Graduands from the Faculty of Business & Law are celebrating their achievements with family and friends today, as they take part in graduation ceremonies.

Their celebrations highlight a successful year for the faculty, which saw a 17 per cent rise in undergraduate applications in 2008/09, with BA Journalism achieving a spike of 144 per cent.

Faculty staff members this year relocated to the University's iconic Rose Bowl building, which was officially launched by the Duke of Kent on 8 May. This is Britain's newest purpose-built business school.  The relocation of Leeds Business School to the new Rose Bowl places the school at the heart of business in Yorkshire. A home for over 5,000 students and 300 staff, the Rose Bowl will be a thriving focus for business.  The Rose Bowl will be a place for educating current and future business leaders to be successful in the world and for the world. It will also be a hub for businesses and the professions and a catalyst to business and economic development in the region. The Rose Bowl was the host venue for the 2009 Leeds Business Week in June 2009. Leeds Business Week provided a series of seminars, conferences and workshops giving local professionals the business tools they need to succeed in business now and in the future.  The week featured high profile speakers, hosted by some of the top companies and organisations in the region. It signals the intention of Leeds Business School to ensure that the Rose Bowl acts as focus not just for education, but for engagement with the regional business community.

The Rose Bowl was also the host venue for the 2009 Academy of Marketing Conference. The largest UK conference for marketing academics, this year the event attracted over 350 delegates, drawn from 42 different countries and six continents.  Co-Chairs of the conference are Stephen Parkinson, former FBL Dean, and FBL academics June Dennis, George Lodorfos and Steve Carter.  

New Dean Appointed

Martin Allison joined the Faculty of Business & Law in February 2009 as its Dean. Martin graduated from the University of Manchester in 1984, joining Nat West, Leeds as a graduate trainee. He rose rapidly within the banking sector joining RBS in 1991 as Regional Manager (Leeds). Following a number of senior executive appointments across the North of England and then London, he became Head of International Banking Services at RBS in late 2005, based in London where he led a successful transformation programme.

Business & Law worked with the Institute of Enterprise and other partners to coordinate National Enterprise Week in November 2008. The faculty offered a series of business games to students from local sixth forms and the Regional University Network, encouraging them to think in enterprising ways and to embrace risk, both of which are key to the success of new enterprises. The week also saw networking events and a one-day conference exploring enterprise education activities and enterprise research.

International links for Business & Law

Protocols of collaboration signed in 2008/09 will see students from Turkish universities combine study at their home institution and at Leeds Met. This initiative is the first of its kind for the Turkish university sector and has the support of the Turkish Higher Education Council. Turkish students will be able to gain a qualification from a UK University, broaden their educational experience and to improve their English language skills at a time of closer links between Turkey and the European Union.

Recruitment to the MSc Leadership & Change Management began in a number of African countries, including Malawi, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland, delivered in collaboration with local education partners. Leeds Business School aims to play a part in helping develop the next generation of African managers able to benefit their society. 

The faculty worked with overseas partners on the international delivery of courses. A link with the Academy of Finance in Vietnam will see the launch of the MA International Trade & Finance in Vietnam from September 2009 and partnership with the Sino-British College in Shanghai will see delivery of the BA Accounting & Finance also from September 2009. The new MA International Communication has been developed by Leeds Business School, working as part of a consortium of six European HEIs.  Students study the first semester at their home university, then the second at one or more of the consortium partner universities, giving them a unique insight into the international nature of the communications profession

Leeds Business School won a three-year PMI2 strategic alliance and partnership project for the British Council. It is one of seven PMI2 projects (Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education) which aim to develop and strengthen partnerships with Chinese institutions in areas of employability and entrepreneurship. Leeds Business School staff will explore key sectors of the Hangzhou economy, building on our existing links with Zhejiang University of Technology in Hangzhou, where the MA International Trade & Finance is delivered.

The Policy Research Institute successfully tendered for a prestigious Government social research contract.  The Social and Economic Research Services Framework contract is the only way that research will be commissioned over the next four years by the Department for Work and Pensions and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

Over the period of the last framework PRI won research totalling over £1m. Given the emphasis likely to be placed on employment and welfare policy and the difficult financial context facing other research funders, this is a significant success for PRI, the Faculty and Leeds Met.
 
Student Successes

Leeds Law School students achieved a double triumph at the 2009 Leeds Legal Essay Writing Competition, winning both first and second place.
 
The competition provides the 2,500 law students in Leeds the chance to win cash prizes and placements at top Leeds law firms.   It is open to law students from Leeds Law School, Leeds University and BPP Law School.

The author of the winning essay, which tackled issues of compliance within employment, was Leeds Law School Graduate Diploma in Law student Tom Royston, who earned himself a £1,000 cash prize and a summer placement at top law firm Lupton Fawcett.
 
Corrine Manfield, who studies the Legal Practice Course at Leeds Law School, received work experience with Shulmans Solicitors in addition to a £250 cash prize. 
 
Brett Staley and Lynne Browne from LLB Law reached the national final of the Negotiation Competition. The competition, now in its tenth year, provides an opportunity for law students to practice and improve their negotiation skills, which will be vital in their careers as legal advocates.

Sister students Eva and Lauren Darling won this year's internal mooting competition, organised by Leeds Law School.

The event, held at Cloth Hall Court's mock courtroom, provided an opportunity for the law students to demonstrate their skills of cross-examination and advocacy in the high-pressure environment of the courtroom.  The moot was judged by Jonathan Godfrey from Park Lane Plowden Chambers, and he presented each of the winners with five day's work experience at his chambers.

Final year LLB (Hons) Law student, Sannia Aqeel became the first student from Leeds Law School to win 'best student' on the Family Law module.

Sannia's efforts were commended not only by tutors within the Law School, but also by national law firm, Mills & Reeve LLP, sponsors of the award, who offered Sannia one week's work experience in their Leeds office and a cash prize of £100.

A student of the highest calibre, Sannia obtained 80 per cent on the Family Law module, the highest score in her year. She was invited to Mills & Reeve to receive her cheque on 23 March where she also had the opportunity to meet partner and Joint National Head of Family Law David Salter, along with Philip Way, partner in the Mills & Reeve Family Team. This is a new award and a new relationship between Leeds Law School and Mills & Reeve, who have been named one of The Sunday Times '100 Best Companies To Work For' from 2004 - 2009.

Students from Leeds Law School delivered a number of interactive sessions this year on legal topics in schools and other venues. Streetlaw provides insights into young people's legal rights and responsibilities, human rights and the basics of the criminal justice system.  Issues covered include Anti-social Behaviour Legislation; Legal Systems; Housing; Police and Criminal Evidence Act; and Weapons Awareness.

Leeds Law School students celebrated another successful year in style with their annual Law Ball, which took place at the Leeds Metropole Hotel in May. The ball, organised by the hard working and dedicated Student Law Society, was an overall success with over 80 people attending. This provided the perfect opportunity for Leeds Met's budding lawyers to celebrate their achievements over the course of the year. The event was sponsored by leading global provider of content-enabled workflow solutions to professionals in law firms, Lexis Nexis

Six final year students from Leeds Met's BA (Hons) Public Relations tamed a panel of Trimedia Dragons, using their PR powers, to walk away with the coveted Competitive Pitch Prize. The Trimedia PR prize, worth £1000, was won by Anna Wilson, Charlotte Burnevich, Alice Lyons, Charlotte Schofield, Kirsty O'Connor, Rebecca Williams. The students, along with others from BA Public Relations, worked to a PR brief provided by Trimedia, one of Europe's leading PR agencies and communications consultancies.

Second year BA Public Relations student Julia Lumley won a national blog competition run by the Association for Sandwich Education and Training (ASET) for students across the UK. The competition involved students from universities across the UK writing blogs on their impending placements.

Julia, who is working as a PR Assistant at Opera North in Leeds, fought off competition from hundreds of students and is one of three winners.

Public Relations students offered their knowledge and expertise to the PR industry by providing communications audits for several local organisations in 08/09. In the Communications Audit, students undertake 'real live' PR work for clients, who this year have included Leeds City Council, NHS Primary Care Trusts, Stockport College, The Carriageworks in Leeds, Shepherd Construction and Leeds International Concert season.

Driven by a client brief, the audits include a 6-8 week research and development period, which culminates in a final presentation to the client and a full report.  The brief focuses on a specific component of communication within an organisation, ranging from newsletters and branding to website design and media relations.
 
Former Leeds Business School graduate, Lee Griffiths has become the first ever winner of Strictly Come Business 2009 after pitching his business, Holbeck Foods. The competition, aimed at supporting people to set up their own business who live in identified areas of deprivation, staged its final at Leeds Met in June. Lee scooped first prize after impressing the esteemed panel of judges which included Lucinda Ledgerwood from BBC 1's The Apprentice.

Holbeck Foods is a not-for profit business which aims to provide affordable, locally sourced food at discount prices in Holbeck, one of the most deprived areas in the country. Lee came up with the idea after the local Kwik Save closed down, and has spent more than 18 months fine tuning the project. It is also responsible for delivering fruit and veg by bicycle trailer to the growing residential and business community at Holbeck Urban Village. 

Leeds Business School students achieved third place in this year's IBM Business Challenge semi-final.   Of the five teams we have entered in the last two years of the IBM Business Challenge, one made the final and two others reached the semis. Given that between 250 - 300 teams enter every year, this is a remarkable achievement.

The IBM Business Challenge gives students the chance to work as management consultants in a business simulation, where they are responsible for making all the critical business decisions that impact on their company's performance.

Students drawn from the Faculty of Business & Law and from Leslie Silver International Faculty travelled to Bangalore, India, as part of their studies for a new volunteering placement module in April 2009. The initiative enables students to gain skills to improve their chances of employment, and to foster their personal development.

The School of Accountancy & Financial Services and top accountancy firm KPMG got into the spirit of Christmas in December 2008 by supporting the Farsley Live at Home Scheme. This  saw thirty Winter Warmer gifts, ranging from scarves and gloves to fleece jackets, delivered to the elderly throughout Farsley, as well as 44 food parcels. The project supports elderly people over the age of sixty living in their own homes.

BA (Hons) Accounting & Finance student Ladi Brown received Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award for his contribution to Leeds Carnegie Basketball. Ladi collected the award in March 2009 after Leeds Carnegie beat Northumbria 73-66 in the Patrons Cup Final. This win has earned the team their sixth trophy in just three seasons.

BA (Hons) Accounting & Finance student Anita Raj Kaur became a World Ranked Badminton player and struck gold at the Croatian International Open. Anita, who hails from Malaysia, secured victory in the Ladies singles event to win her first International gold medal in March 2009.

More than 400 students celebrated the end of their studies with graduation ceremonies at Hong Kong Football Club in February 2009. The University's degree courses are offered through a successful partnership with the Vocational Training Council of Hong Kong, which began in 1999.

The Faculty of Business & Law held a one-day event on 8 December to mark the Partnerships for Students Festival. Students from across the Faculty enjoyed a keynote presentation by entrepreneur Imran Hakim, creator of the i-teddy and former Dragons' Den contestant. Running through the day was an emphasis on the importance of attitude and behaviour in achieving success, which reflected Leeds Met's underlying ethos.

Guest Lectures

Guest lectures in the Faculty provided an opportunity for tomorrow's professionals to meet experts from their chosen sector. Events held by the Leeds Marketing Chapter in association with the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the PR Society with the Chartered Institute for Public Relations brought top industry speakers into the faculty.

Other guest lectures in the Faculty were delivered by speakers such as David Tinsley, UK Economist for nab Capital, and Zahida Manzoor CBE, Legal Services Ombudsman and Legal Services Complaints Commissioner.  

MBA European Residential

The European Residential is a popular part of our MBA programme. Students visit a major European city in order to gain hands-on knowledge of the European economy The 2009 MBA European Residential was held in Stockholm, with visits to leading truck manufacturer Scania, the prestigious Nobel Foundation and global civil engineers Skanska, who built the London "Gherkin".