The College was established in 1982, and initially located in Kensington [hence the name], as a result of the realisation that Business Management was not served by high-quality professional training courses in the same way as parallel professions such as Law and Accountancy had already been for many decades. This conviction has continued to shape the way the College works up to the present day. The College sought out the best of the relevant external qualifications then available and offered its own complementary material and diplomas concurrently, but also constantly looked for opportunities for exposure to real-life corporate culture, positioning itself as a specialist business school providing training for the managers of the future.
The external qualifications included, in Marketing, CIM, in Business Management, ABE, in Corporate Administration, ICSA, and in Banking, CIB. These courses were offered on both a full-time and part-time basis.
The College’s reputation and success grew rapidly as is shown by the fast-growing list of leading companies that sponsored students to attend courses at KCB. By 1992 the College had to relocate courses to central London as many students were working part-time, and Holborn in central London between the City and the West End was an ideal location. However, the College chose to retain its name, which by then had attracted strong customer loyalty.
In 1992 the College began to deliver university degree courses and, in keeping with its founding principles, was one of the pioneers in trying to establish links between the professional bodies and universities to ensure students obtained qualifications that were both academically challenging and prepared graduates for the work place environment.
The College was one of the very first independent colleges to be approved as a degree course provider by Act of Parliament originating from the UK Government’s Department of Education.
Over time the College has offered foundation degrees, Bachelor’s degrees and Masters degrees with around a dozen UK Universities. It soon began including courses preparing for the traditional liberal professions of Law and Accountancy, which had been its model when it was founded, as well as in Computing. It is worth noting that throughout these developments, the College has continued to offer its own specialised diplomas and that these have not only enjoyed wide professional currency, but have been recognised for admission or advanced standing by around twenty UK universities.
In 2003, working with local partners, the College established a sister institution in Brunei, Laksamana College of Business, which is now one of the highest ranked institutions in the country. We are working on projects aimed at giving British and international students the opportunity to divide their study programme between the London and Brunei campuses.
True to its roots, alongside its undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes, the College also continues to offer innovative professional programmes such as those leading to the prestigious awards of the Chartered Governance Institute (including the Certificate in Company Secretarial Practice for which the College is the only validated centre), and well-established vocational courses via the BTEC Higher National Diploma.