Moonpig founder launches Wiltshire Business School
Entrepreneur Nick Jenkins has praised Wiltshire College & University Centre’s new Wiltshire Business School, hailing it as a great asset for the county.
The Moonpig founder and former Dragon’s Den Dragon cut the ribbon on the hi-tech business school at Georgian Grade II listed Lackham House, part of a £2.2 million development at the college’s Lackham campus.
“I think it’s fantastic that it is in Wiltshire,” he said. “I don’t know how many other counties have something like this, but it’s great for local business and now I want to be employing people who have had the kind of training on offer here.”
Principal & CEO Iain Hatt said Wiltshire Business School will teach commercial skills in a setting that looks and feels like 21st century offices.
“We will deliver the core curriculum requirements to our students in terms of the technical skills they need but alongside that we’ll develop the habits and behaviours that will prepare them for work.”
Mr Hatt said the business school is a response to the introduction of T Levels, a new qualification designed with employers that combines learning at the college with up to 315 hours of real-world experience in industry. It is also a response to the digital skills gap identified in the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Skills Plan.
Students use their ID cards to gain access to the school building and log into the IT system to be allocated a laptop from a charging station. They then have to return it at the end of the day to be recharged. Because they use hot desks they have to leave their workstation tidy for the next user.
“We are teaching students the behaviours and sense of responsibility they’ll need in the real world of business and embedding that into lessons,” said Mr Hatt.
Among the digital skills being taught are setting up video conferencing meetings and training courses, running remote meetings and one-to-ones and even managing a digital reception area.
“The students might have used online learning before but they’ve been on the receiving end of it,” said Mr Hatt. “We want to give them the opportunity to set up online meetings and webinars, design remote training sessions and then take those traits and skills to the workplace.”
At present students are studying T Level Business: Management and Administration at the business school but Mr Hatt expects the number of students to grow rapidly over the next two years as other courses move there. “Over time, we will expand this provision from Level 3 right through to undergraduate qualification,” said Mr Hatt.
Mr Hatt said the college plans to open up the school to businesses for part-time courses, including HR, accountancy and leadership. “There will be a stream of professional qualifications for individuals already working who want to upskill and progress,” he said. “It could be someone in any industry who needs additional skills – and that is attractive employers.”
