Help to Grow Management Course
Leading a business in today's unpredictable environment is tough. How do you ensure you, your business and your team remain agile in the face of such unprecedented change?
The Help to Grow: Management Course, provided by Keele Business School, can show you how to strengthen your business and your balance sheet.
You can take your business to the next level with the Help to Grow: Management Course. A government-backed programme designed to help you learn new skills, reach more customers and boost your profits.
91% of course completers surveyed would recommend the course to a small business leader.
About Help to Grow
The 12 week-programme is delivered by Keele Business School and accredited by the Small Business Charter. The programme combines a practical curriculum, with 1:1 support from our business mentors, peer-learning sessions and an alumni network.
Designed to be manageable alongside full-time work, this programme will support you to develop your strategic skills with key modules covering financial management, innovation and digital adoption. The course is delivered 75% by our Help to Grow facilitators online and 25% via case study workshops held at Keele Business School.
By the end of the programme you will have developed a tailored business growth plan to lead your business to its full potential.
The course is a great opportunity to get new ideas for your company, learn from other industries and take a step back from your company for a few hours a week to see where you might be able to make small changes with a big impact.
What does the programme entail?
- 8 facilitated online 2-hour sessions, plus a 1-hour onboarding session
- 4 practical, face-to-face case study workshops
- One-to-one support from a mentor, providing you with personalised support to develop your business growth plan
- Peer networking, including peer group calls that give you the opportunity to learn and grow through shared experiences by exploring key challenges with a small group of other like-minded business leaders. 8 x 1-hour sessions.
- Access to the Alumni Programme featuring events with inspirational speakers, business clinics and networking events. Available upon completion of the Help to Grow cohort.
Who is this aimed at?
Help to Grow is aimed exclusively at senior decision makers of small and medium-sized businesses to boost their company's performance, resilience, and long-term growth. The course is 90% funded by the UK Government and has been designed to be flexible to fit in around a busy schedule with minimum disruption.
To join the Help to Grow programme, your business must:
- Be a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME)
- From any business sector, employing between 5 and 249 full-time staff / freelancers / contractors
- Have been operational for at least one year
- Not be a charity
- Be a director / manager with direct reports within their company (Please note: max 1 participant for companies with 5-10 employees and max 2 for companies with 11-249 employees)
How much does this cost?
The Help to Grow management course at Keele University, valued at £7,500, is currently fully-funded - meaning that the only cost to your business is the time invested to participate in the programme.
When does it start?
Cohorts will commence on 26 September 2024 and 7 November 2024.
Can't make either of these cohorts? Get in touch with the Keele Gateway team and we'll contact you with information about future cohorts once they're confirmed.
Enquiries
For enquiries or more information about Help To Grow, please contact the Keele Gateway team on gateway@keele.ac.uk. A member of the team will then get back in touch with you to arrange a confidential conversation.
Registration
Following a conversation with the Keele Gateway team, eligible businesses will be asked to complete a registration form. When registering, it may be helpful to have the following information to hand:
- Company Registration/Companies House Number (this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house; if you don’t have a Company Registration/Companies House Number, you will need one of the following: VAT or PAYE number)
- Your business turnover for the past 12 months
- Current financial year forecast total turnover
You will also need to declare any subsidy control or de minimis state aid you may have received over the last 3 fiscal years, if applicable. Figures will need to be rounded to the nearest £.