberts said: ‘This year’s Chilli Festival at the Dorothy Clive Garden was a huge success and attracted over 791 visitors, including 132 children. This festival is run annually as a fundraising event for the garden, which is managed as a charitable trust.’ ‘Volunteer helpers are essential for the success of the events at the garden, and at this year’s Chilli Festival was no Christy Wall and Nicola Sanders exception. We were lucky enough to have a team of student volunteers, led by Events Management student, Nicola Sanders. Nocola and the team were a great asset to the event and provided valuable support in the run-up, and on the day. The students were involved with planning, research and implementation of the event, as well as taking part in practicalities on the day. Whilst it is important that students learn and gain valuable experience, we also want them to enjoy themselves and have fun. We will have no hesitation in continuing to provide further volunteer positions for Staffordshire University event students in the future.’ The Dorothy Clive Garden, located on a hillside near Market Drayton offers 12 acres of both formal and informal gardens, as well as a tea room, gift shop and children’s play area. The Garden is managed by the umbrella organisation, the Willoughbridge Garden Trust, and is a registered charity. Throughout the year DCG holds a number of family events, as well as lectures and educational workshops. For more information visit http://dorothyclivegarden.co.uk. Upcoming events include the Harvest Festival on 18th October and a Christmas Fair on 29th November, both of which Nicola will be helping to organise. Carol is Course Leader for Tourism and Events Management. Contact Carol at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294269.

Christy Wall, Brea Lane and Julia Roberts


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University Diploma in Professional Selling – For Business

For Business has been working closely with colleagues in Corporate Programmes to launch the new University Diploma in Professional Selling. Following on from the successful delivery of the Foundation Degree in Professional Selling the new diploma focusses on four areas that employers told us were most important for their businesses. • • • •

Customer Relationship Management and Managing the Customer Interface Key Account Management Effective Business Negotiation Leading the Sales Team and Managing the Sales Function

‘The course proved to be an eye-opener…. It gave me the opportunity to stand back and take a broader view of a range of models and techniques which we have then moved forward to apply to our business in relation to current and future customers.’ Mark Bowen, ATP Industries

The diploma helps individuals to have a broader understanding of the key drivers in a modern business sales environment, create innovative solutions which will have a direct impact in the workplace and instil confidence in consistent decision making in relation to the sales process. In this cohort we have employees from a variety of industries including telecoms solutions, heavy haulage, car parts, brewing and a global leading supplier of plants and services for the hydropower, pulp and paper, metals, and other specialized industries. ‘I’d really recommend it to everyone with a sales background. It makes you evaluate what you’re The mix of people makes for lively discussions doing – if it doesn’t make you money then you and each has actual work related examples don’t do it. It’s all about building relationships, to discuss and share with the group. For the working together, solving problems.’ assessment learners are asked to complete a Leigh Bowers, Allett Mowers work based report for each of the key areas, linked to their business and role. Demonstrating both their understanding of the topics and by applying this to their work gives a measurable business benefit to their employer. For further details please contact For Business on 0800 169 2148 or at [email protected].

Letter of commendation from The Chartered Institute for Marketing

The Awarding Body at The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) has commended Staffordshire University for the excellent performance of its students during the June 2014 assessment session. The following statement of commendation has been issued by the Awarding Body: 521 Assessing the Marketing Environment The Awarding Body at The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) has commended Staffordshire University for the excellent standard of results achieved for assessments submitted in the June 2014 assessments session for the Assessing the Marketing Environment unit of the CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing. To find out more about our Marketing courses, visit http://bit.ly/1mu6ndc. Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

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BERA ‘Insights’ article – Professor Tehmina Basit

Professor Tehmina Basit was recently invited by the British Educational Research Association (BERA) to produce a summary of one of her papers published in the British Educational Research Journal for wider dissemination through its Insights series. According to BERA: ‘Insights are short and accessible pamphlets designed to engage policy and practitioner communities with timely and excellent research on important educational issues. They have high production values and BERA uses these to showcase what we consider to be not only the best research but also that which is of particular interest to policy-makers’. Tehmina’s Insights article was disseminated at the BERA Annual Conference from 23-25 September, and can be accessed at http://www.bera.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Insights-8-Basit-for-web.pdf. Contact Tehmina at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294242.

Law School publications – Frances Seabridge

Four members of staff in the Law School are the most recent to have contributed to publications for the Professional Education Sector. Helen Fox, Frances Seabridge and Susan Wigglesworth have all contributed to chapters on the area of tax law in the Foundations for the LPC manual for Legal Practice students, published by Oxford University Press. This is the main recommended manual used by the students on this course nationwide. Oxford University Press approached all three members of staff, based on the publisher’s previous experience with the publication success of the two main manuals for Litigation. The Criminal Litigation manual is written by Martin Hannibal and Lisa Mountford and is now in its tenth edition, and the Civil Litigation manual is written by Susan Cunningham-Hill and is now in its seventh edition. This means that the University is making a significant contribution to the main textbooks in this area of law for would-be practitioners and non-legal professionals alike. This is a great accolade for a university of this size. Considering that Staffordshire University is one of 40 academic institutions that offer this award, this greatly enhances the reputation of Staffordshire in this field, and this will encourage many more students to enrol on this professional one year full-time or two year part-time course, or to enrol on the new blended learning mode of this course which has been offered for the first time this academic year. The excellent reputation of these published works is a significant reason why overseas students, especially from Trinidad and Tobago, have been so enthusiastic to come to Staffordshire University to study with the Legal Practice course team. Further publication news! Catherine Edwards has edited the 2014/15 edition of the CILEx Law School Course ‘The Practice of Child Care Law’ which is a specialist area examined by the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives. Having been involved in the development of this unit for CILEx Catherine was reviewer of the original edition and is now editor of the current edition which has incorporated the largest changes to Family Law in 40 years following implementation of the single family court. This feeds into the Legal Practice Public Child Law elective which is unique in having been written jointly with a local authority. Contact Frances at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294818.


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School of Education Doctoral Researchers storm annual BERA Conference – Sharon Inglis

Inspired and encouraged by Dr Katy Vigurs (Award Leader for the Professional Doctorate in Education – EdD), eight doctoral students responded to a call for papers by the British Educational Research Association (BERA) and submitted abstracts for the 40th annual BERA Conference which was to be held at the Institute of Education in London. All eight students were notified that their abstracts had been accepted. Six abstracts had been selected for presentation to the Early Career Researcher (ECR) Conference, whilst two had been selected for presentation to the Main Conference. There was a diverse range of research interests represented, which made for an eclectic mix of papers: Fouzia Choudhry (EdD) ECR Conference Education, career mobility and the attitudes of South Asian Girls and Women Julia Everitt (EdD) Main Conference Education: The role of others Sharon Inglis (EdD) ECR Conference The impact of entry qualifications on transitions into Higher Education Rachel Kidd-Smithers ECR Conference What’s all the fuss about? How teachers perceive and (EdD) define problematic behaviours in the classroom Sarah Misra (EdD) Main Conference The Last Minority Group? Understanding and Addressing the Challenges Facing Parents Undertaking Primary PGCEs in two HE Settings Russell Spink (MPhil/ ECR Conference Forms of Feedback: the interpretation and values placed PhD) on three distinct forms of feedback for MA Education Helen Walmsley-Smith ECR Conference Does constructivist learning design affect online (EdD) distance learning retention? Nia Wearn (MPhil/PhD) ECR Conference Creativity in ludoliteracy, games development and game studies in the UK Representation on this scale at BERA was a first for the School of Education. The prospect of presenting their research to other academics from other institutions was met by the doctoral students with a mixture of elation and trepidation. Mentored and supported by Katy, the end of September rolled around with unseemly haste, and Tuesday 24th September found us assembled at the Institute of Education, presentations loaded on to memory sticks and ready to go. The ECR Conference provides an excellent opportunity for ECRs to present their research in a (relatively) ‘safe’ environment. Nia explained how welcoming her audience had been ‘to a newbie in the area’. The value of the learning experience for all involved cannot be underestimated. Russell added, ‘I learned quite a lot more about myself and this has given me more Rachel Kidd-Smithers outlines her research self-confidence to develop my academic skills and profile’. Julia reported how presenting at the conference had contributed to developing her identity as a researcher. She described how it contributed towards her identity as an ECR and ‘believing Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

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that you can have a voice or have something to contribute with the many esteemed academics I met’. She added, ‘BERA was a great chance to network at a different level, with the range of academics that attended. I would certainly recommend it’. Fouzia explained that she had been so nervous that she had contemplated withdrawing her presentation but was really glad that she had persevered because ‘I learnt so much from it and am looking forward to the next BERA conference. I enjoyed watching others present and learnt from their research. I also met many interesting people, some from different parts of the world with similar research interests, an editor and my peers and tutor were also there to support me…. I now feel confident to submit another abstract and present again.’

Nia Wearn: explaining ludoliteracy

Rachel summed up succinctly the impact that attending and presenting at the conference has had on her from both a work and research perspective. ‘The experience at BERA was fantastic. It allowed me as a school teacher and leader to have a full insight into the world of academia and policy influencers. I made contact with several other presenters and joined two SIGS (Special Interest Groups) – alternative providers and practitioner research. I am confident that membership to these and to BERA will assist me greatly in developing as a researcher.’

When asked her thoughts, Katy said, ‘I’ve been attending the BERA annual conference since 2002, but this year’s was really special. Firstly, I was so pleased to see our doctoral researchers effortlessly strengthening their links with each other, even though they are at different stages in their doctoral journeys. For example, they arranged to attend each others’ papers so that there was at least one friendly and familiar face in each audience. Secondly, it was quickly evident that they were each developing connections with researchers in their chosen field at both national and international levels.... The positive feedback they received on their papers from researchers and professors at other universities was unprecedented and this hugely increased their levels of academic confidence. I came away feeling extremely proud of the quality and professional relevance of the doctoral research that is currently being undertaken in the School of Education. I hope to encourage even more of our doctoral researchers to present their work at the next BERA conference, which is being held in Belfast in September 2015.’ BERA selfie: left to right – Nia Wearn, Dr Katy Vigurs, Fouzia Choudhry If you are interested in educational research, find out more about BERA at https://www.bera.ac.uk/. If you want to find out what the hot topics were at the 2014 conference you can search the hashtag #BERA2014 in Twitter.


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‘Europe’, conference papers and Law School’s RiT/online systems project

It has been a busy Summer for Law School colleague Keith Puttick. At Birmingham University’s Institute of European Law in June Keith (pictured below) joined other speakers, including Sir Stephen Wall, former British Permanent Representative to the EU, speaking on the theme ‘Leaving Europe? The Legal, Political and Economic Implications of a UK Exit from the EU’. His paper was entitled ‘The EU’s Regulatory Burden and its Discontents: The Labour Market, Free Movement and Social Europe’. Despite concerns about over-regulation, gold-plating of EU law, and the perceived ‘burden’ of Social Europe, most UK businesses still understand the necessary role that regulation plays, particularly in key areas like employment law, equalities and migration. Most businesses still fear the prospect of leaving the EU, and the likely negative impact on their access to Europe’s markets and the labour pool that free movement offers (CBI/YouGov, 2013). In September Keith was the keynote speaker for Theme III at the three-day European Congress of Labour Law and Social Security in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. His paper, ‘Social Security and State Support for the WageWork Bargain: Reconstructing Europe’s Floor of Social Protection’, looked at the impact of the post-2007 crisis on Europe’s labour markets, wages and employment conditions. Besides a need for better, more responsive in-work social security systems, Europe’s ‘floor of social protection’ needs improved redistributive mechanisms, including collective bargaining, and minimum wages and conditions setting – particularly at sectoral level. The Congress’s sessions on research, support for early researchers and publishing opportunities provided useful forums in which to share information about the work of the BEL Faculty’s research centres and Institute of Industrial Law, including events in 2015. Keith’s papers/speaker’s notes can be accessed in the university’s e-print store at http://eprints.staffs.ac.uk/. Since the start of the new academic year, members of the Law School’s Research-informed Teaching project, including law lecturers and colleagues in the Law School, Information Services, and Academic Development Unit, have been putting in place collaborative arrangements with Lexis Nexis and other publishers for its three-year project. This is evaluating the way online systems like Lexis Library, Westlaw, PLC Online, and Jordans Family Law online can support skills development at Level 6 and employability – particularly in key areas including legal research and drafting. In my own area of Equalities we plan to focus on a critical approach to the historical limitations, current anomalies and inherent need for judicial creativity with respect to protecting both employee rights and employer safeguards. In the study of this ever-developing area of law, equality students, along with all others in the participating modules, will be required to develop their research skills via direct involvement with this exciting project and have the opportunity to participate in a range of critical reasoning, interpretation and effective drafting-proficiency workshops to enable their expanded knowledge to be analysed and applied effectively in final year assessments and beyond. The project stands at the forefront of research in higher education and the implications for students, staff and our external partners are significant in advancing both legal education and the resulting effectiveness for our students progressing into graduate employment. Contact Jules at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294587. Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

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More success for Growing Concern – Dave Allman

Growing Concern, the university’s Community Organic Garden, continues to build on its successes. In September, we were awarded the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Britain in Bloom ‘It’s your Neighbourhood’ award at outstanding level for the second successive year. This year we achieved 89 points out of 100 and clearly really impressed the judges, who drew attention to the following in their summary: • • • • • •

Diverse range of plant production from unusual food varieties to herbs and flowering perennials Excellent use of composting/water conservation and innovative use of recycled materials All plants grown organically The use of solar panels to power an onsite freezer, done as part of an educational project with students Good engagement with the wider community e.g. other neighbouring tenants, people with disabilities and students Good creation of wildlife habitats e.g. pond, bird boxes, insect houses.

Building on our success at Chelsea Flower Show where we achieved a Silver-Gilt medal, we have now been visited by the RHS magazine, The Garden. This prestigious magazine is distributed monthly to every member of the RHS worldwide. Currently the RHS membership is 450,000 and this is a massive opportunity to showcase the garden to almost half a million people! We are featuring as part of the National Union of Students ‘Student Eats’ project and our contribution will be published next March or April so we are really looking forward to that. We are piloting this year an intergenerational garden working with the charity Age UK and, although we are in the very early stages, we hope that this will be an opportunity to get our younger students working with older people on the garden. We have secured a lovely space which we will transform into a wildlife and cut flower garden. Preparation of this Garden was undertaken by the staff team from the Student Enabling Centre as part of their annual awayday. Continuing work from previous years, we are offering the resources at the garden as a project base for final year Geography students to complete their professional studies module. This has been very successful in the past two years and we belive we can build on that success. Further information about student activities at Growing Concern can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/staffs.gardening/. Contact Dave at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1782 294982.


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Celebrating Staff Success University Visiting Professorships • Professor Gordon Tredgold Teaching Excellence Fellowship • Jim Pugh • Janet Spence Higher Education Academy Fellowships • Isabel Clarke, HEA Fellow • Robert Curtis, HEA Principal Fellow • Dr David Douglas, HEA Senior Fellow • Anne Harbisher, HEA Principal Fellow • Lisa Mountford, HEA Fellow • David Tapp, HEA Senior Fellow • Dr Katerina Thomas, HEA Fellow • Dr Katy Vigurs, HEA Senior Fellow Business Engagement Award – Individual • Mike Jarrett Green Impact Excellence Award • Faculty of Business, Education and Law Student Experience Awards – Inclusivity • Dr Katy Vigurs 25 Years Contribution to the University Award • Angus McDonald • Linda Phillips • David Shepherd Qualification Successes • Judith Blackband, AUA Fellowship, ILM Effective Practice in First Line Management • Dr Cheryl Bolton, Certificate of Continuous Professional Development Research Supervision Top: Janet Spence; Middle: Jim Pugh; Bottom: Jon Fairburn • Laura Burgess, HNC Business accepting the Green Impact Excellence Award on behalf of the Faculty • Isabel Clarke, Postgraduate Certificate Higher and Professional Education • Jayne Daly, MA Education, Postgraduate Certificate Higher and Professional Education • Julie Gingell, AUA Fellowship • Janet Graham, AUA Fellowship • Debbie Gilliland, ILM Managing Projects • Anne Harbisher, MA Research Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

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• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Top: Katy Vigurs; Bottom: Nina Nannar, University Honorary Doctor

•

Nicky Hayes, HNC Business Pat Holdcroft, AUA Fellowship Arshad Hussain, Postgraduate Certificate Higher and Professional Education – Facilitating Learning Dr John Israilidis, PhD in Business and Management Sue Jenkinson, MA Higher and Professional Education Markus Klingelfuss, MA Higher and Professional Education Elaine Knox, ILM Effective Practice in First Line Management Angela Lawrence, MSc Professional Marketing Christine Lawrence, AUA Fellowship, BA Open Degree Kris Lines, MA Higher and Professional Education Dr Lynnette Machin, Doctorate in Education Louis Martin, Postgraduate Diploma Higher and Professional Education Sara Misra, MA Education Marion Morris, BA(Hons) Business Management Lisa Mountford, Postgraduate Certificate Higher and Professional Education Samantha Neal, ILM Introduction to Coaching Candice Poole, ILM Effective Practice in First Line Management Hazel Squire, MA Education David Tapp, MA Higher and Professional Education Dr Katerina Thomas, Postgraduate Certificate Higher and Professional Education Veronica Wagg, ILM Effective Practice in First Line Management

Article in Human Resource Management Journal – Peter Beszter

Peter Beszter, Peter Ackers and Donald Hislop (2014) ‘Understanding continuity in public sector HRM through neo-institutional theory: why national collective bargaining has survived in English local government’, Human Resource Management Journal. Most HRM research over recent decades has concentrated on ‘change’, charting ever more fragmented, individualised and unitarist employment relationships. This is equally true of public sector HRM, where the emphasis has been on neo-liberalism and marketisation. However, in many countries and sectors, collective, pluralist approaches to HRM and industrial relations have proved remarkably resilient. This article uses Neo-Institutional theory to explain the ‘continuity’ of one such HRM system: national collective bargaining in English local government (1979-2007). We argue that this survives because it manages the political and managerial processes that link central government and central-local relations and acts as a conduit between institutional stakeholders to deliver services to the public. By understanding the ‘passive consensus’ that holds the collectivist HRM system together, we can anticipate the forces that might pull it apart. Faculty of Business, Education and Law, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/fbel +44 (0)1782 294060

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Staffordshire University Twitter accounts Business School @PaulWilliams – Head of Business School – heritage and cultural tourism @PaulDobsonUK – Senior Lecturer in the Business School @Prof_RuneTBy – Professor Rune Todnem By is Professor of Organisational Behaviour, organisational change management and leadership; organisational ethics; HE management School of Education @aboutlearning - Steve Hall – Senior Lecturer in Education – areas of interest/research in metacognition, pedagogy, and education with enterprise @drkatyvigurs – Senior Lecturer in Education – education and research @Jim_Pugh – Principal Lecturer in Education – education and the student experience @Russell_Spink – Senior Lecturer in Education – pedagogy and initial teaching training Law School @KrisLines – Senior Lecturer – research interests: sports law (particularly doping, personal injury and ambush marketing), torts, elearning Geography @AllanWatson1 – Senior Lecturer in Geography – creative labour, films, music, cultural geography Psychology, Sport and Exercise @DrJamieBarker – Dr Jamie Barker, Sport and Exercise Psychology @MatthewSlater20 – Matt Slater, Sport and Exercise Psychology @ProfMarcJones – Professor of Stress and Emotion @ProfRodham – Karen Rodham, Professor of Health Psychology Executive/Senior Staff @StaffsUniVC – Michael Gunn, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive @mikehamlyn – Mike Hamlyn, Director of Academic Enhancement @daveparkes – Associate Director, Information Services Enterprise @beinspiredsu – Be Inspired, business support, entrepreneurs and student businesses programme @Staffs4Business – For Business, Enterprise and Commercial Development If there are anymore academics at Staffordshire University on Twitter let us know at [email protected]. Facebook groups https://www.facebook.com/groups/staffsuniTEM/ – Tourism Management and Events Management students https://www.facebook.com/groups/staffsuniBM/ – all undergraduate Business Management courses


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Events Optimising Business Broadband Businesses in Staffordshire are being helped to get the most out of faster broadband speeds thanks to funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the project, Optimising Business Broadband. A series of free events and training programmes are taking place to ensure businesses are well placed to take advantage of access to faster broadband which is being delivered as part of the national BDUK (Broadband Delivery UK) framework. OBB offers information and advice and is totally free of charge. Events across Staffordshire are being, organised to promote how internet-enabled technologies can vastly improve your business. Furthermore, OBB offers up to 12 hour business assists in areas such as improving customer relationships, increasing turnover and improving productivity – all in all, giving your SME a chance of growing by up to 25%. The next three events are • • •

Wednesday 22nd October 8:30-11:30, Chasewater Innovation Centre, Brownhills; Tuesday 18th November 8:30-11:30, Keele University; Tuesday 2nd December 8:30-11:30, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, near Rugeley.

All three event sessions will include: • • •

The Secrets of Successful Social Media and other Digital Marketing; The Cloud: Improving Business Agility and Reducing IT Costs; Unleashing Business Growth with Cloud-based Applications.

Councillor Mark Winnington, cabinet member for economy, environment and transport at Staffordshire County Council said: “Our key priority is to bring prosperity and jobs to Staffordshire and superfast broadband is a part of our strategy on how to achieve this. ‘However, simply installing broadband isn’t enough – the ERDF funding will show businesses how they can utilise broadband to enhance the way they work, whether that’s by increasing productivity, saving money or growing their business through online sales.’ To register for this free event and find out more call 01785 827600 and ask for the OBB team or e-mail [email protected]. Website: www.optimisingbusinessbroadband.co.uk Staffordshire University Open Days 2014 Saturday 15 November 2014 Saturday 6 December 2014

Undergraduate Open Day Undergraduate Open Day

http://www.staffs.ac.uk/events/opendays/index.jsp


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Be Inspired events Be Insprired brings our vision to life by engendering an enterprising collaboration of investors, entrepreneurs, business mentors, academics and industry leaders through business, networking and leadership events and provision of springboard opportunities for new start-ups. http://www.beinspiredatstaffs.ac.uk/events/ Old School Wines – pre-Christmas tasting


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Distribution of Enterprising Times

The vast bulk of distribution is electronic. Within the University, distribution is made to all of the Faculty of Business, Education and Law School, the University Executive, Enterprise and Commercial Development, anyone cooperating on projects, RSS feeds and All staff Chat. Outside the University, Enterprising Times is sent to 15 international partner institutions throughout the Middle East and Asia (combined, at least 4000 business studies type students), partners on EU funding projects and contacts in Europe, 400-500 contacts in the region (including media, members of Parliament, members of European Parliament, local councillors, chief executives, council officers, chambers of commerce, private companies, public sector organisations, professional networks, European organisations, etc.), and up to 10 groups on Linked in depending on the issue (regional, thematic, international). We are currently number 1 on Google when searched on the term ‘enterprising times’ (out of 7.5million). We are also appearing on the front page of Google for a number of other terms. If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe to the e-mail version of this newsletter please e-mail [email protected].

Notes for contributors

Topics – we cover a very broad range of issues reflecting the wide variety of interests in the Faculty of Business, Education and Law School. These include all aspects of business, innovation, enterprise, economics, European policy, global issues, markets, education, law and student experiences. Write about what you know and like best. Generally articles can be between 150 to 350 words. Try and include at least a profile photo of yourself or, better still, a good photo linked to the article. Photos should be provided as separate files in a high resolution format. Include the contact details that you are happy to have published and/or a website/blog. Shorter notices, e.g. funding opportunities, upcoming events, jobs, scholarships, etc. can also be publicised. Just remember to check our publishing deadline. All submissions can be sent to [email protected].

Re-use of material

You are free to post the complete PDF version on your own website or to host it in any internal system. You may re-use any article subject to the following conditions: 1. If there is a name against the article then we expect acknowledgement in the format: Name, Staffordshire University Business School. 2. If there is no name with the article then just use Staffordshire University Business School. 3. If the writer is obviously someone outside of Staffordshire University, e.g. an MP or MEP, then contact them direct. 4. Note that we would not expect any selective editing of the article that would change the tone or meaning of the original article. 5. If you need the original photos then contact us. 6. We would appreciate where possible a link to either the specific issue or the general link to Enterprising Times which is http://www.staffs.ac.uk/enterprisingtimes.

Deadlines for 2014 and 2015 28th November 30th January 27th March 29th May

31st July 5th October 27th November
