News

March 2013

We are delighted to announce that Professor Audley Genus been appointed as visiting professor at Anglia Ruskin University, initially for a period of three years from 1 March, 2013. It is hoped that he and the SBRC will develop collaborative projects with Anglia Ruskin staff in the newly established Institute for International Management Practice and in ARU's Global Sustainability Institute. The appointment also opens up the opportunity to develop collaboration on a broader footing between Kingston University and ARU.

November 2012

SBRC staff presented several papers at the ISBE 35th Annual Conference in Dublin in November. Eva Kasperova and John Kitching received an award for the ‘Best paper in Critical Perspectives on Entrepreneurship track’ for a paper entitled ‘(Dis) Embodied Entrepreneurs: A Critique of Entrepreneurial Identity Studies’.

Classroom entrepreneurs are likely to become the top entrepreneurs of the future - Dr Rosemary Athayde from the Small Business Research centre discovered the findings after conducting a series of in-depth surveys and interviews with 371 people who attended Young Enterprise programmes between 1962, when the charity was founded, and now. Read more about the findings on the Kingston University Website.

September 2012

The SBRC Seminar series kicks off on the 24th of October. View the scheduled lectures below -

• Shop Crime and Deterrence: Evidence on shoplifting among young people in the Youth Lifestyle Survey (YLS)
  Date: Wednesday 24 October 2012 12:30pm - 2:00pm
  Speaker: Professor George Saridakis
• Skilled migration on temporary 457 visas: Issues for workers pertinent to small firms in Western Australia
  Date: Monday 19 November 2012 12:30pm - 2:00pm
  Speaker: Dr Susanne Bahn

November 2011

Researchers from the SBRC have had success presenting their work at the ISBE 34th Annual Conference in Sheffield this year.

Thomas Wainwright, Ewald Kibler, Robert Blackburn and Teemu Kautonen were awarded the Best paper in ‘Business Creation, Resource Acquisition and Business Closure’ track for the paper entitled Who are you calling old?: revisiting notions of age and ability amongst older entrepreneurs.

(Dr Thomas Wainwright on the left and Professor Nigel Lockett, Source: ISBE, 2011)

John Kitching, David Smallbone, Mirela Xheneti and Eva Kasperova won the award for Best Paper in 'Business Sustainability, Development and Growth' track for their paper entitled Adapting to a Fragile Recovery: SME Responses to Recession and Post-Recession Performance.

(Dr John Kitching on the left and Professor Nigel Lockett, Source: ISBE, 2011)

Eva Kasperova was awarded the 'Best Doctoral Student Award' by the European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB) for her paper entitled Entrepreneurial Identity, Disability and Embodiment at the 25th Annual RENT Conference in Norway, 16-18 November. As part of the Award, Eva won a place on USASBE’s doctoral consortium which takes place in New Orleans in January 2012.

On the 1st of November, John Kitching presented findings from the study of the value of small company abbreviated accounts at the ICAS discussion event 'SME Reporting and Assurance: Regulatory Burden or Vital Requirement?' in Edinburgh.

October 2011

John Kitching presented a paper entitled Small company abbreviated accounts: A regulatory burden or a vital disclosure? to an invited audience of practitioners, policy makers and academics at the ICAS Discussion Event in London, 12 October 2011.

June 2011

John Kitching presented a paper entitled Small company abbreviated accounts: A regulatory burden or a vital disclosure? at the Brunel Accounting Symposium, 17 June 2011.

April 2011

The SBRC is delighted to announce that Professor Robert Blackburn, Director of the Small Business Research Centre at Kingston University has been awarded The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion in recognition of his outstanding achievements in promoting enterprise through research & scholarship in Entrepreneurship and Small Business. He will receive his award from Her Majesty The Queen during the summer. In response to news of Prof Blackburn's award, Professor David Smallbone, Associate Director of the SBRC and President of ICSB, said of Professor Blackburn:

"I have known Robert for over 20 years.  His drive, energy and commitment in researching small businesses and entrepreneurship has been outstanding.  He is without doubt one of the leading world authorities in the field and he has helped to raise our knowledge levels on understanding entrepreneurship, owner-managers and small firms.   I am delighted that Robert’s contribution has been recognised by this Queen’s Award and would like to add my personal congratulations to him for what is a well-deserved honour."

Asked to comment upon his receipt of the Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion, Professor Blackburn said:

"I am truly delighted to receive this Award.  Although this is an individual award, doing excellent research is a team effort and I would like to thank all my colleagues, past and present, for their inspiration and support over the years.  I have to meet the Queen in July to formally collect the QAEP which should be interesting! I will keep you all posted.  In the meantime, there is plenty more research to be done."

March 2011

Between November 9-11 2011 will see the 8th SMEs in a Global Economy Conference 2011 held at the Nong Khai Campus, Khon Kaen University in Thailand. The event, entitled 'Rising to the Global Challenge:  Entrepreneurship and SME development in Asia' also sees Professor Robert Blackburn, Director of the Small Business Research Centre as a key note speaker.

Abstracts for the event are required by the 30th July 2011, with full paper submissions by the 31st August 2011. For more information visit the event website.

January 2011

‘Alan Sugar’ test aims to identify budding tycoons

November 2010

Faith in small businesses to drive economic recovery not misplaced 

October 2010

Graduate jobs on the rise in small businesses