By Kunal Chan Mehta, FSB’s Public Relations Manager – 10th Sep 2025
Fairfield School of Business gathered its staff and external partners for its Annual Summit (5 September 2025) – a concise and impactful event to reflect on the 2024–25 academic year, share strategic priorities for 2025–26, celebrate achievements – and strengthen links between teaching, research and industry.
Led by Mr Mohammed Zaidi, FSB’s CEO, the summit combined brief and focused sessions with networking opportunities. Highlights included a video montage and milestone review of the past year; a strategic update on FSB’s priorities and vision; an empowering awards ceremony recognising excellence among staff and commendations on outstanding practice to set the tone for the year ahead.
Mr Mohammed Zaidi said: “FSB’s Annual Summit is not just a reflection of past achievements but our joint declaration of intent for the future. Our steady expansion across campuses represents far more than growth in numbers – it is a conscious investment in people, places and potential. At FSB, our true measure of success lies in how effectively we empower students to transform their ambitions into achievements and their education into impact. While our NSS Teaching Satisfaction stands strongly at 94%, our Annual Summit reaffirms our commitment, with our staff, to remain a catalyst for opportunity and a standard-bearer of excellence in higher education.”
Celebrating achievement
An awards ceremony honoured performance, partnerships and academic excellence – reinforcing FSB’s focus on student experiences. The event further highlighted FSB’s ongoing commitment to recognising talent across its campuses.
Giedrius Zilionis, Vice Principal of FSB, speaking at the event, said: “Our staff awards are a testament to the dedication and resilience of our colleagues across every campus. Behind every student success story at FSB is a lecturer, a tutor or a member of support staff who has gone the extra mile. Their hard work underpins the progress we celebrate at this Summit. I am deeply proud of the commitment shown by our staff, whose efforts continue to define the very character of FSB.”
“Since joining FSB, I have been struck by the dedication of its leadership and staff,” commented Trevor Garriock, FSB’s Dean of School, at the event. “FSB’s Summit showcased the hard work behind delivering exceptional education and student success. The passion for each campus and the spirit of collaboration across teams provide a powerful foundation for future growth.”
Our FSB Award Winners
Reflecting on a year of momentum
The Summit opened with a retrospective featuring a video montage and a summary of key milestones from 2024–25. The review highlighted FSB’s quality not quantity focused growth across urban campuses and its progress in enhancing both student experience and academic delivery. FSB’s multi-campus model and its strong civic and community engagement were reaffirmed as central to the institution’s strategic direction.
Research and practice
The Summit highlighted applied scholarship and translational research as key to academic relevance and employer engagement. This continues a recent trend at FSB of hosting events that bridge academic inquiry and professional practice – a theme also confirmed at FSB’s recent research conference and in the editorial series published in FSB Focus.
“Our Research Centre is an engine of innovation that brings together research experts to shape our shared future,” added Mr Mohammed Zaidi, FSB’s CEO, regarding the institution’s active research initiatives.
Planning Ahead
The summit’s strategic segment outlined three interrelated priorities for the upcoming year:
1) enhance employer-linked modules and placement pathways to improve employability
2) expand short courses and CPD offerings to meet local skills demands; and
3) strengthen research-informed teaching that enhances student opportunities and regional partnerships.
These objectives build on recent institutional successes and student-focused enhancements across FSB.
What this means for FSB students
- Clear progression – where students can expect more industry-facing opportunities, short courses and career routes designed to translate learning into career-ready skills.
- Research-informed teaching – where FSB will continue to incorporate applied research and case-based learning across modules, so classroom content reflects sector practice.
- Stronger local partnerships – where greater collaboration with regional employers and community stakeholders aims to create opportunities that directly benefit students and local economies.
For any questions, please contact the author, Kunal Chan Mehta, at kunal.mehta@fairfield.ac.
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