Cass students visit Chelsea - “the greatest show on earth”

Students from three of Cass Business School’s master’s programmes - Management, Entrepreneurship and Marketing – recently enjoyed a rare behind the scenes tour of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017, during the show’s construction.

The tour was an inaugural session of SMM285 Staying Ahead in Horticulture: Eco-minded entrepreneurship - an innovative new elective for Cass master’s degrees, led by visiting lecturer Matthew Wilson.

Wilson, a leading garden and landscape designer and twice Chelsea show garden veteran, introduced the students to fellow garden designers and exhibitors to give the group the inside track on the business of making “the greatest flower show on earth”.

The unique elective provides students with the opportunity to learn about the UK horticulture industry, which employs 37,000 people and is worth an estimated £9 billion a year.

Module leader Matthew Wilson said:

”The horticulture sector makes a significant contribution to environmental preservation and enhancement and cultural heritage of the UK. While traditional aspects of the sector are under threat from a variety of areas, some startup businesses and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are still finding niches in which to build success. This module looks at the opportunities and challenges facing startup businesses in the horticultural sector, the types of business that are flourishing and those that are not.”

Course Director Dr Joanna Zaleska added:

“Around 85% of the sector is managed within SMEs, with a high proportion of micro businesses.  As the sector continues to face multiple challenges this is also an opportunity for our graduating master students to find some opportunities for themselves to start their own small businesses, if they are interested in this sector.

“Electives like this aim to foster the entrepreneurial zeal among our students from generating ideas to building viable businesses in horticulture so they can develop their own ventures to help communities flourish.”

The Chelsea Flower Show is held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. Held since 1912, it is the most famous flower and landscape gardens show in the world.

Staying Ahead in Horticulture: Eco-minded entrepreneurship is an innovative Master's elective at Cass Business School, City, University of London.  Cass is the first business school in both the UK and the world to offer a cross-disciplinary elective integrating entrepreneurship, business and horticulture.