History of the School

The University of Liverpool has a long tradition in the teaching of business and management subjects, dating to the 1800s when it introduced a special two-year ‘Business Curriculum’. The curriculum provided training to those seeking a business career and included English, Maths and foreign languages, but interestingly no commercial subjects.

The University’s Business School was formed in the early 1960s offering post-experience courses, before adopting the American model of postgraduate study and research activity in 1966.

Business and management studies developed into their present form with the opening of the University of Liverpool Management School (ULMS) in 2002. Since opening, ULMS has rapidly developed into a full-spectrum management school with an international focus.

Our home: The Chatham Building

The iconic Chatham Building, where the Management School is based, has a long and varied history dating back to the 1860s when it was used as a Welsh Methodist chapel.  Prominent figures within the chapel’s congregation had connections with the University and it was acquired in the 1940s.

Key dates

  • October 1861 – Chatham Building opens to the public for the first time,
  • 1949 – Chatham Building sold to the University for £6,500 for the building and £800 for the organ. Rev. Oswy Davies expressed satisfaction that, “All who loved this edifice have peace of mind as they see its future in the hands of a noble institution”,
  • 1950 – The Chatham Building’s ground floor and basement are turned into exam rooms and used until 1968,
  • 1967 – The Central Advisory Unit for Audio-Visual Aids and Programmed Learning (later the Centre for Communication Studies) is set up with the aid of a grant from the Leverhulme Trust Fund,
  • 1981 - An undergraduate degree in Business Studies is provided by the Department of Business and Accounting,
  • 1992 – A major rebuilding plan removes the internal features of the Chatham Building, adding two floors and a television studio,
  • 1994 – Chatman Building re-opens and now caters for the Language Centre, TV service and the Merseyside Language Export Centre,
  • 2000 – A University working party recommends establishing a management school,
  • 2001 –Construction on an extension to the rear of the Chatham building begins thanks to generous donations including significant contributions from Liverpool alumni,
  • 2002 – University of Liverpool Management School opens, bringing together the Liverpool Institute of Public Administration and Management, the Department of Economics and Accounting, the Football Industries unit and the e-Business,
  • 2015 - Expansion project providing four storeys of world class teaching facilities begins,
  • 2016 - The Management School opens the new Grove Wing to students and staff,
  • 2020 - School gains triple accreditation,
  • 2022 - 20th Anniversary of the School.

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