We are pleased to announce that Manchester Metropolitan University Business School has successfully completed the EFMD Business School Impact System (BSIS) assessment process and has been awarded a BSIS label renewal for positive impact.

The BSIS review team highlighted several key strengths at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, including its purpose-driven strategy, strong leadership, high-quality research, growing international recognition, integrated teaching and engagement, and regional partnerships delivering clear societal and economic value.

Addressing the school’s achievement, EFMD BSIS Director François Bonvalet remarked:

“We congratulate Manchester Metropolitan University Business School on its third BSIS Label renewal, which recognises the huge and tangible difference the School makes across research, education, and society. The school’s commitment to purposeful engagement and sustained impact exemplifies the standards BSIS seeks to highlight, and its high-quality work continues to deliver value for both the region and the wider academic community.”

Manchester Metropolitan University Business School

Founded in 1889, Manchester Metropolitan University Business School is an AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS-accredited institution within Manchester Metropolitan University, placing it among the top 1% of business schools worldwide for teaching, research and engagement with practice. It delivers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes, as well as degree apprenticeships, and educates more than 9,000 students.

The School’s curriculum places a strong emphasis on employability, professional experience and sustained engagement with employers and partners across multiple sectors. Its research contributes to regional and national economic and social development, supported by centres focused on decent work and productivity, sports policy, and place management, and aligned with sustainable and responsible practice.

With a mission centred on transforming lives, businesses and communities, the Business School has an established reputation for quality across its full range of activities and programmes. The renewal of the BSIS label, first awarded in 2019 and renewed in 2022, reflects its continued positive impact in Greater Manchester.

Leadership and mission underpin institutional impact

The EFMD BSIS review team concluded that Manchester Metropolitan University Business School merited renewal of the BSIS label on the basis of its sustained, integrated, and demonstrable impact across intellectual activity, regional engagement, societal contribution, and reputation.

The school was recognised as a purpose-driven institution whose research, education, and external engagement are closely aligned with the needs of Greater Manchester, while maintaining a growing national and international profile. Its clear mission, strong leadership, and consistency between strategy and practice underpin the coherence and credibility of its impact. The School’s deep regional embeddedness and role as a civic anchor institution, engaging with public authorities, businesses, SMEs, and community organisations, further emphasises its significance to the region.

From an intellectual perspective, the review team highlighted the scale, quality, and relevance of the school’s research. A substantial volume of peer-reviewed publications, a rising proportion rated internationally excellent or world-leading, and increasing international collaboration evidence a mature and strengthening research culture. Recognition of the School’s growing research impact, combining academic rigour with clear societal relevance in areas including sustainability, decent work, digital transformation, and inclusive growth, underscores the wider value of this work.

Societal responsibility and external recognition

This impact extends beyond academia, informing public policy, business practice, and curriculum design through applied research, funded projects, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, research Chairs, and public events. Research is systematically integrated into teaching, degree apprenticeships, and professional education, reflecting the School’s coherent approach to societal impact across research, education, and engagement.

The review also highlighted the School’s embedded regional contribution. Its relationships with local authorities, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, businesses, SMEs, professional bodies, and community organisations translate expertise into tangible economic and social value. SME support, leadership development, practitioner involvement in teaching, and extensive staff participation in civic and professional roles all demonstrate trusted partnerships and regional relevance.

Societal impact forms a further pillar of the renewal. The School embeds corporate social responsibility, sustainability, ethics, and inclusion across research, education, and organisational practice. Alignment with PRME and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, external funding for sustainability-focused research, and integration of carbon literacy training and responsible management principles into curricula and apprenticeships demonstrate both commitment and delivery. Reviewers characterised the School as ambitious, collaborative, impactful, innovative, and transformative, reflecting a shared stakeholder perception of purpose and real-world value.

Reinforced by external recognition and awards, alongside strong accreditations and growing visibility nationally and internationally, the School is judged to make a clear and positive contribution to the reputation of both the institution and the wider region, fully consistent with the aims and standards of the BSIS framework.

Professor Hannah Holmes, Dean of Business School, Manchester Metropolitan University, commented:

“The BSIS process has been invaluable in helping us, over successive reviews since our initial label in 2019, to step back and critically reflect on our impact as a business school. It challenges us to look beyond performance and ask what difference we make for our students, our region and wider society. The process has strengthened our understanding of where we create the greatest value, and it has sharpened our collective commitment to impact that is meaningful, measurable and sustained.”

About BSIS

The Business School Impact System (BSIS) is the first comprehensive impact assessment tool for business schools, covering more than 130 indicators across seven dimensions of impact. It provides a tailor-made data collection system for monitoring, assessing, and developing the impact of business schools.

The BSIS process involves the definition of the impact zone and institutional scope, data collection, impact assessment, and the report with recommendations for future development. Demonstrating the school’s impact on internal and external stakeholders, the system serves as a communication and negotiation tool externally and fosters an impact culture within the school. Schools that undergo BSIS are awarded the BSIS Label for a three-year period.

• There are currently more than 90 schools across 25 countries that have received the BSIS label.
• To learn more about the impact assessment system, please visit the BSIS website or contact Julie Comte.

What is it like for schools to undergo the BSIS process? Discover the compelling journey of Blanka Cimcioch, International Accreditations Coordinator at Poznań University of Economics and Business, as she shares her insights on navigating the BSIS process, highlighting the challenges, seizing the opportunities, and reaping the rewarding results it has yielded. Read more.

For additional insights, announcements and perspectives, please visit the conversation on the EFMD Business School Impact System (BSIS).