Ben Armstrong: UK

Before starting the Liverpool MBA, Ben ran two eCommerce businesses and has been self employed for around 8 years.

Ben Armstrong

What were you doing before you began your MBA study?

I have a print studio in Newcastle, where I’m from, and a couple of staff run production for me while I focus on business administration and marketing remotely.

I moved away from the business because my wife got work in Birmingham and then Liverpool.


Why did you choose to study for an MBA?

Being a business owner is great, but I am now looking for some new challenges. I think business ownership is a fantastic career and I would like to come back to it but I am ready for something else.

I am hoping to get into a fast-paced organisation to challenge myself.


Why did you choose the Management School?

I applied to a few business schools, but, decided upon the University of Liverpool as I felt the modules were structured and covered relevant topics that would help me transition from being an entrepreneur to working in the corporate world.

I also live in Liverpool, so that helped.


What have you learned from the guest speakers so far?

We had guest speakers come in regularly to classes, especially in the career catalyst class on a Wednesday.

These were insightful and allowed us to get a better understanding of different careers. This was handy for me to see what different jobs are like.

As I have been self-employed for so long it was great to hear what work cultures were like.


What skills and knowledge do you feel you have developed?

Definitely the hard skills for me. I have quite a bit of experience with soft skills and it was nice to learn some theory about leadership and other soft skills but I learned the most about finance, organisational structure, and business analytics.

These were all really challenging modules but really rewarding.


What aspects of the programme have you enjoyed most?

The strategy modules were really enjoyable for me. Very hard, with lots to learn, but very insightful, and I am sure I will utilise everything I have learned.


What are you enjoying most about living in Liverpool?

It's a very social city, I live by Sefton Park which is beautiful. I’m from Newcastle and the people in Liverpool are very similar. Really friendly and community-focused.

You can either live in the city with a lot of other students or find somewhere a little further out next to the parks.