Interview with Audrey Haverkamp-Courty, EDHEC Country Manager UK & Ireland

Tell us briefly about yourself 

 My name is Audrey Haverkamp-Courty, I’m from Toulouse and I graduated in 2012 from EDHEC’s Grande Ecole programme. After my MSc in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, I started my career in London in the B2B events industry. I later seized an opportunity in Paris where I organised conferences for top executives and took part in the launch of a community of public affairs directors. In spite of Brexit, I ended up returning to London in 2018 where I joined a public affairs agency as Head of Business Development. 

Over the last 10 years I have always maintained close links with the School, regularly taking part in Alumni events. In particular, I joined the EDHEC Entreprendre club in Paris and contributed to the launch of the Alumni UK board in London in 2019. 

I’m now very happy to have entered the education sector, which I had long found attractive, and what’s more in my old school, whose entrepreneurial mindset, dynamism and creativity I admire. I’m based on the London campus and have taken over from Cassandra Pittman in the role of Country Manager UK&I to continue to develop the EDHEC brand across the Channel.

What are your missions and challenges as Country Manager UK & Ireland?

It’s worth reminding readers that EDHEC has five Country Managers who are part of the School’s Department of International Relations under the supervision of Richard Perrin and they all contribute to the development of the School’s international strategy. The others are Sisi Pan in China, Nilesh Gaikwad in India, Joyce Cuff in Singapore and Patricia Vinant in the US. As for the United Kingdom and Ireland, these are my missions:  

1. Develop corporate relations to facilitate job placements for students in the UK and Ireland. This is my primary mission. I work closely with Fernanda Diaz’s team, who is Director of Careers & Employer Engagement, with a view to collecting offers (internships, graduate programmes or first jobs), attracting companies to our events in Lille and Nice, organising treks in London or Dublin with selected students, or developing partnerships. In the UK, I should also mention two key collaborations with: 

• The French Chamber of Great Britain of which EDHEC is a member. We sponsor their HR club to enhance our visibility and share our HR research with their recruiters, who meet up once each quarter. 
• BUNAC, an organisation certified by the British government to sponsor Temporary Worker Visas for interns whose companies are not in a position to do so. We’ve already organised a webinar with them to raise awareness among our students of the challenges surrounding visas since Brexit and the procedure involved, which is fastidious albeit not impossible!  

There is no shortage of opportunities in Ireland either, particularly in the tech sector which has developed hugely. I am responsible for developing our relations with LinkedIn, Google, Meta, Microsoft and DocuSign, to mention only the largest firms based in Dublin, as they represent a huge attraction for our students looking to start their careers in a growth sector. 

2. Support the recruitment teams targeting international students for our BBA, Masters and MBA programmes. 

I represent the teams at student fairs and in particular maintain close relations with Campus France UK, the agency in charge of promoting French higher education in the UK. 

3. Coordinate the Alumni community to increase levels of involvement. 

The UK boasts the biggest EDHEC Alumni community abroad. There is a lot at stake, which explains the presence of a board responsible for structuring our team of ambassadors and organising a wide variety of events based on the association’s three pillars: Share, Care, Dare. In Ireland we also have a highly dynamic community and two committed ambassadors on the ground to help coordinate activities. 

Can you tell us more about the Alumni Board in the UK?

We have just gathered the Board’s 12 new members on the London campus together with Martin Barbier, Director of EDHEC Alumni, and Geraldine Simon, International Alumni Manager, who travelled to meet them. Cedric Petitpas (EDHEC 2002), Head of Kids Partnerships, YouTube UK at Google, is the new board chairman. There is a great dynamic with fascinating projects and highly committed alumni, so … watch this space! And the Welcome Party in London on 9 November deserves a special mention!  

What would you consider your finest success?

The EDHEC Rendez-Vous in London on 30 June last year at the superb Foundling Museum with guest of honour Bruno de Pampelonne, Chair of the EDHEC Board of Trustees. The EDHEC Charitable Trust, which represents the EDHEC Foundation in the UK, handed him a cheque for £80,000 to support future student grant beneficiaries. This was a first in the UK thanks to the excellent work of the Trust’s alumni, who helped raise awareness among the UK community of the culture of donations. 

We rose to the challenge of bringing together more than 80 alumni, inspired our community with the theme “make your mark for good”, and even ended the evening dancing to “Les lacs du Connemara”! 

I simply can’t wait to tell you about EDHEC’s future successes involving our British and Irish friends!