“Quite a bit of the work I do is deciding strategy in the church,” he points out. Many of the human resource issues and even the finance issues he faces were dealt with on the programme, as was decision-making. But for this 47-year old man of the cloth there is one big difference between church and commerce. “Where business doesn't fit in is in the values of the organisation.”

So much so that at one point he decided to get up and give the alternative view to one of the lectures, pointing out that co-operation rather than competition could be of more value.

It is a viewpoint participants on EMBA programmes may well hear more of in future. An increasing number of applicants are joining from non-traditional backgrounds. Doctors, research scientists, charity workers – all want to learn how to manage.