This department was created by Professor Stan Oliver when he joined Bolton Institute (as our title was at the time) in 2002. With little more than a computer, a telephone and an office he commenced the development of what has become a vibrant research centre.

He created Supply Chain Management and Information Systems courses in response to student demands. To improve the visibility of the department within the region and develop a research culture, he worked closely with regional development agencies such as Business Link, North West Development Agency and local councils. Through these agencies, he created awareness of e-Business and developed an e-Business Ladder - a proprietary tool to map the level of e-Business adoption by companies. As demand increased, he applied for funding and was successful in winning a project called CoPSE (Collaborative Partnerships with SMEs) funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) worth £868,000. He recruited Project Associates to actively support local SMEs and enhanced research culture by publishing the findings in Peer Reviewed Journals and at conferences. Together they successfully organised e4SME conferences in 2003 and 2004 which attracted more than 150 local and multi national organisations. The conference proceedings were published as a publication entitled "Making e-Commerce work" which continues to be referenced in the teaching curriculum.

In 2005, the department won a project funded by the European Social Fund to educate unemployed graduates and professionals interested in career change.  30 students were trained in e-Business, Information Systems, Research Methods and Project Management and were awarded either Post Graduate Certificates / Diplomas or Masters in Business Information Systems based on the number of modules they successfully completed.

In March 2006, BLIS produced 2 PhD graduates – the starting point of a vibrant research culture. Another success in that year was the winning of an ERDF project - MaGNeT (Manufacturing Global Network) worth £1.3M. This project helped the department to develop an innovative Knowledge Transfer Associate scheme. In this scheme an associate works on a specific project within a company and use that experience to complete their doctorate. This initiative has further helped to transform the department into an independent research centre. Currently, the centre has over 20 students registered for PhDs with five having already completed.

Research alone, if not disseminated, has little value. To aid the dissemination of research knowledge gained through the research projects, a comprehensive list of Foundation, Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes that span Supply Chain Management, Information Systems, Media and Creative Business, IT Service Management, e-Business and Operations Science has been developed. Some of the courses have been validated by professional bodies such as CIPS and CILT which has added rigour to the teaching curriculum. The high standard of teaching and rigour of the curriculum has created international demand and led to the development of partnerships with other institutions based in Kuala Lumpur, Malawi, Ras al Khaimah(Dubai), Dublin, London and Athens. HND, HNC in Business Information Systems are delivered through partnerships with other colleges.