Warwick seals deal for London base at the Shard

Warwick Business School (WBS) has completed an agreement to open a base in London at the iconic Shard building.

WBS will have its base on the 17th floor of the 87-storey building, with this space to be used for teaching evening courses.

Courses for MSc Finance and MSc Human Resource Management and Employment Relations will be taught from WBS’s new base in London Bridge. There are also plans to run the Warwick Executive MBA from there.

The new base at the Shard will consist of two lecture theatres, eight meeting rooms and an IT lab. The space will also be available for all University departments to use.

Some students have welcomed the opening of WBS’s new London base.

Ibrahim Babiker, a second-year Law and Business undergraduate, said: “It’s not only a great move, it’s also arguably a necessary one too.

“While people may lament at its cost, the obvious increase in the recognition and profile of WBS means that it’s a development that will be a benefit to all WBS students.

“The possibility of holding networking events there also makes it exciting for students too.”

Matt Howard, a first-year Accounting and Finance student, commented: “It’s great to be a part of a business school that is so ambitious and determined to succeed.

“I think the move to London will allow WBS to directly compete with other business schools and the benefits should hopefully filter down to those still at the University.”

Professor Mark Taylor, Dean of WBS, said: “This is a very exciting development for the School and to take premises in one of London’s most iconic buildings is a tremendous moment for Warwick.

“London is one of the great capitals of the world and a global financial centre, so it seems only right that one of Europe’s top business schools should have a presence there.

He added: “We will bring our academic excellence to London to help form the business leaders and the City’s professionals of the future.

“We want to become the leading university-based business school in Europe and a campus at the Shard will be another step towards that.”

The new base is set to begin operations from October 2014.