Meet our business partners - Huddersfield Giants

At Huddersfield Business School, we’ve an excellent track record of working in partnership with a wide range of organisations in the private, public, and voluntary sectors. From Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to large global companies, we’re passionate about supporting businesses through collaborative research, consultancy, executive education and networking events to help grow the local economy.

In this blog, you’ll hear from Andrew Watson, Commercial Director at Huddersfield Giants, about how the Giants have benefited from working collaboratively with Huddersfield Business School over the past four years.

 

Please can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

My name is Andrew Watson and I’ve been in the professional sporting industry for 30 years, holding positions both on and off the pitch. I played professional football for five years as a defender for Huddersfield Town and Exeter City and then eventually worked my way up to become Chief Executive Officer at Huddersfield Town. I’ve done many other things in-between before transferring to my current position at Huddersfield Giants as Commercial Director.

In 2010 I set up my own Community Football Club for my beloved Holmfirth community - Holmfirth Town Junior Football Club. This club provides academy-standard football coaching to children throughout the Holme Valley. Since opening the club nearly 13 years ago, it’s gone from strength to strength, and we now train 12 different age groups.

One of my passions is continued professional development (CPD). When leaving professional football with just one O-level I found a drive to learn and develop both personally and professionally to maximise my career opportunities. My journey with CPD started at The University of Huddersfield in 1993 where I completed a Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Business and Finance. After completing this qualification, my passion for CPD increased and over the years I’ve completed 12 additional courses, including a CMI Level 7 Certificate in Strategic Management and Leadership Practice and a Masters in Management and Leadership, which I completed online during lockdown!

How did Huddersfield Giants' relationship with Huddersfield Business School start? 

When I re-joined Huddersfield Giants in 2017 as Commercial Director my main goal was to focus on creating partnerships with anchor institutions that have longevity within the local community. Huddersfield Giants is one of the twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Union in 1895, making us one of the world’s first rugby league teams. The club itself was actually founded in 1864, making us the oldest rugby club in the world! As an institution, we have longevity within the local community, therefore, it seemed the perfect fit to form a partnership with Huddersfield Business School as they aligned with our values and ethos.

The relationship with Huddersfield Business School started in early 2019 when we partnered on our first Business Breakfast networking event. This event aims to bring businesses together across the Kirklees region, while also applying a learning element, so businesses can take something away and apply it to their business.

What projects have Huddersfield Giants worked on with Huddersfield Business School, and how has this benefited your business? 

Over the past four years, we’ve collaborated in a variety of different ways such as our Giants Business Breakfast networking event, which takes place three times a year in Huddersfield Business School’s Executive Suite. The event has a range of speakers who provide expert insights on important business subjects. Topics in the past have included:

• How leadership is used in business and sporting teams
• How you can enhance performance with data analytics in both business and sport
• How using current marketing trends can engage your audience in both the sporting and business world.

The event offers a relaxed networking environment where businesses can connect and learn over a nice breakfast provided by The University of Huddersfield. It’s really incredible just how many educational topics within sport and business interlink. There is always something new to learn that businesses of all kinds can take away from this event.

Another project we’ve collaborated with Huddersfield Business School is through student consultancy projects. This initiative provides Masters students with the opportunity to work on a live project, within a business, to explore a specific strategic objective or problem within an organisation. The students then make recommendations on how to improve and grow that particular area of the business.

Have your perceptions of the University changed since collaborating?  

Yes and no! I have loved The University of Huddersfield ever since I first studied there in my early 20s while I was studying for my HNC in Business and Finance. Over the past 30 years, the University has grown so much, particularly over the last 16 years under Vice-Chancellor Professor Bob Cryan and his team. It’s been such a pleasure to watch the University grow and get to know the teams behind its success.

What future projects do you have in the pipeline with Huddersfield Business School?

In addition to continuing with the Giants Business Breakfast, we’re planning on working even more closely on our amazing Women in Business networking event as Huddersfield Business School are now an official partner. This event offers great opportunities and networking for business-driven professionals through sharing insightful and helpful information allowing growth both personally and professionally.

We’re also excited to launch a new networking event on 22^nd February 2023, the Kirklees Workplace Health and Wellbeing Fair, at the John Smith’s Stadium. This is in partnership with Yorkshire Sport Foundation and Kirklees Council, as well as Huddersfield Business School. The event will provide the opportunity for organisations, employers, and employees to learn or expand their knowledge about the various aspects of health and well-being. It’ll be a fantastic opportunity to network and learn about the range of services available to support organisations and individuals in enhancing their current health and well-being provision.

What advice would you give to businesses who are thinking of engaging with the University ?

Do it! The University of Huddersfield is a truly brilliant organisation that can help your business in many ways - whether that’s developing your staff through their executive education portfolio; applying research and consultancy to areas of your business that need work; or even adding future talent into your organisation through student placements or graduate recruitment. It’s definitely worth getting in touch with the team at Huddersfield Business School to arrange an appointment to see how they can support your organisational needs.

If you’d like to get in touch with Huddersfield Business School’s Development team, you can contact them at hbsenterprise@hud.ac.uk