Top business school award is presented to student from The Wirral

OU Business School student Eddie Thomas is celebrating after being named one of the top achievers among the School’s 30,000 students.

Eddie, of Prenton, was presented with the Professional Diploma in Management Student of the Year award in recognition of his top-rating performance in his studies. He is one of eight winners who were presented with awards at a prestigious ceremony on the Silver Sturgeon on the Thames, London.

Eddie, Arts Council England’s music officer for the North-West, said: “I wasn’t even aware that I had been nominated. But I am delighted to receive this award; it has given me and my studies a real shot in the arm.

“My job as music officer for the North-West involves a lot of unusual hours, so studying at a regular college or university was pretty much out from the beginning. The OU Business School offers the flexibility that I required to study, and the delivery of the materials and teaching was great.”

Eddie, who works in Manchester, took the School’s Professional Certificate in Management before moving on to the Diploma; he is now studying for his Master of Business Administration.

His job includes advising on and assessing funding applications for arts projects, and working with partner organisations and institutions to help to develop the music infrastructure for performing and recording in the North-West.

Other winners at the ceremony included students of the year on other OU Business School professional development programmes. The awards were presented by Professor Brenda Gourley, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University.

Professor James Fleck, Dean of the OU Business School, congratulated Eddie on his well-deserved award. “Many thousands of our students successfully combine work, study and other commitments. To do that and to achieve first-class results, as Eddie Thomas has done, is an exceptional achievement that we are proud to recognise in the presentation of this award. His achievements and his success make him an outstanding example of our hard-working and dedicated students.”

The Professional Diploma in Management, which focuses on the management of teams, departments and projects, offers students the opportunity to reflect on the themes of understanding and improving performance, and of managing projects and change. It is both a stand-alone qualification and a route into the School’s MBA programme.