London School of Business and Finance - History

History

The London School of Business and Finance was founded by Aaron Etingen in 2003. It began as a provider of accountancy and finance programmes and training for professional qualifications such as ACCA and CIMA, later expanding to provide undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in partnership with other higher education institutions.

LSBF opened its first campus outside of the UK in Toronto, Canada, in February 2011. In June 2011, LSBF opened an institute in Singapore, the first Asia-Pacific campus of a UK-based business school. At both international offices, the school provides accounting programmes and professional qualification training.

In March 2010 LSBF launched an MBA that students may complete in as little as eight weekends. . To accomplish this, LSBF offers one of the eight required courses on campus each weekend, allowing students to acquire an MBA in a relatively short period of time compared to as long as two to three years at traditional institutions.

In October 2011, the British television channel BBC Three featured the LSBF School of English in a documentary about a group of young immigrants who went to the UK to realise their professional ambitions. One of the students was an LSBF student who enrolled for an English course to be prepared for an important job interview.

In December 2011, Prince Michael of Kent chaired the inaugural lecture of a new series of annual business lectures in partnership with the Royal Society of Arts. The guest speaker was former Director-General of the CBI and former Minister of State for Trade & Investment, Lord Digby Jones.

In December 2011, the comedian Jo Brand interviewed a group of LSBF business students at the LSBF's London campus as part of a programme which was broadcast on BBC4 in February 2012.

In April 2012, LSBF formed a partnership with London Metropolitan University, as part of which a suite of new London Metropolitan University-validated undergraduate, postgraduate and professional programmes will be delivered by LSBF at its UK campuses, for both UK and international students. In December 2012 this joint partnership was ended by mutual agreement, with both LSBF and London Metropolitan University issuing the following press release "Both parties have agreed that, although much had been achieved during this period, given the basis on which the partnership had begun, and the changes in the higher education market, it would be better for each institution to take independent paths."

In August 2012 after a visit from the concerns team LSBF faced wide ranging criticism from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education over its academic standards and quality of delivery. The report referred to a disputed agreement between the LSBF Group and the University of Wales, which has now ended.

In October 2012, LSBF appointed Professor Dr Maurits Van Rooijen as its new CEO and Rector.