Canary Wharf is an established business centre whose heritage in professional services has been enhanced by a rapidly growing community of start-ups, scale-ups and major players in a cross-section of industries ranging from life sciences to technology.

It’s a destination with a forward-thinking vision, always eager to nurture the next generation of talent, so perhaps it’s little wonder that the UCL School of Management would choose to locate here. Davide Ravasi, Director of the school, says: “Canary Wharf is energising, it’s beautiful, and in a way it’s utopian. It’s an attempt to create this perfect neighbourhood for business, education, and society to come together in a sustainable way.”

Creating the future of business

Setting an example for the future of business in a location where students can learn not only in the classroom, but by osmosis and in close proximity to mentors who are currently practising what they preach is important to Davide and his team. It’s also a key attraction for the students themselves, who come to the school from all over the world.

Davide says: “Level 39 is a great source of inspiration for our students, especially those attending the MSc in entrepreneurship, but many of our students aspire to build their own venture after they graduate, and being so close to Level 39 is a great source of inspiration for them.”

A safe place to study

In addition to being an environment that teaches about business and shows it in action, Canary Wharf is a safe, nurturing location for everyone – including students. Practically, they can also find everything they need here, from entertainment to shops and sports.

One thing that Davide notes is that a lot of students come from different countries around the world, and the culinary offering in Canary Wharf reflects that international community in a way that other university towns usually can’t. It’s almost like the best of a campus university and all the benefits of a major, metropolitan city combined.

Davide notes: “A campus in Canary Wharf puts our students in the middle of one of the major business areas in London and that’s very important for a school of management. Not just that, it’s safe, it’s well connected with downtown, they find everything they need and it’s just beautiful.”

Expanding the student community

Such has been the success of the UCL School of Management location, which opened here eight years ago, Davide has plans to go further. He wants to provide more integration with businesses and to deliver even more opportunities for students.

He says: “Right now I’m working on an expansion plan which will double the size of the school in the next five years, and I’ve made it pretty clear that I want it to happen here in Canary Wharf. Here in One Canada Square.”

At the moment the school has four Master programmes – entrepreneurship, business, analytics and finance – and they have plans to expand the experiences on all courses further.

Davide concludes: “Being located in Canary Wharf for us is great because you have so many potential speakers, mentors for our students right on our doorstep, they just need to cross the street, cross the square and come up”

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