Simon

Business Manager and MBA apprentice

Photo of Simon
Simon is a Heritage Business Manager based at the Roman Baths and Pump Room in the centre of Bath.
Simon has been with us for two years, working on business and financial planning for our Heritage Services teams, who are responsible for some of Bath's most important visitor attractions. Through a sustainable business and investment strategy, his team aims to generate nearly £10m in funds, to support our wider work in the community. He says that doing an MBA apprenticeship was 'too good an opportunity to turn down: I hadn't appreciated that apprenticeships were available for senior managers, and it's a great chance for personal and professional development. The MBA course is so expensive that it's impossible to self-fund or ask an employer to pay outright.' But this course is an ideal use of the Apprentice Levy that the council has to pay anyway.
The MBA is a critical qualification covering a broad spectrum of subjects for business leaders, such as Leadership, Corporate Strategy, Innovation & Change Management and Corporate Governance & Risk, Marketing and Project Management. 'It’s been ten years and two children since I last did any formal learning,' comments Simon. 'So the biggest challenge has been adjusting to studying again, particularly academic reading and referencing.' However, he's already benefiting from the perspective his studies are giving him on his day-to-day role: 'The assessments focus on the place where you work, so it is a good opportunity to step back and reflect on the way things are done. As well as giving the chance to think about what could be done differently, it also highlights the many things that we do really well.'
Simon feels that this apprenticeship will be hugely helpful in enabling him to progress professionally, meeting the need to understand wide business areas beyond his own speciality, and recommends this route of study to enhance your career:' If there are apprenticeships that are relevant to your role or your ambitions, then I would explore that opportunity.'