Imperial Business School

Motto	Where science means business
Established	2003
Parent institution	Imperial College London
Accreditation	AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA
Dean	Peter Todd
Location	London
Website	imperial.ac.uk/business-school

Imperial Business School is the business school of Imperial College London. Established in 2003, the business school was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in London, United Kingdom.

The business school offers a Master of Business Administration, Masters specialisation, PhD, and executive education programmes. Degrees are triple accredidated in the United Kingdom (AMBA), United States (AACSB), and Europe (EQUIS).

In the most recent Research Excellence Framework, the business school ranked second in the UK for business and management studies.^[1] In the latest QS MBA Rankings, Imperial’s MBA programme ranked third worldwide and first in europe for career specialisation in entrepreneurship.^[2][3]

In 1851, the Great Exhibition (the first World's Fair) was organised by Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. Prince Albert had a vision to use the Great Exhibition's profits to build the Victoria and Albert Museum, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Royal Albert Hall and colleges in South Kensington.^[4]

In 1907, Imperial College London was established by royal charter, unifying these colleges, the Royal College of Science, the Royal School of Mines and the City and Guilds of London Institute into a university.

In 1909, King Edward VII laid the foundation stone for the Royal School of Mines building, which is now part of the present-day Business School facilities.

In 1955, Imperial College London offered its first post-graduate course in business, an MSc in Production Engineering and Management.^[5]

In 1965, Imperial College London and the London School of Economics co-sponsored the founding of the London Business School.^[6][7]

In 1971, a Department of Management Science was established at Imperial. This was followed in 1978 by the Department of Social & Economic Studies.^[8]

In 1987, a Management School was founded through the merger of the Departments of Management Science and Social & Economic Studies. It focused on integrating management studies with emerging technology and entrepreneurship.

In 2003, the Imperial Business School became the fourth Faculty of Imperial College London, alongside the Faculties of Natural Science, Medicine and Engineering.

In 2004, Queen Elizabeth II held a royal opening for Imperial's new business school.^[9]

In 2021, Imperial College London’s new White City campus opened, providing additional space and facilities for innovation and entrepreneurship activities.^[10]

Imperial Business School is based at Imperial College London’s South Kensington campus.

Its facilities were designed by Sir Norman Foster. The business school has a glass-fronted design that drew its inspiration from the Great Exhibition's all-glass Crystal Palace, reflecting the college's historical origins. The business school's glass design incorporates the Royal School of Mines wing, including its 19th-century vaults, blending modern and Victorian architecture.

In addition to its South Kensington facilities, the business school has a presence at Imperial’s White City campus. This campus serves as an innovation and entrepreneurship eco-system for the university.^[11] Resources available to the business school include Imperial's White City Incubator, the Scale Space, the Translation & Innovation Hub, the Invention Rooms, and a hackspace for manufacturing equipment and training.

The business school offers primarily postgraduate education, including MBAs, Master's, PhDs, and Executive Education, as well as undergraduate education.

Degrees hold triple accreditation in the UK (AMBA), US (AACSB) and Europe (EQUIS).

The business school is organised by five academic areas of Analytics & Operations, Economics & Public Policy, Finance, Management & Entrepreneurship, and Marketing.

• Brevan Howard Centre for Financial Analysis – enhances Imperial’s expertise in financial economics.^[12]
• Centre for Climate Finance & Investment – unlocks solutions within capital markets to address global climate change.^[13]
• Centre for Financial Technology – studies the global impact of technology on finance, business and society.^[14]
• Centre for Health Economics & Policy Innovation – analyses incentives and policy in healthcare.^[15]
• Centre for Responsible Leadership – helps organisations redefine their approach to leadership.^[16]
• Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance – improves the competitiveness of the UK economy and drives growth.^[17]
• Gandhi Centre for Inclusive Innovation – connects innovation to organisations globally to create social impact.^[18]
• Imperial Business Design Studio – studies how design thinking influences strategy and business performance.^[19]
• Leonardo Centre on Business for Society – explores innovative business models for a net-positive impact on humanity.^[20]
• The Institute for Deep Tech Entrepreneurship - turns high-potential science into ventures that scale.^[21]

As one of four faculties composing Imperial College London, the business school's reputation has been closed related to that of its parent university. In 2026, Imperial College London ranked 2nd globally and 1st in Europe in the QS World University Rankings as well as 8th globally and 3rd in Europe in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.^[26][27]

In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF), a national higher education funding bodies assessment, the business school ranked 2nd in the UK for business and management studies.^[28]

In 2026, the school's MBA programme ranked 8th in Europe by the QS MBA Rankings and 10th in Europe by the Financial Times MBA Rankings.^[29] The school's MBA programme ranked 1st in Europe and 3rd globally for Entrepreneurship in the latest QS MBA by Career Specailisation Rankings.^[30][31]

In 2026, the QS Business Master's Rankings ranked its MSc in Marketing 7th globally,^[32] MSc in Business Analytics 8th globally,^[33] MSc in Management 9th globally^[34] and MSc in Finance 14th globally.^[35]

In 2026, Imperial ranked 1st in the UK for career prospects by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide,^[36] the Guardian University Guide^[37] and the Complete University Guide.^[38]

• Sam Eilon (1955–1987)
• David Norburn (1987–2003)
• David Begg (2003–2012)
• Dorothy Griffiths (2012–2013)
• G. "Anand" Anandalingam (2013–2016)
• Nelson Phillips (2016–2017)
• Francisco Veloso (2017–2023)
• Franklin Allen (2023-2024)
• Peter Todd (2024–present)

• Franklin Allen, Professor of Finance, Executive Director of the Brevan Howard Centre for Financial Analysis
• Patrick Bolton, Professor of Finance, Research Director of the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment
• Jonathan Haskel, CBE, Professor of Economics
• David Miles, CBE, Professor of Financial Economics
• William Perraudin, Economist (former Chair in Finance, now adjunct professor)
• Carol Propper, CBE, FBA, Chair in Economics
• Tommaso Valletti, Chair in Economics, Chief Competition Economist of the European Commission
• Ramana Nanda, Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance
• David Shrier, Professor of Practice, AI & Innovation
• George Yip, Emeritus Professor of Marketing and Strategy

• Official site
• Imperial College Business School History and architecture of the school building

51°29′57″N 0°10′29″W / 51.4992°N 0.1748°W / 51.4992; -0.1748