A top management school is offering half-price education programmes to local business high-flyers to help maintain executive development during the recession.

Bradford University School of Management is using some of a £700,000 pot of money secured from Government funds to offer a 50 per cent discount on its part-time MBA courses to Yorkshire companies.

Up to 15 half-price scholarships are available with a saving of £7,750 on the usual fees. They will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and the courses begin in September.

The discount has been made possible by using funds from the Higher Education Funding Council for England, gained jointly with Leeds University Business School, which have been matched by Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency.

Julian Rawel, director of executive education at Bradford School of Management, said in addition to the part-time MBA courses, the money would also be used in other programmes and a knowledge network targeted at small firms.

He said: “Securing this money means that we can fulfil the Government’s aim of seeing management education continue during the tougher economic climate.

“Obviously, the credit crunch has had an impact on companies’ investment in such areas as management training and whilst interest in our MBA and executive programmes remains relatively strong, we have had to push harder in some areas. The discounted MBA courses are a win-win as they help us to sell the courses and enable firms that are looking for savings to maintain their commitment to management training.”

He said some companies were deferring spending on education programmes but were still showing interest in the School of Management’s offering, with around 30 people attending an event last week.

Also, a recent two-day sales and marketing workshop for small and medium businesses was sold out and demand for customised programmes for companies remained strong..

The management school’s dean, Professor Arthur Francis, has written to leading companies urging them to take advantage of the cut-price MBA scholarships.

He said “We recognise that the economic downturn is having a significant impact on Yorkshire business and that there is a need to support businesses in this environment.

“With this in mind the School of Management submitted a proposal to HEFCE funding and have been successful in securing money to support local Yorkshire businesses. We hope that this will enable companies in Yorkshire, who would otherwise struggle to fund such management development, to do so.”

Professor Francis said that part-time MBA study had an immediate impact on the way manager contributed to their organisation.