Yorkshire Bank announces education initiative with Warwick Business School

22nd May 2014

Yorkshire Bank has announced a new training and education initiative with Warwick Business School (WBS) that aims to enhance leadership skills within the Bank and offer added value to customers.

The announcement was made as part of Yorkshire Bank’s Business Week, which runs from May 12-16.

The initiative will see Yorkshire Bank staff gain access to a selection of leadership courses run by WBS, including its respected “masterclasses”, which encourage business innovation and effective management as well as the sharing of best practice. There are also plans for the School’s academics to undertake thought leadership discussions at customer events, providing customers with the latest market insight and research.

In return, WBS will have the opportunity to pursue MBA placements with Yorkshire Bank and gain valuable insight into the Bank and its customers. Plans are also being examined for WBS to work with Yorkshire Bank’s Talent Academy, an in-house programme that is designed to help young staff observe and learn from the Bank’s leadership team.
Warwick Business School is one of the world’s leading institutions for finance and management research and teaching.

It was ranked third in the UK for accounting and fourth in the UK for finance in The Times Good University Guide 2013. The FT ranks the Warwick MBA by full-time study in the world’s top 25 and its MBA by distance learning as first in the UK and second in the world.

Brian Colquhoun, Yorkshire Bank’s Regional Director for Business and Private Banking, said: “We are proud to be working with Warwick Business School, which has an excellent track record of working alongside business and is widely regarded as a blueprint for connecting research, innovation and economic growth.
 
“The aim of the initiative is to deliver an even better service to our customers, through increased market knowledge and enhanced leadership skills.

“We want the relationship to be of mutual benefit so we have offered to undertake MBA placements from WBS and help its students and academics with business insight and research.”

Mark Taylor, WBS Dean, said: “WBS is delighted to be linking up with Yorkshire Bank and we look forward to working with them improving executive development programmes, helping them to provide an even better service for their customers.

“We are committed to producing world-class research and making sure that it is utilised in the business environment. Continuing to build relationships like this helps us to provide valuable links to the business community, particularly in the West Midlands. The relationship is part of our continuing strategy to make sure our world-class research has business impact.”

WBS played a significant role in Yorkshire Bank’s Business Week, hosting a high profile Senior Business Leaders dinner on Tuesday May 13th. In addition, dozens of local business figures attended an afternoon tea event, during which they were updated on the Bank’s strategy and its commitment to the Warwickshire economy.

Business Week will see more than 250 customer-focused events staged at the Bank’s UK-wide network of Business and Private Banking Centres.

Businesses from across the UK are being invited to meet with some of the UK’s leading financial experts to discuss their most pressing commercial issues such as; planning and securing finance for growth, improving profitability and succession planning.

Research commissioned by Yorkshire Bank as part of Business Week suggested that West Midlands small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are ready to invest nearly £9bn of their own turnover* into the local economy over the next 12 months.

*Source: Dept BIS Annual SME total turnover £111bn