| Ashridge Business School | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1959 |
| Type | Business school |
| Admin. staff | 400 + |
| Location | Hertfordshire, United Kingdom |
| Website | www.ashridge.org.uk |
Ashridge Business School is an independent, non-profit making organisation, near Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, England. Its activities include open and tailored executive education programmes, MBA, MSc and Diploma qualifications, organisation consulting, applied research and online learning. Ashridge works with private and public organisations from around the world. It is based at Ashridge House, one of the largest Gothic Revival country houses in England.
Contents |
In the latest Financial Times rankings (May 2010), Ashridge was ranked as one of the top business schools in the UK for its customised executive education programmes.
In the latest Financial Times rankings for Executive MBAs (October 2008), it is 16th in Europe and 7th in the UK.[1]
In the latest Which MBA/Economist rankings (2008) it is 24th in the world and 6th in the UK. It is number one in the world for salary growth for the fourth year running.[2]
Ashridge is one of a handful of business schools in the world to be triple accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), The European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and The Association of MBAs (AMBA).
The 7th Earl of Bridgewater commissioned James Wyatt to build the present neo-gothic building as his home: it was completed in 1813.[3] The boundary between Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire originally passed through the dining room, though the house is now entirely in Hertfordshire.
In 1921 the house was acquired by a trust established by Andrew Bonar Law, a former Prime Minister and in 1929 it became a "College of Citizenship" established to help the Conservative Party develop its intellectual forces in struggles with left-wing organisations such as the Fabian Society.[4] It became a cross between a think-tank and a training centre and had Arthur Bryant as its educational adviser. During World War II, the building and the lawn in front of it was used as a secondary site for Charing Cross Hospital.[5]
After the war, the College of Citizenship was briefly re-launched. In 1959 it was re-launched again as a College to provide management training.[6]
The building is now a Grade 1 listed building.[7]
Ashridge Business School is constituted as a registered charity, formally named The Ashridge (Bonar Law Memorial) Trust, and is one of the 150 largest UK charitable organisations ranked by annual expenditure.[8]