The PIE: How do you get their feedback?

MVR: A lot of it is direct contact. We have a team of around two hundred tasked with listening to and advising students, and what they hear they also feedback to the wider organisation.

The PIE: What do you think public sector universities could learn from LSBF’s approach?

MVR: I’m not sure it’s about learning, because that suggests that we compete, when actually we are working in partnerships with the public sector, with universities such as UCLAN, Bradford University, the Grenoble Business School and a range of others. In fact we are offering them capacities which they might not easily achieve, because of the investment required or the market risks. So we sit down with them and ask them what they want to achieve globally and online, so we can see how best to help them.

“We don’t view agents in the margin, but as an essential part of our operation”

The PIE: Can you give an example?

MVR: They may have for instance an ambition to go online, but are they going to invest £10-£15 million building the platform and surrounding operations? We have done that already and we can achieve economies of scale for them. And in terms of marketing: we all know how much we should invest to be effective globally, but the question it is whether it’s not smarter to spread that risk. For example, an institution thinking of starting an operation in Singapore could use our facilities. We also have the market intelligence.

The PIE: Do you think your focus will remain on business education?

MVR: At the moment the focus is very much on the provision of business and finance – for example through our  ACCA Programmes – but we are broadening it. One of the more recent examples is our College for Contemporary Arts, which is now moving into areas like fashion. So even though the core remains business and finance, we are going a little bit beyond it.

We also have a language school in London which we want to expand to other locations, so this is a major growth area. We already offer some pathways, and if we feel it is in the interest of students to provide more then we will.

The PIE: What about financial growth? Where does the company see itself going.

MVR: We grow every year by about 15-20% and enjoy the turnover of a medium size university. But if we can manage to keep the growth levels this will definitely be a major success story in the higher education sector.

“If we can keep the growth levels this will definitely be a major success story”

The PIE: Which are your top student markets going forward?

MVR: When it comes to recruitment we aim to keep things widespread, not just focus on the traditional markets like China. There are more than 150 nationalities here thanks to our offices and agent network. The aim is to be global not cost effective which leads you to focus on fewer markets, makes you vulnerable financially, and impairs diversity in the classroom.

The PIE: How about operationally?

MVR: We have some very advanced discussions about new operations outside the UK. We are definitely looking at the Americas and Asia, and of course in Europe itself, so those are the three big geographic areas. Unfortunately I can’t say more at this point!