Cass Business School moved to new premises in the London Borough of Islington, and changed its name as part of a strategy formed by Lord Currie of Marylebone, who had become Dean the year before, to compete as an international business school in a market dominated by US universities. The school had previously been spread out across the City of London's mainly residential Barbican Centre development. Half of the £40 million funding for the new building came from the reserves of City, University of London. The school also received a gift from Sir John Cass's Foundation, founded in 1748 to educate children in
Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design London, purpose designed for the Cass by Florian Beigel and Philip Christou and is named after philanthropist Sir John Cass, who helped establish funding for education in Aldgate. Controversy erupted in late 2015 after Metropolitan University unveiled plans to cut many of the Cass's signature programmes while moving the Cass from its traditional Aldgate location (which would be sold) to its Holloway campus; this plan attracted opposition from many of Britain's most renowned artists and designers. Senior members of the faculty, such as dean Robert Mull, resigned in protest over the decision and other initiatives, amid protests by students and