6th June 2019

Successful entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs provide the economy with its engine for innovation and growth. So, can we assume that successful entrepreneurship is a prerequisite for an economy that has innovated and grown? If so, can we teach entrepreneurship and can entrepreneurship be seen as a formula for success? What do successful entrepreneurs have to say on this? Can we learn from their experience?

To address these points, and others relevant to them, a small group of talented academics, entrepreneurs and practitioners have been brought together to discuss the issues.

The session commences at 09:30 (with registration and coffee) and held within the Upper Dining Hall / Atlantic House / Kensington campus. Each presentation will be followed by a 15-20 minute discussion slot.

09:50 – 10:00 Professor Lawrence Abeln – Introductions and welcome

10:00 – 10:30 Mr. Mark Allen, ‘An entrepreneur’s journey’ (session Chair: Parviz Dabir-Alai)

Mark is Founder and Chairman of the Mark Allen Group of companies, which he founded in 1985, having initially bought two medical magazines in a management buyout. Today the group has more than 70 brands in different sectors – healthcare, education, B2B, music and leisure – and is actively involved in exhibitions and conferences. Mark is a Visiting Professor and Trustee at Richmond University. He is also an ‘ambassador’ for the homeless charity, Alabaré.

10:50 – 11:20 Mr. Hamad Khan, ‘Teaching Entrepreneurship’ (session Chair: David Munyinyi)

Hamad is an Associate Professor of Marketing & Entrepreneurship at Richmond University. Before joining UK Hamad was in the Marketing Communications sector for 14 years and worked at JWT, Lowe, McCann Ericsson and then the client side Mashreq Bank in Dubai. He joined Richmond University in September 2013 and since then has taught courses in Advertising, Sales and Entrepreneurship at UG and MBA Level.

11:40 – 11:45 Coffee break

11:45 – 12:15 Mr Michael Mueller, ‘The challenges of entrepreneurial growth’ (session Chair: Sabine Spangenberg)

Michael is CEO of Form3. He set up Form3 after spending more than 25 years in management positions with Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays. Most recently, he was Global Head of Cash Management and a Member of the Corporate Banking Executive at Barclays, where he had responsibility for the product management and distribution of the bank’s payment, corporate deposit and customer access products. For many years Michael has been passionate about driving digital change and innovation in global banks and has sponsored many key initiatives in this area, including white-labelling, biometric security, mobile payments (Pingit) and portal and mobile banking technology. More recently he has been actively involved in industry-level discussions about central bank digital currencies and the application of distributed ledger technology in financial services. Michael holds a degree in Organizational Psychology and a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD.

12:35 – 13:05 Ms Nastaran Norouzi, ‘Bored of masstige? Are we running out of ideas for luxury products?’ (session Chair: Nicola Mann)

Nastaran is Associate Professor of Marketing and Programme Director of MA Luxury Brand Management at Richmond’s Business School. Her first degree is in Computer and Electronic Engineering. She holds an executive MBA degree gained from International Business School, University Technology of Malaysia (UTM), with a concentration in Strategic Management. Additionally, Nastaran has more than ten years of management practice with local and international experience, specifically in Computer, Telecom, Creative and textile Industries. Nastaran’s broader research interests include subjects such as Labour, wages and working conditions in Clusters, Inter-firm relations and collaboration in Clusters and, the relationship between creative industries and Cluster survival and dynamics. Nastaran’s research interests also include fashion and luxury marketing.

Session closes at 13:30 (closing remarks: Adrian Wilkins)

(programme details subject to change)

23th September 2019

Challenges ahead for the UK economy in a post-Brexit world

This event is at the planning stage.

6th November 2019

Bullion: the story of gold as money and how the markets are changing to reflect modern values

A discussion starting at 3pm and led by Professor Paul Fisher, Chair of the London Bullion Market Association, and Visiting Professor of Finance and Economics at Richmond University. Amongst his other positions Paul was Executive Director of the Bank of England’s Markets Directorate, and was appointed to the Bank of England’s interest rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee from March 2009 to July 2014.

Venue for this session is Lecture Room 1 @ 37 High Street, on the University’s Kensington campus.

5th June 2020

Welfare reform

This event is at the planning stage.