Imperial College Business School is the business school of Imperial College London, located in South Kensington, London, United Kingdom. It was established in 2003 and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
The school offers MBA degrees, master's degrees, PhD programmes, and executive education. According to the 2023 QS MBA Rankings, its MBA programme was ranked third in the world for career specialisation in entrepreneurship.[1] In the latest Research Excellence Framework, the school was ranked second in the UK for business and management.[2]
In 1851, the Great Exhibition, the first World's Fair, was organised by Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. The proceeds from this event were used to establish museums and royal colleges in South Kensington, to become a centre for science, culture, and industry.[3]
In 1907, Imperial College London was established by Royal Charter, unifying the Royal College of Science, Royal School of Mines, and City and Guilds of London Institute into one university.
In 1909, King Edward VII laid the foundation stone for the Royal School of Mines building, which is part of the present-day Business School facilities.
In 1955, Imperial's first MSc in Production Engineering and Management was launched at 14 Prince's Gate.[4] In 1961, Imperial launched an MSc in Operational Research and Management Studies. In 1964, executive education short courses were first given in Operational Research.
In 1965, Imperial College London and the London School of Economics co-sponsor the founding of the London Business School. The Rector of Imperial and Director of LSE joined the governing body, guiding the establishment of LBS.[4]
In 1971, a Department of Management Science was created, followed by the establishment of the Department of Social & Economic Studies in 1978.[5]
In 1987, the Departments of Management Science and Social & Economic Studies merged to form a Management School at 53 Prince's Gate.
In 1989, an Executive MBA was launched.[6] In 2001, an Entrepreneurship Centre was established. In 2002, a Distance Learning MBA was introduced. In 2003, an Innovation and Entrepreneurial group was established.
In 2003, the school is elevated to Faculty status, alongside the Faculties of Natural Science, Medicine and Engineering. In 2004, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of York officially opened the business school.[7]
In 2021, Imperial's White City Campus opened, whose operations are focused around innovation, entrepreneurship, and multidisciplinary research.
The business school is located on Imperial College London's main campus in South Kensington. Its modern glass architecture was inspired by the Crystal Palace of the Great Exhibition, reflecting the college’s historical origins. Designed by Sir Norman Foster & Partners, the building was opened by Queen Elizabeth II and incorporates the 19th-century vaults of the Royal School of Mines.
The business school has additional facilities on Imperial College London's White City campus, which serves as an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem for collaboration between students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and industry. Included on the White City campus is the Scale Space, set up as a community to help innovative companies accelerate growth. Located there are Imperial's Translation and Innovation Hub, Imperial's White City Incubator, Invention Rooms, and a Hackspace for manufacturing equipment and training.[8]
The business school offers undergraduate and primarily post-graduate education: including MBA degrees, master's degrees, PhD programmes, and executive education.[9]
Degrees hold triple accreditation from AACSB in the US, AMBA in the UK, and EQUIS in Belgium.
The school is organised around five themes:
- Technological Transformation: How technology is transforming business and society
- Entrepreneurship: How to thrive in dynamic and uncertain environments
- Healthcare Policy & Management: Policy and practice to improve health and wellbeing
- Finance & Institutional Resilience: Helping build more resilient business and a stronger global economy
- Sustainability & Climate Change: Inclusive and responsible business models for sustainability
Imperial operates the following research centres:
- Brevan Howard Centre for Financial Analysis
- Centre for Climate Finance & Investment
- Centre for Digital Transformation
- Centre for Financial Technology
- Centre for Health Economics & Policy Innovation
- Centre for Responsible Leadership
- Gandhi Centre for Inclusive Innovation
- Imperial Business Design Studio
- Leonardo Centre on Business for Society
Imperial College Business School is part of Imperial College London. According to the 2025 QS World University Rankings, Imperial College London was ranked 2nd in the world, behind MIT, and it was ranked 9th in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.[13][14]
The business school is noted for its entrepreneurial culture, which merges business studies with a science-based curriculum. It is recognised for its entrepreneurial facilities and mentoring system, with its Enterprise Lab reporting a 79 per cent startup survival rate.[15]
In the 2025 QS MBA Rankings, the school's MBA programme was ranked 7th in Europe, while the 2024 Financial Times MBA Rankings placed it 10th in Europe. The 2023 QS MBA Rankings by Career Specialisation rated its MBA programme 3rd in the world for entrepreneurship and 1st in Europe.[16]
The 2025 QS Business Master's Rankings ranked its Master's in Marketing 6th in the world, its Master's in Business Analytics 8th in the world, its Master's in Finance 14th in the world, and its Master's in Management 15th in the world. In addition, the 2024 Financial Times ranked its Master's in Finance programme 15th in the world.
In the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF), the business school was ranked 2nd in the UK for business and management.[2]
In 2024, Imperial ranked 1st in the UK for highly-skilled employment or further studies, according to the Complete University Guide, the Guardian University Guide, and the Times Good University Guide.[17][18][19] A 2021 analysis by the Higher Education Statistics Agency found that Imperial graduates have the highest median salaries across all subjects in the UK.[20]
- 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)
*Interim
- Franklin Allen, Professor of Finance, Executive Director of the Brevan Howard Centre for Financial Analysis (2014-present)
- Patrick Bolton, Professor of Finance, Research Director of the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment (2023-24)
- 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 (2016-2019)
- 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
