Liverpool Hope University claims specificity as the only European ecumenical university.  In its mission and since its origins, it has crafted a mission committed to social justice, widening access and continually improving its academic offer.  This has resulted in the LHU Business School not simply “bolting on” issues of ethical and corporate responsibility and globalism but ensuring that these critical issues are fully integrated into everything it teaches..  The LHBS offers education enabling students ... to become successful in business as well as the wealth makers of tomorrow and to ensuring all are aware of the critical ethical issues which affect their lives and others.  This teaching mission is supported by customised research and partnership vehicles, including the SERCH, the SEED Centre and URBAN HOPE:

*  The Socio-Economic Research Centre at Hope (SERCH) 

The Socio-Economic Research Centre at Hope, directed by Dr. Valeria ANDREONI, is one is one of the three research centres hosted by Liverpool Hope University Business School.  SERCH provides independent socio-economic analysis and critical commentary with a focus on the Liverpool City Region and the wider North West England area.  The Centre's objective is to: (a) Inform local and national policy; (b) inform business on the current socio-economic trends, and (c) Monitor and evaluate the impact of local programmes and policies.

*  The SEED Centre (Social and Ethical Enterprise Development)

The SEED Centre is Liverpool Hope University's research, teaching and enterprise centre that acknowledges the difference between social enterprises and ethical businesses and seeks to engage with such organisations and the financial sector to develop ethical practices with mutual, and societal, benefits.  The SEED Centre exists to disseminate through research, teaching and network development the good news of social and ethical enterprise. In this it connects ancient wisdom with contemporary ways of doing business, focusing on the need to seed the best business values in the new soil of young minds, hearts and vigorous business ventures.  Established through funding from the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), The SEED Centre provides international academic leadership in the area of social and ethical enterprise (SEE) scholarship, together with offering research-informed teaching on the principles, practice and formation of SEEs.  In addition, The SEED Centre is actively engaged in developing a range of sustainable and highly entrepreneurial revenue-generating projects, including new applications for 3G mobile platforms, to assist ethical consumers; and creating ‘safari-opportunities’ for enterprise leaders from different national and regional territories, providing opportunities to visit alternative geographically diverse SEE models.

“There is a rising sense of shared responsibility, especially amongst a new generation of young social entrepreneurs – who operate in an increasingly global market space, and a genuine concern to organise, manage and develop ventures diverging from classic capitalist models. They are seeding a world of business that is intentionally ethical, green, sustainable and concerned to develop society and protect the poor, in developed, emerging and developing markets. The SEED Centre has been created to research and teach about this movement, as well as to germinate new companies and facilitate knowledge transfer between traditional businesses, financial services and the increasingly large SEE sector.”

*  Regeneration Initiatives — URBAN HOPE