Could you tell us about your contribution, Alex?

As a practitioner, educator and researcher in enterprise and entrepreneurship, I was recognised for my outstanding contribution to External and Professional Engagement (E&PE) and my significant contribution to Teaching and Learning (T&L).

My commercial experience spans thirty years; this includes founding my own company. I am passionate about supporting Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and am particularly proud of my work that has contributed and continues to contribute to our civic ambition to drive socio-economic change across the region. To this end, I have secured and led on E&PE income for Hallam of approximately £1.7m. This included the government-funded Help to Grow – Management programme at Sheffield Business School, which has been working with over 150 SME leaders to support business growth. This followed my successful leadership of the government Small Business Leadership Programme that supported a further 110 SME leaders during Covid. I was privileged to be part of the Hallam Business and Enterprise COVID Response group, whose outputs contributed to the University being awarded the British Chamber of Commerce Business Hero Award 2020.

Working alongside peers through the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS), I am particularly proud of my work to increase Business School engagement with SMEs and embed the SME voice in the student curriculum. I have driven internal collaborations to advance SME support across Hallam. One of my main contributions as an enterprise expert to educational practice has been advocating applied student consultancy in course design for over 15 years. Using my networking expertise, I have connected students with over 300 SMEs and larger organisations, including McLaren Automotive, Clipper Logistics, BBC Worldwide, BBC World Service, Marshalls Aerospace Defence Group, GE Capital, and Lloyds Bank.

What does it mean personally to you to be an associate professor at Hallam?

I was delighted and proud to receive the news of my Associate Professorship. The E&PE route allows academics like me with a more external and applied engagement outlook to be recognised and have a clear progression pathway.

Tell us a bit about your career story so far.

Before joining academia, I worked in a regional newspaper group, in business support agencies, jointly established a small research consultancy and was the joint founder of a mobile gaming company.

On first joining the University, I was a researcher in the Enterprise Centre and seconded to Government Office for Yorkshire and Humber, leading the impact and evaluation study of the £3m Regional International Trade Strategy. I started my academic career at Hallam as an Associate Lecturer, and became a full-time lecturer focussing on international consultancy, global supply chain management and international entrepreneurship.

My first leadership role was Subject Group Leader (SGL) for international business and economics. As SGL I led our first EFMD external accreditation of the MSc International Business Management course. My next senior leadership role was Head of External Accreditation, leading on AACSB accreditation of the Business School, and I also took on an interim role as Acting Head of Department. During this time, I completed my doctorate in the field of international entrepreneurship. Since then, I have held business and enterprise leadership roles, with my most recent position being Programme Director on Help to Grow: Management.

If you could go back in time and give yourself some career advice, what would it be?

If you want to progress your career, whether in academia or not, find a suitable mentor. Finding the right person for you may take time, but through my experience and of others in academia and industry, a mentor can be invaluable.

What’s next? How do you want to further develop your contribution?

I will work collaboratively to help shape our employer-led provision. This will be evidence-led based, resulting in an impact case on firm performance and innovation. Working closely with SMEs on the programmes I have led, we have built some fantastic relationships, there are many meaningful ways we can continue to work with them and various stakeholders to support regional growth. I will continue championing applied interdisciplinary student consultancy working with peers from within Hallam and across different institutions to support our students to become effective change leaders and innovation disruptors.