Friday 05 June 2026 3:15 pm
What is the driving force behind the decision to do an Executive MBA? For some people it is rapid career progression. Others aim for a significant uplift in their salary. For successful entrepreneur Ashley Lawrence it was the potential on offer – the opportunity to build, scale and internationalise his existing multi-brand staffing group business.When Ashley started his Executive MBA in 2016 at Bayes Business School (then known as Cass Business School), he had already founded two successful recruitment brands, one focused on technology, the other on regulatory recruitment. The business employed 40 people across London and Dublin. Ashley explains:
“Going into the MBA, I had achieved commercial success, had a good career trajectory, and understood the staffing landscape, but I was excited by the potential for immersive learning through the cohort. I wanted to gain exposure to a much broader spectrum of opinions and perspectives from a diverse array of sectors.”
Another factor was perception. “I was already a capable entrepreneur pre-MBA, but people place weight on someone with an Executive MBA. It gives others confidence in you as a leader and entrepreneur, and that factored into my thinking too.”Flexible study formatsThe Bayes Executive MBA is offered in two part-time formats and is designed to fit around busy careers and personal lives. Executives choose between the twice-weekly evening or the monthly long-weekend format, allowing them to study flexibly whilst working.As the only business school located in London’s finance and tech hub, “the Square Mile”, Bayes’ location offers direct access to global firms, venture capital and top industry leaders. It was another factor in Ashley’s decision-making process:
