Henley Annual Review 2024-2025

Thank You for Your Generous Support in 2024-25

Last year, the Henley Business School community came together to raise an incredible £94,777 - a remarkable achievement made possible by the generosity of our alumni, friends, staff and students. 

Your collective support is helping to shape the future of our students by enriching their education, broadening opportunities, and fostering an environment where every learner can thrive. 

We are deeply grateful to everyone who contributed to our bursary, travel, hardship, scholarship, and prize funds. Whether you made a gift, volunteered time, or helped spread the word, your involvement strengthens the spirit of Henley and ensures that our community continues to grow, support, and inspire one another. 

Thank you for being an essential part of Henley Business School’s story and for helping create opportunities that last a lifetime. 

Highlights from our most recent Annual Review

The Review goes on to demonstrate the tangible impact of this collective commitment, featuring stories of giving back sitting at the heart of the Review, including the journey of award-winning alumna Lorena Goldsmith, who has gone from scholarship recipient to supporter. Her story illustrates how alumni generosity creates a virtuous cycle of opportunity, ensuring doors remain open for students facing unexpected hardship. The Review also celebrates a decade of the Alan Rugman Memorial Fund, which continues to support education and learning, alongside all of scholarships, prizes and enterprise funds we are proud to offer. 

Entrepreneurship features strongly through highlights from the Henley Enterprise Lab (HELAB), established as an independent centre in 2023 to support students and recent graduates launching or scaling businesses. Through initiatives such as IDEAFEST, mentoring, start-up clinics, boot camps, seed funding and Henley Business Angels, HELAB continues to foster innovation across the University. The 2025 IDEAFEST competition showcased this impact, with Janet Otite winning Best Overall Business Idea for Jarioke’s Jollof Sauce, exemplifying the creativity and ambition nurtured at Henley.

Henley’s growing focus on lifelong learning and careers remains steadfast, from the World of Work Institute, closer collaboration with corporate development teams, new MBA referral schemes and plans to pilot extended careers support beyond the traditional four-year limit.

The Henley alumni community remains a place of lifelong connection, with events, networking opportunities and initiatives running throughout the year - highlights including student and alumni socials, international chapter events across Asia, pop-up lectures in London, the inaugural MBA dinner at Greenlands and the ever-popular Henley Regatta Picnic. These moments sit alongside a spotlight on Henley’s international chapters in more than 30 countries, led by dedicated volunteers who keep the global network thriving.

A major milestone celebrated throughout the year was reaching 100,000 alumni worldwide, now spanning more than 167 countries. Alumni stories shared across social channels reflected the profound personal and professional impact of the Henley experience.

Finally, Henley’s commitment to academia for positive social impact is highlighted, including the ongoing work of the Reading Real Estate Foundation (RREF), which for over 20 years has connected research, teaching and practice to develop talent and inform policy across the real estate and planning sector. Complementing this, the mentoring programme continues to offer flexible, accessible support to students and alumni at every stage via Henley Live. 

Those wishing to read the full annual review can do so here. 

Thank you again, to all of our supporters.