Business leaders praise new foundation degree

Business leaders praised our pioneering foundation degree in leadership and management as the first students graduated from the course.

The flexible programme was developed with the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC). It can be studied over two or three years and was designed to meet the needs and requirements of businesses and organisations in the region.

Speaking at yesterday’s graduation ceremony, Mr James Ramsbotham, the NECC’s Chief Executive, told participants they had been involved in a ‘real step forward’ for university-business engagement that had lessons for others.

Partnership He said: 'We don’t give enough importance to leadership and the need to train people for it. But when times are at their toughest, as they are now, it is a skill of the utmost importance. The partnership the NECC has with Teesside University through the Foundation Degree in Leadership and Management is exactly the sort of programme the region needs.'

He went on to tell graduates that he had been delighted to recently speak alongside Teesside’s Vice-Chancellor at a Times Higher Education conference looking at how universities and businesses could work together. 'We were very well received,' he said.

Richard Bottomley, the NECC’s President and a former senior partner with KPMG, also congratulated graduates. He said: 'This programme demonstrates that Teesside is at the leading edge of partnership between academia and business. And I know it builds on other close links the University has, for example, with the region’s chemical process industry which is a major exporter for this country.'

Graduates were equally proud. Susan Finnigan, a 52-year-old mother-of-two who works with the NECC finance director, said: 'The course has given me the confidence and passion to develop the skills to reach my potential.'

Mother and daughter, Jean and Rachel Featherstone, graduated together. Jean, an account manager with the NECC at Durham, said: 'It was challenging at times, but I just feel so proud at my achievement.” Rachel, 24, returned to Teesside from a ‘gap-year’ she is taking in southern France. She plans to return to study next year to gain the BA (Hons) degree in Leadership and Management at Teesside.

And showing you are never too old to learn was John Hills, 58, regional engineering manager with the NECC. 'It has made me more confident about adapting to change,' he said.

Professor Graham Henderson said: 'Supporting the regional economy is at the heart of everything we do here at Teesside University and this new foundation degree has full support from both myself, as Vice-Chancellor, and James Ramsbotham at the NECC. We’re both fully committed to work-based learning.'

---