Gareth Thomas MP, Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports delivered a keynote speech at the third annual Help to Grow: Management Alumni Conference where he praised the course and its role in empowering small businesses and driving economic growth.
In his speech to 300 small business leaders, the Minister celebrated the success of the Government funded programme, which is delivered by the Small Business Charter and its network of accredited business schools.
Gareth Thomas MP, Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports, said:
“Programmes like the Help to Grow: Management Course are so important. There have been 500,000 cumulative learning hours and 30,000 hours of mentoring support. In addition to helping individual business leaders, the impact on their businesses has a wider benefit on the UK economy in helping to improve productivity and increase growth.”
The conference, organised exclusively for course alumni, was chaired by Byron Dixon, Founder and CEO of Micro-Fresh and Chair of the Small Business Charter. In his opening remarks, Byron spoke about the critical role of business schools in driving small business success and encouraged the alumni in attendance to build deeper relationships with their local business school:
“There are 5.5 million SMEs in the UK, representing over 99% of the business population – they are the beating heart of our economy. As a country we need to empower these small businesses to succeed, and that is exactly what the Small Business Charter and the Help to Grow: Management course are doing. The relationship between SMEs and business schools is collaborative, and I encourage you to look to your business schools as one of your most important pillars of support. They provide a vital doorway to knowledge and expertise”.
The conference is one of over 500 Alumni Network events delivered by the Small Business Charter and its network of accredited business schools. The event featured speeches from leading entrepreneurs and industry experts including Andrew Bloch, Founder, Andrew Bloch & Associates, Liz Barclay, Alex Wright, CEO and Co-Founder, Dash Water, and Renée Elliott, Founder, Planet Organic.
The Help to Grow: Management Course has enrolled 10,635 business leaders through 60 expert business schools in every region and nation of the UK. The initiative is seen as a successful collaboration between the UK’s world-class business schools and government to develop a successful policy intervention focussed on driving up economic growth.
The latest Department of Business & Trade and IPSOS evaluation of the course found that 91% of participants reported increased awareness of factors that drive business productivity and growth and 91% reported improved leadership and management skills.
Cohorts for Year 5 of the course are now available to book here. The course is open to business leaders employing 5 to 249 people who have been in business for at least a year.