James Gardiner

James Gardiner is an Associate Professor in Marketing and Director of Employability and Enterprise. Co-CEO and Founder of the edtech firm Studious Digital Education Ltd. As part of his UEA role James over seeing employability, external engagement, enterprise and student placement programmes at Norwich Business School. 

He is responsible for coordinates the School’s activities in helping to develop the employability of its students and graduates and overseeing the year in industry placement programme by working with employers, university and student services to ensure the quality of experience for all students engaged in placement activities. He is also module organiser for Strategic Brand Management and teaches on undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA courses.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, AdvanceHE.

James is a co-founder of the EdTech startup - Studious Digital Education Ltd (www.studious.org.uk) - along with colleagues from University College London and UEA, who deliver interactive digital content and technology to the University sector.

After completing his International Baccalaureate in the Netherlands he gained a BA(Hons) in Management Systems and MA at the UEA as well as professional qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Insurance and the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

James Gardiner is an Associate Professor within the Marketing Research Group and leads the delivery, as module organiser, of a number of professional development programmes, Strategic Brand Management, a 3rd-year undergraduate module and a number of Executive Education programmes. He also teaches on the the schools MBA, MSc Enterprise and Business Creation, MSc Business Management as well as supervises MSc Brand Leadership dissertations.

He has experience of teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and supervising MSc and undergraduate dissertations.

Prior to joining Norwich Business School in 2018, he was the Academic Programme Director for the Business, Leadership and Social Science Degrees within the School of Higher Education at City College. He was also responsible for the design and delivery of the professional CIPD and CMI courses. Working closely with the CMI he pioneered the delivery of one of the UK’s first Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeships as well as launching a new programme of Level 5 CMI Diploma apprenticeships.

His main research interest is in employability / business practice, employer branding and gamification in digital education.

James Gardiner holds the role of Director of Employability and Enterprise at Norwich Business School. He is also responsible for coordinates the School’s activities and strategy to enable the professional development and employability of its students and graduates as well as overseeing the year in industry placement programme by working with employers, university and student services to ensure the quality of experience for all students engaged in placement activities.

James previously worked in the financial sector in the City of London as an Lloyd’s Broker with Willis Towers Watson Plc and then an Insurance Underwriter working for Chubb Corp. working within the international energy and casualty markets. He then joined a Netherlands based software company as Marketing Manager (EMEA) before co-founding a technology-focused design consultancy of which he was a Marketing Director and then Managing Director for 15 years. Their clients included Philips, Swisscom, Qualcomm, Semtech, Samsung, Cambridge Consultants, Electrolux and PCCW Global. James also co-founded two other companies. A boutique management consultancy business focused on sales and marketing and a social enterprise that provided training and a work hub specifically for Norfolk based start-ups and SMEs.

My current research interests lie in the areas of employer branding and related to my teaching/entrepreneurial activities, technological invocation and gamification within digital higher education.