First cohorts have completed city Help to Grow course

When Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi

Sunak announced the government-funded ‘Help to Grow’ scheme back in the March Budget, the Small Business Charter received more than 1,000 enquiries from senior managers and leaders of SMEs for the scheme, which started in June.

‘Help To Grow: Management’ is a 12-week programme that’s designed to help SMEs boost their business’s performance, resilience, and long-term growth.

It’s available via universities, including Portsmouth, across the country, with start dates throughout 2021 and 2022.

The first cohorts from the University of Portsmouth have now successfully completed the practical programme and gave their insights into it.

Rosie Boullin-Barrett, Director of Finance for Seacat Services, said: ‘This is a thought-provoking and detailed course, with relevant content in a fantastic mixture of online and in person teaching, allowing you time to work as well as improve skills.’

Matt Jeffery, CEO at Brightbulb Design, added: ‘My first meeting with my mentor gave me a lot of takeaways that I instantly acted upon.

‘For me there are structures I didn’t know existed that I can now look to develop within my business. Learning from my peers has also been of huge benefit to me.’

Geoff Wilkinson, Managing Director of Wilkinson Construction Consultants Ltd, said:

‘The programme offers incredible value for money - you don’t get the opportunity to get worldclass business support and mentoring every day, so grab it while you can.’

If you’re a senior manager in a small to medium-sized business looking for a programme and support to help you meet today’s business challenges, then you can find out more at https:// www.port.ac.uk/help-togrow