Belfast Telegraph

UU winter graduation­s: all of today’s recipients

- BY STAFF REPORTER

IT’S a double celebratio­n for father and son Paul and Tony Ward as they both graduate today with an MBA from Ulster University.

Paul, a successful businessma­n and entreprene­ur with over 20 years’ experience in the food industry, was encouraged by his two sons to consider third level education as they were exploring their own options.

When Tony, his eldest son, who currently works for Danske Bank, enrolled on the MBA course at Magee in order to gain a competitiv­e edge in financial services, Paul signed up alongside him and has never looked back.

Paul, who is originally from Campsie, Co Derry, but is now based in Longford, said: “I have worked in the food industry most of my life — sourcing artisan breads from across Europe and adapting them for the Irish and UK markets.

“Although I run a successful business I never had the opportunit­y to progress to third level education and when I saw my sons considerin­g an MBA, I thought how well it would complement my own working life while giving me the chance to help support them at the same time.

“My second eldest son Ciaran ultimately ended up moving to study over in England, but for Tony and I, Magee was the best option and we have never looked back.”

He added: “It was great being able to study alongside my son — I spent a lot of my career working away from home and this gave me the opportunit­y to do something great with Tony.

“There was a bit of competitio­n between us and if I got a higher mark than him I would really rub it in!

“When we were doing assignment­s together it was good as we were able to keep the pressure on each other to get things done.”

Paul admits that balancing work, study and family life wasn’t always easy, but the sense of achievemen­t of completing an MBA and the sense of fulfilment it gave him made it all worthwhile.

He said: “I feel very proud to be graduating from Ulster University today.

“I nearly gave up after the first economics lecture because I thought I would never be able to do it but the MBA has given me a broader vision of business in general and reinforced many things which I was unsure of.

“It has given me an overall confidence in all aspects of business and was a great course.”

❝ We were able to keep the pressure on each other to get things done

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 ??  ?? Graduates of the Ulster University will be celebratin­g
today
Graduates of the Ulster University will be celebratin­g today

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