I've just moved into a director position with equity in a small/medium architectural design practice (0.8 - 1.5 M turnover). I'm looking to grow the business with my fellow directors, and develop my own business skills. Mine is a field where almost all leaders come up throught the ranks, and are designers with little to no business training.

I had the idea of possibly applying for an EMBA at Oxford Brookes, which is local to me. The fees at Uni of Oxford are pretty unaffordable to me, especially as I do not anticipate moving to a large international corportation on a massive salary to recoup the investment.

As there ar people on this forum who look at these things all day every day, I'd appreciate any thoughts on how applicable an MBA would be to my position, or if there's other qualifications or courses that would be more helpful.

Thanks for any thoughts, feel free to ask questions if I was unclear!

If you are employed in England and Wales and have limited funds then take a senior apprenticeship: https://find-mba.com/board?keyword=senior%20apprenticeship Henley and Cranfield are obvious options. 

Thanks for the quick reply Duncan. What are the pros and cons of a senior apprenticeship vs MBA? I'm looking to improve my skills to grow a small business in a very niche word-of-mouth type market.

A senior apprenticeship would cover core MBA curriculum at the government's expense, leading to a postgraduate diploma. You can then top up the diploma to a full MBA, for £11k at Henley or £13k at Cranfield. The contents of the degree would be almost identical this way, but you would avoid most of the cost.  

The advantage is that you could get a better MBA than you would otherwise invest in, at a lower cost. The disadvantage is not apparent to me. If you preferred Oxford Brookes, then it also offers this pathway. 

[Edited by Duncan on Jan 13, 2023]

Yes, MBA will help you get into a good position in the management field.