BUSINESS school chiefs have vowed to boost the economic well-being of Kent and Medway by changing its name and shifting up a gear.

Canterbury Business School, part of the University of Kent for the past 15 years, is now known as Kent Business School.

In a double launch ceremony, they unveiled the new name at separate events in Canterbury and Chatham Historic Dockyard.

A new presence in the Dockyard's Bridge Wardens' College is designed to show firms in the Medway Towns they mean business.

Judith Armitt, chief executive of Medway Council, welcomed the development. "This business school will help businesses locally achieve goals they haven't thought of," she said.

There were 8,000 small firms in the Towns. "It is a real challenge for any business school to reach out to these smaller employers and I hope KBS will think of innovative ways of reaching them."

The new name heralds a fresh direction for a school that in the past has been accused of failing to engage enough with the business community across the county. It has also been criticised for under-performing in the research arena, something by which the quality of business schools is measured.

The university has hired several new senior staff, including director Martyn Jones, and told them to turn it into a world-class institution.

The school currently scores an average 3A in research but the appointment of Professor John Mingers from the University of Warwick signals an ambition to crank it up to a respectable 4 or 5.

Professor David Melville, vice-chancellor, said the new name marked a change of gear. He wanted it to be a great regional business school, a national and international player offering a postgraduate Masters in Business Administration that would rank with the best. For that reason, the school would be accredited to the Association of MBAs.

The school will also offer undergraduate programmes, Master of Science courses for postgraduates, and research degrees, as well as undertaking projects for firms.

The school will work with organisations across the Channel, the public sector and the University of Greenwich in creating a new European Business Institute in Chatham.

Prof Melville said: "It also means programmes that are responsive to the needs of the community and the business community locally.”

Sir Crispin Tickell, university chancellor, introduced both events. Business and management issues were becoming increasingly important in national and local life, he said.

"I feel that this particular part of the country really needs a vibrant business school," he said.

Mr Jones spelled out his vision for the school and its educational purpose, saying it was more about developing attitudes and attributes than skills. He was not in the business of training but in preparing students for uncertainty.

Stephen Kingsman, chairman of the £75m turnover Denne construction group, based in Bramling, near Canterbury, welcomed the new development, but said it was important to break down the academic-business divide.

He said: "The academics are only there to help generate wealth and that's what business is all about. Let's use all the skills and expertise here, bring it out of these buildings on the hill and take it into the 32,000 businesses we have in Kent."

The school has appointed an advisory group of business experts chaired by Helen Bostock, from Hawkhurst, a University of Kent graduate and vice president of JP Morgan Chase Bank.