James Hall

University of Manchester’s Alliance Manchester Business School

Hometown: Winsford, Cheshire

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am currently restoring my 1970 VW campervan which was originally imported from California.

Undergraduate School and Major: I actually don’t have an undergraduate degree. I skipped university to start my first company when I left college.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: CEO & Founder of Goblin Gaming

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Alliance Manchester’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school? Why was it so important to you? AMBS has close ties with recruiters from some top tech companies; I knew I wanted to do a summer internship in a tech company so this was big draw for me. In addition, I wanted to experience the Manchester Method of learning, which is largely working in teams on independent “real life” business consulting projects.

What club or extracurricular activity excites you most at this school? I enjoy being President of the student council. This role has been challenging while navigating the COVID-19 landscape, but my fellow council members and I have taken great pride in doing what we can to support the cohort.

What makes Manchester such a great place to earn an MBA? The people, the city, the resilience. I have always loved Manchester. Also RUDY’s pizza. Hands down the best pizza in Manchester!

How have you taken advantage of Manchester to further your business education? With COVID, it has been a challenge to get out and network and take advantage of living in this great city. But now we have returned to some face-to-face teaching, our class is networking more often and I am making some good friendships and building a great professional network.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far? It was reading that Goblin Gaming had been listed in the Internet Retail Growth Report in 2018 as one of the top 500 fastest growing businesses that year. I would also include getting into Manchester’s full time MBA program.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I wanted to pivot my career away from working in my own companies. I have always wanted to work as part of a team in a much larger global organisation where I can work on solving much bigger problems and with the backing of a bigger company. I have lots of hands-on experience and getting an MBA seemed like a good way to gain a qualification and formalise my expertise in business.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? There was not one defining moment that prepared me for business school. Running your own companies does really prepare you in a number of ways. I would say the single biggest tool you need to do an MBA is great time management skills. I always felt like I was good at time management. This was a great way to prepare. However I have to say my time management now is better than I could have imagined. The MBA really focuses you that much!

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