From the Warwick MBA to the race track

MBA alum Dave Wallace-George guides us through an MBA journey that led to new insights, adventures and interests. Having been part of the British Army, Dave explains his decision to join the Global Online MBA programme and how WBS helped with his new-found motorsport aspirations.

I am a former British Army Officer, where I served in the Corps of Royal Engineers. During my armed forces career, I served across the world in a wide variety of leadership roles focussed on construction, operations executive management, and training and planning. I completed several large projects for the Ministry of Defence and concurrently developed many of the skills and abilities that made me a successful officer.

Whilst serving, I completed a BSc in Architectural Engineering & Design Management at Loughborough University. I was a mature student on an in-service degree sponsorship scheme and completed this alongside my day job. This encouraged my passion for personal development, and since then I have completed several courses in project management and construction.

I chose to begin my MBA in 2020 to prepare me for leaving the Armed Forces, and, after the challenges of COVID, I graduated in June 2023. I left the Armed Forces shortly afterwards and, since leaving, I have worked in leadership and senior project management roles. I currently work in project management for professional consultancy firm Turner & Townsend.

My time at WBS

I became interested in completing further learning after graduating from my BSc. As a serving Officer in the Armed Forces, time was at a premium, so I focussed on distance learning opportunities. I was first attracted to Warwick Business School (WBS) due to its high scores in MBA league tables and high student satisfaction scores. Due to work commitments, I was unable to commit to attending the year-long MBA programme, so the Distance Learning MBA (now Global Online MBA) suited my situation perfectly.

One of the main attractions of the online MBA was that the qualification you receive matches those that are presented to year-long MBA students. I felt the quality of the teaching was equally comparable across online and full-time MBA programmes, and the opportunities offered by the school were interesting and wide-ranging.

I began my MBA in 2020. I quickly realised that, due to my personal circumstances, the MBA required a lot more commitment than I had initially thought. For me, the value in the MBA was the knowledge I gained from completing each module, understanding the teaching material and finding ways to apply it in my career. Although the literature says that a commitment of around 15 hours a week is required, I would say I committed over 30 hours every week to completing my MBA. It still took me 3 years to complete, but I believe I got a lot out of the time and effort I put in, and I graduated with distinction.

Since completing my MBA I have been working in Project Management roles. I have applied my learnings from my MBA by taking on extra work responsibilities alongside senior personnel in the companies I have worked for. This has put me in a great position for career advancement and career fulfilment, as I feel I am now adding greater value to my employer’s outputs.

CareersPlus & the wider WBS Teams

As I was due to leave the Armed Forces towards the end of my MBA, I spoke to the CareersPlus team whilst I was studying my MBA.

I received some solid advice on career change preparation, and ways to apply my existing skills in interesting ways for new employers. I used that advice to focus my career journey both before and after leaving the services.

Overall, I have found the careers team to be engaging, available, knowledgeable and useful at many stages of my transition journey. I thank them greatly for taking the time to listen, and for providing some much-needed support throughout my study time.

I also want to recognise the wider WBS staff for their positivity, support and flexibility. Due to my work commitments in the Armed Forces, I required significant flexibility from the school to ensure I could complete modules and assignments at appropriate times.

I had long discussions with the programme teams and school staff to ensure I met WBS requirements, whilst flexing my commitments around my work life. I could not have completed my MBA without this support, and it is so greatly appreciated. My success is heavily due to the support and guidance that I received from the school staff.

Your advice for future WBS MBA participants

If anyone is thinking of applying to WBS for the Global Online MBA, I would highly encourage it. The course is rewarding, and you will gain knowledge about new areas that you may not have previously studied. For me, the area I had very little prior understanding of was marketing. The academic studies and group assignments opened my eyes to a world I had previously attained little knowledge of and I really enjoyed developing my experience in this area.

My advice would be to not underestimate the workload on the MBA. Doing an MBA is an intensive experience, and the workload is high. For anyone interested in taking on the MBA, I would say that doing so will be an enjoyable and rewarding experience, but that may not be obvious until you are coming towards graduation!

I enjoyed the modules, particularly the elective modules, but the element I enjoyed most on the MBA was completing my dissertation. I found most of the module leaders to be very flexible in allowing their students to complete assignments based around our personal interests. The dissertation particularly allowed me to employ the learnings from my MBA modules and create a personalised piece of work that has proved useful after graduation.

My final advice for anyone thinking about studying an MBA is – make sure you have support from your family and friends. This is a significant commitment that will absorb a lot of your free time, so your time to enjoy hobbies, interests and social commitments will become challenged without good management. I found all those around me to be positive and supportive, and that greatly helped in the achievement of my MBA.

MBA & Motorsport

After I graduated from my MBA, I decided to fill my new-found free time by becoming involved in motorsport. I joined the British Army Motorsport team before I left the Armed Forces, and I used my membership to advance my interests and also maintain my links to the military community when I left.

When I began my motorsport journey, I had very little experience with cars, car building, racing or circuit driving, so I had a lot to learn. To get involved, I personally built my first race car, a Mini Cooper S (R53) and I converted it from a road-going car to a circuit racing car.

After completing a lot of research, watching many hours of YouTube videos and absorbing all the knowledge I could from those around me, I began the build. I stripped the car of all its parts and completed some bodywork repairs before lightening the shell and preparing it for racing.

I spent more time, energy and money on the car than I had initially anticipated, but in 2023 I had a race-ready car. I concurrently completed my racing driving licence, and I was able to compete in the Armed Forces Race Championship through 750 Motor Club.

Motorsport is not a cheap sport to be involved in, and it is often quoted that “the way to make a small fortune in motorsport, is to start with a large fortune”. Luckily enough, I was able to secure several sponsorship agreements with supportive companies, including Warwick Business School. This allowed me to partake in this wonderful sport. As part of this sponsorship, I placed WBS logos on my race car and became a brand ambassador for WBS within the motorsport community.

Throughout the last two years that I have had WBS sponsorship, I have had many people approach me and ask for more information about my car, my experience, about the school, and also about my recommendations for preparing for a business school degree.

During interviews and media engagements, I have positively promoted my car, my journey, and my experience, that it has been greatly enhanced by my WBS sponsorship. I thank WBS for being one of the first sponsors that I bought on-board, and I hope to continue our partnership long into the future.

Looking forward

After completing my MBA, leaving the Armed Forces, completing a significant career change, and building my race car, all within the last year, I am now enjoying a slower pace of life. My long-term goal is to have a fulfilling and successful career, which provides me with the opportunities to enjoy the activities in life that I wish to pursue.

My professional dream is to run a project management and property development business. Using the skills I developed during my MBA, I already have a detailed business plan ready for when I achieve my capital funding goals. I greatly look forward to watching the business grow and develop, hopefully in a rewarding and positive way.

I also look forward to encouraging and supporting others to achieve their professional dreams. To those reading this, if your dream is to complete your MBA, I am happy to be an advisor and mentor for as many people as I can. Hopefully I can help you to fulfil your dreams just like others have done for me.