It is a great honour to congratulate the following individuals on their recent election as members of the advisory board of the North-West University (NWU) Business School.

Jeremy Sampson is currently the managing director of Brand Finance Africa, the London-based global group with a presence in 20+ countries (specialising in brand valuation and measuring brand strength and reputation). In addition, he consults, mentors, advises, writes and speaks and is very active in the media, including hosting programmes for Classic fm and being The Brandfather on Classic Business every week (since January 2018). Jeremy’s career spans working in London and Johannesburg in marketing, advertising, graphic design, public relations, reputation management and branding.

He won numerous awards along the way in the UK, the USA and South Africa. In 2010 he was awarded the prestigious Financial Mail AdFocus Lifetime Achievement Award, the only brander/designer to win the accolade, which is usually reserved for the advertising fraternity. Apart from the worlds of reputation, brands and branding, his interests include photography, art and printmaking and the world of wine, for which he has written many articles.

As a traditional leader, Kgosi Moshe Mabe is no stranger to serving in important roles. He has been elected for three consecutive terms as the chairperson of the North West Provincial House of Traditional Leaders. His leadership stretches over 20 years as Kgosi of Batlhako Ba Matutu in Mabeskraal. He has served as a member of the Invest North West board and was chairperson of the North West Provincial Heritage Agency for three years. We are sure that his experience will be very useful to us.

According to Prof Jan van Romburgh, chief director of the NWU Business School, the advisory board has always played a pivotal role in the advancement of the reputation, quality and high standards of the Business School. “We look forward to the board’s continuous hard work and initiatives. I wish to congratulate these two members and wish them well with their new tasks. We welcome their inputs, based on their knowledge and experience, but most of all, we value the commitment and passion they have for the NWU Business School,” he said.

The advisory board offers leadership and advice with regard to the efficient and effective governance of the school:

• By helping to build bridges between the Business School and the business community.
• By evaluating and providing feedback on the implementation of the new strategic plan of the school.
• By providing up-to-date input on changing training and development needs.
• Through the assessment and evaluation of the financial strategy of the school.
• By supporting the negotiation and promotional processes of the school.
• By offering advice on the best practices in the business and business school environments respectively.