Bank on trailblazing business ideas being driven forward
EVEN the most highly successful business people advocate the benefits of coaching and mentoring on the basis that it gives them access to new ideas and ways of thinking – and the last few months have certainly given everyone food for thought when it comes to planning for the future and communicating with colleagues.
For Darren Pirie, head of entrepreneur proposition and experience at Royal
Bank of Scotland, making the bank’s much-lauded Accelerator programme fit for purpose during the coronavirus pandemic has been a priority but not problematic. “We’ve been testing our digital proposition for the last few years so it wasn’t a case of making one big change all at once although we did have to move quickly,” Pirie explains.
“We work with customers in locations across the country so we’ve always had that flexibility there to give them what they need away from our 12 entrepreneurial hubs, including the two in Edinburgh and Glasgow,” he says.
“When we started Accelerator, it was with a very physical proposition and while people will always want to have that face-to-face interaction there are times and circumstances that make a digital proposition appropriate.”
Now is one of those times. “Pre-covid, we had started having some group coaching sessions on Zoom so we were ready to react quickly and shift everything to the digital proposition,” Pirie points out. “The response from customers has been hugely positive and, for some, beneficial in that they’re not spending precious time travelling to a hub.
“Our focus will continue to be on digital support, coaching and learning while we are unable to use our hubs.”
Using a digital model also means that the bank has been able to increase the number of businesses participating by 25%. “Normally we accept 900 onto the Accelerator programme but when Covid19 came along we realised that moving to this new model would allow us to open it up to more – we have just over 1,100 on the latest programme,” Pirie explains.
“Understandably, not everyone has been able to commit to the current programme because of what’s going on and some other reasons and we’re really encouraged that most people have been in a position to stick with it.”
Royal Bank Accelerator is a fullyfunded six-month programme for entrepreneurs with high-growth businesses who are looking to scale up while the new Business Builder programme, also fully funded, is tailored to early-stage start-up entrepreneurs.
“Business Builder uses digital learning such a webinars and online workshops and provides access to a closed Facebook community where participants can share ideas with their peers and get support,” says Pirie. “We’ve had 3,000 registrations across the UK and that’s growing – and you don’t have to be a customer to join.”
The bank, he continues, “does a great job” when it comes to helping individuals find the right mindset. “That’s really important when it’s time for a business to change and move into the next stage of its development,” says Pirie. “Some people find it easier than others, of course, but for other it’s about finding the confidence to take a leap into what is often the unknown. That’s what the Covid-19 lockdown has done – it’s forced people to think on their feet.”
Prime examples of this agility, he suggests, are those in the restaurant and hospitality business who have pivoted to a home-delivery solution. “Some businesses will choose to continue with this service as another layer of income in the future but in the meantime, it allows them to engage with their customers and keep their brand alive,” Pirie points out.
“Covid has brought with it a whole new set of rules for businesses and many obstacles which may not be overcome, notwithstanding the tough decisions and ambiguity around timescales, so being able to support Accelerator businesses via a digital model means they can keep moving forward.”
All the same, physical contact will have a big role to play when it’s safe. “People naturally gravitate to wanting to meet people,” says Pirie, “and that will come back but at the moment the flexibility of our digital Accelerator model is working really well and slots in to the bank’s strategy of being an organisation built on purpose.
“What we’re also seeing during lockdown is people planning ahead and coming up with new ideas for their business or thinking about starting a new business – it’s given entrepreneurs time to really think.”
Meanwhile, the pillar of Accelerator – coaching – continues apace. Everyone on the programme is allocated a manager with whom they can discuss their goals, aspirations, business growth and strategy. “That’s happening via Zoom and they can also talk about business growth,” says Pirie. “Covid may have put the brakes on a lot of aspects of business but it hasn’t stopped the enterprise and entrepreneurship that is going to emerge in the future.”