Government expands scope of Help to Grow scheme for entrepreneurs

The government has on Tuesday updated the eligibility criteria of its Help to Grow: Management scheme, providing more business leaders the opportunity to take part.

Businesses with ten or more employees will now be eligible to have up to two participants join the scheme. Eligible businesses could only have one participant on the scheme earlier.

Additionally, previous participants on the Small Business Leadership Programme will now be eligible to join the scheme.

The scheme offers business leaders 50 hours of leadership and management training across 12 weeks, backed by £220 million of government funding, which covers 90 per cent of the costs involved.

It means for £750 business leaders can benefit from one-to-one support from a business mentor, access to a network of like-minded business leaders, and a bespoke growth plan to help the business reach its full potential.

The scheme offers development opportunities for leaders and their staff, as part of the government’s commitment to grow the economy to address the cost of living and level up opportunity across the UK.

It was also announced that top names including Santander, Vodafone and award-winning mentor Herman Stewart have signed up as volunteer mentors to support the Help to Grow: Management course.

“Again and again, business leaders are telling us how much they are benefiting from the Help to Grow: Management scheme both personally, and in the results they see in their companies and from their staff,” Small Business Minister Paul Scully commented.

“By expanding the scheme even further, more and more people will benefit from what Help to Grow: Management has to offer – including within the same business – and more organisations can thrive and grow.”

Courses have been running at business schools across the UK since June last year. Participants have included Beverley Lewis, chief executive of Welsh Triathlon Limited, who said: “No matter where you are in your leadership journey, you will get a lot out of the Help to Grow: Management Course. I don’t know anybody that would have done the course and not come away with something valuable.”

Other Help to Grow: Management eligibility criteria will remain the same. For example, the applicant must still be a senior decision maker such as a Chief Executive or Finance Director, and any business must employ between five and 249 people to send at least one employee.

The Help to Grow: Management scheme sits alongside the Help to Grow: Digital scheme, which provides eligible businesses discounts of up to £5,000 off the retail price of approved Digital Accounting and CRM software from leading technology suppliers.