20 Fenchurch Street – perhaps better known as the Walkie-Talkie Building – was the venue for the latest showcase event organised by the One Planet MBA on the 28th April.
The ‘walkie talkie’ building at 20 Fenchurch Street
“Business Challenges (and developing the talent to solve them)” was the title of the event – kindly hosted by specialist insurance providers Markel International and aimed at exhibiting the talent on offer from the University of Exeter Business School’s flagship programme.
With representatives from a host of organisations in attendance (including Accenture, PwC, Marks & Spencer, The Fairtrade Foundation, Barclays, IBM, Canon, Flock Associates, WWF and BT) – along with One Planet MBA alumni, current staff and students from the programme – the event showcased the One Planet MBA, its achievements and talent and included a keynote speech from Peter Lacy, Global Managing Director, Accenture Strategy, on the Circular Economy – a topic fundamental to the One Planet MBA.
Arriving at Markel
Peter Lacy gave an address (described as “sensational” by one attendee) outlining his vision of how “…incentives and initiatives are needed to rethink economic structure and encourage circular economy…”, thus negating “wasted capacity and under-utilised assets”. His lecture was followed by a panel discussion involving Govia Thameslink Railway, Coca-Cola Enterprises and IBM on the value they have got out of engaging with the MBA.
Director of the One Planet MBA at the University of Exeter, Professor Nicolas Forsans, had originally opened the evening with a welcome and introduction, concentrating on the three main themes underpinning the programme:
- CHANGE – igniting, leading and managing change
- INNOVATION – promoting innovation and new business models, whilst encouraging a commitment from managers and leaders to fully understand the global challenges facing businesses today
- TALENT – developing the bank of exceptional talent that results from the One Planet MBA programme
Prof Forsans said: “This platform shows once again the richness of talent produced by the One Planet MBA in Exeter, and the reciprocal, rewarding relationships that we continue to enjoy, benefit from and evolve with a growing number of major international organisations. These relationships are perfectly symbiotic – not only do our students gain from these close relationships with leading figures of industry and commerce in terms of broadening their experience and gaining networking skills, but their expertise is also of great interest and value to the organisations. Just as importantly, these events also provide a stage from which we can discuss some of the revolutionary and fundamental issues affecting business today, and the example from tonight – the Circular Economy – is surely of huge excitement, relevance and significance to us all.”
MBA alumni, partners and current students had a chance to network during and after the event