Olivia PowellGL events UK has developed a new partnership with University College Birmingham (UCB) to create an ‘advanced legacy’, allowing GL to help educate and inform future event professionals.
The agreement is part of the company’s Pay it Forward initiative, which aims to allow the company and staff to ‘give back’ to the local community in a meaningful way, and to create positive legacies.
The partnership with UCB will see senior leadership figures from GL events both sharing knowledge and experience with final year students and providing input into the course content. The company will also provide on-site experience opportunities for students across its portfolio of sporting and cultural event collaborations.
GL events UK Group managing director, Scott Jameson, said: “As a major global player in the events industry, we have a duty of care to help nurture the next generation of event professionals. Our team, our clients and our partners have so much experience and we are keen to communicate this and add additional practical value to the students we work with.
“Legacy and community engagement is something that GL events has always supported strongly, especially as part of our delivery of major projects, where the creation of a lasting benefit is so important. We have worked with universities and colleges in the past, so we are taking it to the next logical step.
“Events management graduates in particular need experience to stand out to employers in the sector. This initiative allows us to enhance students’ experience and employability on a broad scale, with the added incentive for students to be a part of a major global sporting event.”
Assistant dean at University College Birmingham’s Business School, Nic Pioli, said: “We are delighted with this new partnership and the benefits it will bring for our students. Working with our events lecturing team, GL events UK will have a major impact upon the industry relevance of events management education at UCB.
“With the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham fast approaching, this is an exciting period for the city’s events sector, as well as UCB and our events students. This partnership will serve to engage our students further into the real world of events work, giving them access to the minds of industry leaders at GL events UK.”