Westminster Business School

The University of Westminster Archive has been running an Oral History Project since 2010 recording memories of the Regent Street Polytechnic and Polytechnic of Central London. Oral history is composed of spoken testimony, stories and experience and is a valuable way of capturing individual understandings and perspectives of the recent past. Although official documents provide a vital window into the past, oral history often provides a much richer picture of what life was really like and what people really thought.

The University of Westminster has undergone many significant changes in its lifetime from the days of the Regent Street Polytechnic when people took courses in mainly vocational subjects, to the politically charged days of the Polytechnic of Central London when student protests were commonplace.

The University of Westminster was founded as Britain's first polytechnic in 1838. Since then it has developed into a university that combines both metropolitan and cosmopolitan dimensions, and which is closely involved in business, professional and academic life within London, as well as overseas. The University has always been, and continues to be, imaginative in recognising new needs and developing appropriate offerings for its many target markets. The University also has a strong and historic commitment to promoting equality and embracing diversity. As a place to work or to study, we strive to strengthen our reputation as a welcoming and inclusive organisation.

The experience we offer A vibrant learning environment – fostering innovation and creativity, informed by practice, inspired by research, focusing on the globally relevant areas in which we excel. We are building the next generation of highly employable global citizens to shape the future. As a global university located in a world city, we are home to over 5,000 students and 500 staff from overseas.

Westminster has a reputation for excellence in professionally relevant teaching and learning and for high quality research. Offering over 300 degree courses, we place particular emphasis on providing international opportunities for Westminster students in order to ensure that we provide an environment where students can develop skills, competences and knowledge required by the global economy.

We are proud of our long history of global relationships and have partnerships across the world – connections we continually strive to strengthen and deepen. Our world-leading research, produced in partnership with global industry and educational institutions, has a real impact in the world around us.

We will shape the future of professional life by being a diverse, vibrant and inspirational learning environment, establishing the University of Westminster as the leading practice-informed teaching and research university, being a responsive, metropolitan and cosmopolitan university serving the needs of diverse communities, embedding internationalisation, employability and green-thinking in all that we do. Courageous: We know that without risk there's no innovation. We're bold enough to question ideas, provoke new ways of thinking, strip away the superfluous and focus on those things at which we can excel.

Our Values are Connected We are an integrated team. We are about trust, collaboration and connectivity across our different disciplines and throughout the world. Generous We respect and celebrate diversity. With a generosity of spirit, we value emotional intelligence as well as knowledge, empowering each other and enabling our students to realise their full potential. Excellent We demand excellence. We understand the importance of critical thinking, discipline and responsibility, and we expect the very highest standards of ourselves and our students. Sustainable Green-thinking is at the heart of all we do. Our common goal is to respect the planet and we are committed to sustainable practices, both on the global stage and in our own working environment.