We are pleased to bring you our latest instalment of our ‘Donor Spotlight’. In this ongoing series, we highlight the impact made by our alumni and friends, whose support and generosity towards our Student Fund enables our students to make the most of their Liverpool experience. Today we speak to Dan Harvey, a Management School graduate.
Tell us about your experience of studying at the University of Liverpool.
I began my University of Liverpool story in 2008, when I started my Communication and Business Studies degree course. As a Liverpool local, I hadn’t intended on staying in my home city for university, but following an illness during my A Levels, I was advised to stay close to home in case I relapsed.
My module choices began to steer me down the path of supply chain management, a subject that excited me given the scale and scope of what ‘supply chain’ can mean in different contexts and what it physically provides for society, everything!
Leading up to my graduation in 2011, I spent a lot of time applying for graduate schemes; however, I always had one eye on a postgraduate course called ‘Operations and Supply Chain Management’ which would deliver the next level of knowledge depth in my favoured topic. As many will agree, I’m sure, securing a graduate programme can be a tough gig, so having options was helpful.
My postgraduate year was formative and also my favourite of my four years at university. I remember it fondly for many reasons – the course content, the privilege to focus on a subject of real interest and the people. It was, however, a challenging year – coming from a low income single-parent family I needed to secure funding and that took a few forms: alumni course discount, a postgraduate study bank loan, working five nights a week as a doorman (stories for another time) and finally, but most pertinently here, a bursary. My postgraduate year would have been even more challenging if I had needed to work more than I already did to support myself through my studies, and the bursary took that worry away.
My results put me in the top five students of my postgraduate cohort, which I was incredibly proud of and, for me, represented how far I’d come from two Bs, a C and a D at A Level – a path I may not have found without the University. If you had told 18 year old me that I’d have an MSc with Distinction, and a clear direction of what I wanted to do with my life by 21, I wouldn’t have believed it.
What are you doing now?
The subject matter expertise, skills, experience and maturity my postgraduate course gave me, I believe, enabled me to secure a graduate programme with Morrisons, the supermarket – I also met my wife there (who I have just welcomed our second child with!) and made friends for life. We often reflect together on what a formative programme it was, personally and professionally. Whilst it was a rotational programme, I generally stayed within my area of choice, supply chain management.
From Morrisons, I stepped into the world of management consulting and have been there ever since. Starting with a boutique consultancy (~20 people), before joining a global one (~6,000), gave me a fantastic grounding in projects, people, process and client engagement.
Today, a decade later, I work at CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate business. I lead a team of nearly 30 specialist consultants across Europe in supply chain, retail and location selection to support organisations in delivering their corporate ambitions by leveraging the somewhat unappreciated value of real estate within business decisions.
What inspired you to donate to the Student Fund?
Securing the bursary really took the pressure off, and now I am in a position to do so, I want to be able to make that difference for someone else. I know how it feels to be in the position of having to fight to give yourself every chance to succeed, all while financial clouds loom, and I hope my donation helps someone else win that fight too.
What would you say to other alumni who are thinking about donating to the Student Fund?
I implore you, if you can, to contribute to the Student Fund. You are enabling the next generation of our society to be the best they can be and achieve their potential, which is immensely satisfying.
Do you have any advice for current students studying at Liverpool?
I have so many ‘student life’ memories from my university years, which is great; however, use that precious, short time to find something that enthuses and energises you. It will be over before you know it, and if you can take the first step of your career with even a slight inkling of where you want to invest years of your time and energy, then you’re off to a good start.
Find out more
If you'd like to find out more or to join Dan in donating, please visit Student Fund webpage. To share your own story, contact us: giving@liverpool.ac.uk.