Boost to confidence for Scots following Help To Grow: Management Course

·       More than 300 Scottish SME leaders complete Help to Grow: Management Course

·       Recently published data¹ from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) reveals nine in 10 (91%) would recommend Help to Grow: Management to other business leaders

·       Scottish SMEs looking for support are encouraged to sign-up to next cohort

·       Edinburgh-based narrowboat operator doubles turnover after completing course

More than 300 business leaders across Scotland have now completed the Help to Grow: Management Course in a bid to strengthen resilience and innovation, according to new figures from the Department for Business and Trade. 

The 12-week Help to Grow: Management Course was founded in April 2021 to help business leaders and senior managers to increase resilience, innovation, and growth within their organisations. 

In Scotland, 320 SME leaders had finished the course by February 2023 across six Scottish business schools at University of Strathclyde, University of the West Scotland, Heriot-Watt University, Robert Gordon University and University of Stirling*. Throughout the UK, 3,340 people had completed the course across 52 UK business schools. 

Research², published in May and undertaken by Ipsos, highlights the impact Help to Grow: Management has had on UK businesses. Seven in 10 (69%) report greater confidence in leading and managing their business while two thirds (66%) felt their leadership and management skills had improved. 

SME leaders across a variety of sectors have benefitted from taking part in the training including those in manufacturing, construction, professional services, scientific, and technical industries, and information and communication. Help to Grow: Management compromises four waves of three modules, 1-2-1 business mentoring, peer-learning and access to the Alumni Network.  

Encouragingly, six in 10 (61%) UK business leaders now have a better understanding of how to innovate their business model and are more aware of factors that drive business productivity and growth. Over nine in 10 (92%) say they have shared what they learned or gained with others in their business within six weeks of completing the programme. 

The advice given to help business leaders embrace working in a post-Covid era also resulted in almost four in five (78%) reporting improved employee engagement.  

Help to Grow: Management has supported leaders from often under-represented demographics. More than a fifth (17%) of participants identified as being from ethnic minority backgrounds, compared to 6% of all UK SME owners, whilst a third (34%) were women, compared to 24% of UK SME owners. A broad range of ages were also welcomed to the course with one in five aged between 50-65 and a quarter aged between 25-34.  

Report findings³ also showed that 91% of participants would recommend Help to Grow: Management to other business leaders.   

Clare Halliday, Managing Director of Refreshing Scotland Ltd, in Roslin, participated in the course at Strathclyde University Business School. She said: “I signed up for the Help to Grow: Management Course because I wanted to find out how to take my business forward.

“One of my biggest takeaways was that it taught me how to say no and offload customers that weren’t the right fit for us, and that’s a really difficult thing to do when you haven’t got a very big business.  

“It definitely made me brave and it’s paid off, in the full financial year since I did the course we have doubled Refreshing Scotland’s turnover.” 

Michael Hayman MBE, Chair, Small Business Charter, said: “The success of the UK’s SME sector is critical to the growth of the wider economy. The Help to Grow: Management Course is designed to directly benefit our vibrant SME sector, equipping today’s leaders and future leaders with the tools, knowledge and confidence to identify and lead change, innovation and growth.

“It’s also brilliant to see the course attracting a wider diversity of business leaders, something we want to continue embracing as the programme progresses.  

“We look forward to continuing to support business leaders across Scotland and the rest of the UK as they take the steps needed to introduce change that will help them for years to come.” 

Delivered by Small Business Charter-accredited business schools, the course is available in more than 50 locations across the UK with 90% of the fee participants pay covered by the government.  

The value of the programme continues long after participants have finished the course with the majority (86%) continuing to interact with other SME leaders outside of their firm through networking and informal discussions.  

Almost one in four (23%) also continue to be mentored by their Help to Grow: Management mentor while many are exploring further courses (67%), attending alumni events (59%) and gaining new accreditations (43%). 

*Scottish business schools that now offer the Help to Grow: Management Course include: 

·      Aberdeen Business School at Robert Gordon University;  

·      School of Business at University of Dundee; 

·      School of Business, Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University; 

·      School of Business & Creative Industries at University of the West of Scotland; 

·      Strathclyde Business School at University of Strathclyde; 

·      Stirling Management School at University of Stirling.