Strathclyde Business School is delighted that the first cohort of the UK Government-supported Help to Grow Management programme has now completed the inaugural course at Strathclyde.
Help to Grow Management is a 12 week course which builds capabilities in areas such as leadership, innovation, digital adoption, employee engagement, marketing and financial management. This is delivered through a series of face to face and online workshops which fit in with working commitments. Participants have access to 10 hours of individual mentoring from an experienced business owner for personal support and to support business growth plans.
John Anderson, Programme Director and Head of SME Engagement at Strathclyde Executive Education and Development, said, “We are very excited to be delivering Help to Grow Management in Scotland, having worked on its design with colleagues in other Small Business Charter business schools across the UK. It provides an excellent opportunity for the leaders of SMEs in Scotland to develop themselves and their businesses.
“This is an opportunity to work with a business school with a proven track record of helping SMEs to grow who are experts in delivering practical programmes with real impact. Over a three month period, and at a heavily subsidised £750 per participant, Help to Grow provides a great value, accessible first step in leadership education for owners.
“We are delivering six cohorts of Help to Grow each year – it's great to see our first cohort ‘graduate’ and we’re looking forward to working with many more growing SMEs in the years to come.”
Help to Grow Management is a UK wide programme tailored to small businesses. It was designed to enhance management and strategic capabilities, build resilience, develop value proposition and reach into growth markets whilst supported by academics and experienced business owners. Taking part in the programme is an opportunity to learn, reflect and take action to grow your business.
Andy Russell is Managing Director of Bureau and is one of the first cohort members. He said, “I have always enjoyed learning about business and have read a lot of business books over the years, but the content on HTG, along with its delivery is next level. Every single session has led to multiple ‘light bulb’ moments and you always leave feeling excited about the impact the information could have on your team and your business. The frameworks that surround the content make it a lot easier to distil the learnings into useable action points that you can deploy at pace.”
Susan Maitland, General Manager of Prolawn Ltd, also just completed the programme and said, “Participating in the Help to Grow programme has been one of the best business decisions I’ve ever made! The course has been informative, engaging and, at times, mind-blowing. It’s given me the ability to take my existing knowledge, combine it with lots of resources, tips, tricks and skills I hadn’t heard of before, and apply it to our business in a sensible, structured and well-considered manner.
“Being able to discuss my thoughts and plans, whether positive or negative, on a weekly basis with 20 of my likeminded peers, has been invaluable and confidence building. I’m certain that our whole team at Pro Lawn will continue to benefit and reap rewards from the 12 weeks invested in the programme for many, many years to come.”
This is a UK Government-funded programme and all details, including eligibility and applications, are through the Small Business Charter. For any enquiries, please email d.rush@strath.ac.uk