Jim Sears

Jim Sears joined Surrey Business School in 2013 after a successful 25-year career in the financial markets including investment banking and running his own financial services firm. During this time, Jim was involved with cutting-edge Innovation structuring new financial products following market deregulation from Big Bang. 

At Surrey Business School, Jim is Director of the MSc programme in Entrepreneurship & Innovation Management and has used his business background to help transform the student experience.  The programme connects theory with practice to provide students with relevant and modern skills to set up businesses or to develop strategies for growth in larger organisations. 

Jim teaches across a range of post-graduate modules including topics such as Entrepreneurship, Digital Economy and Innovation Management.  He combines a "learning by doing" approach with research-led teaching so students learn both practical skills and theory. 

Jim has particular research interest in Entrepreneurial Decison-making and Digital Innovation which has been imbedded in the classroom through student projects such as crowdfunding, product-market research, web development and a digital marketing corporate challenge.