NEWS | Success of the Sainsbury Management Fellows MBA Scholarship Scheme Could Lead to Similar Award for Working Science Graduates

Giving the keynote speech at the Engineers in Business Fellowship Annual Dinner 2023, Lord Sainsbury of Turville spoke about the need for the UK economy to continue to increase its competitive advantage by producing more innovative, high value-added products that can be sold at a premium around the world.

He said: “The only way we will be able to increase our rate of growth is by increasing the innovative performance of our companies. Whilst government can help in areas such as research and development, education, and infrastructure, ultimately it is the management of our companies that will have to raise their innovation rate and produce the next generation of attractive, high value-added products.”

Thirty-six years ago, Lord Sainsbury established the Sainsbury Management Fellows (SMF) scheme, an MBA scholarship that provides significant financial support to young engineers with leadership potential to acquire business skills at top international schools so that they can help companies improve innovation and business growth.

Reflecting on the impact of the SMF MBA scholarship scheme, Lord Sainsbury applauded the 402 engineers awarded the scholarship, and gone on to use their combined business and engineering skills to grow the UK economy. He said: “I am so pleased by the success of the Sainsbury Management Fellowship scheme. Today 40% of SMFs continue to work at the top of British corporations in executive or board level positions. Over 275 Fellows have helped further develop some of the UK’s largest corporations, enhancing the economic wealth of the nation.

“However, the majority of SMFs work in SMEs and more than 200 Fellows having founded or co-founded one or more businesses. These businesses have an estimated total value of £5 billion and have created 21,000 real jobs The foundation for all these businesses is innovation – the engine which drives our economy. More than 300 companies founded by SMFs are flourishing today, demonstrating that a combination of engineering and business skills pay off.”

Creating a buzz at the Annual Dinner, Lord Sainsbury summed up his speech by announcing the possible extension of the SMF scholarship scheme: “The success of the SMFs has led me to believe that we may be able to widen the impact of the scholarship scheme by helping those who have scientific degrees to also acquire business skills. An MBA would provide scientists with credible business skills, allowing them to transform their innovations into commercial products.”

This is an exciting prospect and Engineers in Business Fellowship is working closely with Lord Sainsbury’s Gatsby Charitable Foundation on this idea and hopes to make an announcement on this soon.

The Engineers in Business Annual Dinner was attended by 120 guests including Sainsbury Management Fellows, other business leaders, prominent figures within the engineering fraternity, enterprise professionals from universities who are part of the Engineers in Business Competition and EIBF sponsors.

For further information on the Sainsbury Management Fellows MBA scholarship see the SMF website.