Led by Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) chief executive Ann Swain, who approached Henley with the concept, a steering committee of leading recruiters will work with Henley to co-design content for the programme. The advanced degree programme is intended to build a corps of skilled senior managers to lead the UK’s recruitment businesses.

“For years there has been nothing from an academic point of view that is specific and relevant to senior management in the recruitment marketplace. We need the right people with the

right skills and a good academic qualification with the right focus for people running the recruitment businesses of tomorrow,” Swain told Recruiter.

The themed MBA will be offered on a three-year flexible programme which will allow students to continue working at the same time. Twenty places are set to be available in the first year for qualified candidates.

Dr Jean-Anne Stewart, director of Corporate MBA Qualification Programmes at Henley, explained that the steering committee will contribute to the design of the programme’s “elective pathways”. Those modules will supplement core content in place for the school’s existing MBAs. Henley has previously created tailored advanced qualifications for individual businesses, such as an MBA for IBM and an MSc for Deutsche Telekom.

Three of the dozen or so steering committee members spoke to Recruiter about their involvement and subjects they hoped would be included in the programme content, such as stakeholder communications, regulatory and compliance issues, and project and people management.
Les Duncan, managing director, Hays Corporate Accounts, said the programme could “help a business become more market-orientated and bring a bigger picture focus- it will expand the horizons of both the individual and their organisation”.

Phil Sheridan, UK MD, Robert Half, emphasised the benefits of providing business case studies for the students to work through and learn from. “Real learning is working through real-life scenarios and different courses of action,” he said.
Dawn Marriott-Sims, MD, Capita Resourcing, said the MBA will serve as “a global recognition badge” of the recruitment profession. “It’s a profession right up there with the best of them,” she said.

Barclays Corporate will sponsor a financial award for the top student of the year. Mike Daniels, head of business services, said: “This is a tremendous opportunity to support a hugely worthwhile initiative and to assist through our award and financial contribution to the best performing student. Encouraging the development of the business leaders of the future is in all our interests.”