"I remember when I first started my business, going back 40-odd years ago. I wish there was a Help to Grow: Management Course then. I probably would have avoided some mistakes that I made along the journey."
Lord Leong CBE, Minister for Small Business and Enterprise, reflected on his own experience as an entrepreneur at a roundtable hosted by Help to Grow: Management and London South Bank University (LSBU) Business School on 7 October 2026.
At the event, held at the school's Croydon campus and chaired by Flora Hamilton, Executive Director of the Small Business Charter and CEO of Chartered ABS, Lord Leong met course alumni and the team who deliver the programme.
Help to Grow: Management is a 12-week, 90% government-funded, course that helps SME leaders develop the skills and confidence to grow their businesses. Delivered by Small Business Charter-accredited business schools across the UK, it combines practical learning with 10 hours of one-to-one mentoring and peer networking.
Lord Leong said: "Talent is everywhere. It doesn't matter your background. However, running your own business is a very lonely process, so having a network of people close to you that you can bounce ideas off is fantastic. The access to practical learning, mentoring and peer support that Help to Grow: Management provides is vital. We need partners like our business schools to support the companies that need it to unlock their growth."
The Help to Grow: Management Course has 14,420 participant enrolments and 11,915 participant course completions. 85% are based outside London and 40% are women, against a national average of 24% of businesses led by women. Independent research found that 92% of participants reported improved business confidence.
Alumni, Charlie Gardner, Strategy Director at Caroline Gardner, a well-known British lifestyle, stationery, homeware and gift brand, completed the course at LSBU in 2024. Along with his siblings, he’s one of the second generation in this 33-year-old family business employing 50 people. A 10-year vision exercise from the course has shaped the company's direction. He said at the event: "This exercise brought real clarity as all the issues were laid out on the table and we set out a 10-year vision around our growth and succession planning. We still have that vision, and everything we try to do as a business is guided by that trajectory."
Peter Watts, founder of Watts Sustainability, a sustainability strategy and training consultancy working with global brands, also joined fellow alumni at the event. He graduated from the course at LSBU in March 2025. Peter said: "I can confidently say this is the best training course I've ever been on in terms of its impact on me as an individual and on the business. I studied Environmental Strategy and am a Chartered Environmentalist, rather than a business professional, so this course really helped fill in the gaps. My mentor has also been the best mentor I've ever worked with, and she works with us to this day."
Executive Director of the Small Business Charter, Flora Hamilton, concluded: "It was a pleasure to welcome Lord Leong to LSBU Business School and hearing from alumni like Charlie and Peter shows the real difference Help to Grow: Management makes to businesses and the people who run them. Small Business Charter-accredited business schools like LSBU are doing a terrific job of supporting their local business communities to help drive growth in every postcode. I’d like to thank the fantastic team at LSBU for sharing their expertise and experience with us all at this event.”
The next Help to Grow: Management Course at LSBU starts in January 2027. Find out more and register here.
About Help to Grow: Management:
Help to Grow: Management is a 12-week course designed to support business leaders and their senior managers to increase resilience, innovation, and growth within their organisations.
Developed and delivered by the network of Small Business Charter accredited business schools, the course is available in more than 60 locations across the UK and is 90% government funded. It is designed to fit around existing work and personal commitments, providing business leaders with more than 50 hours of online and in person training including 10 hours of one-to-one mentoring. Individuals completing the course automatically join the Alumni Network, where they have access to exclusive events, content and partner offers, as well as the support of a UK-wide peer network.
The Small Business Charter (SBC) empowers small business success through its network of expert business schools. Developed 10 years ago by Lord Young, the previous Department for Business, and the Chartered Association of Business Schools, the SBC was established to signpost entrepreneurs, small businesses, and local economic stakeholders to business schools in their region with the expertise to help them thrive. There are 67 SBC accredited business school centres of excellence across the UK which are trusted partners of local stakeholders and the national government to deliver effective leadership and productivity programmes and small business support to drive economic growth.