This was the first time in a number of years that an alumni event has been held in Manchester, and judging by the turnout, it was very well received.

Chris Saunders, director of the EMBA, welcomed the 48 alumni in attendance, to what he announced was the first, of a now annual event in the alumni calendar. During his welcome, Chris took time to reflect on the passing of Dr Andy Bailey who taught over 50% of the alumni in attendance. Dr Andy Bailey was a tutor on Lancaster’s Strategic Management module, ranked as the no.1 strategy module in the world by the Financial Times 2016.  The Management School has now launched an EMBA scholarship in memory of Dr Andy Bailey. Not forgetting the triathlon taking place on campus this year on September the 4th also in Andy’s memory

Rainer Hersch, conductor, comedian and LUMS alumnus, then delivered an entertaining, thought provoking and interactive talk, drawing parallels between conducting an orchestra and leading teams within organisations. The talk was compelling and, if nothing else, alumni left with many amusing anecdotes about what the words might really be to some of the most famous classical songs.

The evening continued with networking and midnight munchies, albeit at 8.30pm. Alumni attended from as far up as Scotland and as low down as Birmingham. The EMBA class of 2013 got together a group of 9 members from their cohort, creating a wonderful reunion opportunity for them.  

Grahame Brown, MBA corporate relations manager, also attended the event.  Grahame met with a number of alumni who suggested they would benefit from our MBA consultancy challenge. This is an opportunity for businesses to work with a group of experienced MBA students as consultants looking at a strategic problem affecting their company, with no associated costs. The event created a great chance to have a face to face conversation in regards to this

Afterwards Chris Saunders said ‘The event was a great success – good turnout, excellent speaker, great venue and well located to be suitable for a good number of alumni to attend’.

Thank you to all of those that attended.

Photos from the event can be found on our Flickr Site.