The University of Portsmouth welcomed a new group of Isle of Wight SMEs to its government-backed ‘Help to Grow: Management Course’.
This is the 2nd cohort of businesses that will benefit from the ‘Help to Grow: Management Course’, which includes face-to-face delivery on the Isle of Wight.
Dan Lodge, Business Support Programmes Manager at the University of Portsmouth comments:
“We are pleased to see this new group of SMEs begin their journey on the Help to Grow programme with the University of Portsmouth on the Isle of Wight. By delivering the face-to-face sessions on the Island at Innovation Wight’s Building 41, we are able to make this Government-funded business growth programme more accessible to Island-based SMEs.”
Participants will take part in a mix of online and in-person learning workshops, during this 12-week course that is 90% funded by the government Department for Business and Trade. Portsmouth Business School and Isle of Wight Council are currently offering a bursary to cover the remaining 10%, making the programme fully-funded for SMEs on the Isle of Wight.
Delivered by Portsmouth Business School (part of the University of Portsmouth), in collaboration with industry experts and experienced entrepreneurs, the ‘Help to Grow: Management Course’ includes 12 weeks of in-depth training together with 1-to-1 business mentoring to help apply learnings and the opportunity to grow business fast.
Dan Lodge added:
“After we completed the course earlier in the year, we went straight ahead to launch another, and hope that these new participants will flourish over the 12 modules and we are confident that they will go forward and achieve growth within their businesses.”
Article continues below this advertisement
Since 2021 Portsmouth Business School, accredited by the Small Business Charter, has delivered the course to over 100 businesses across the South including several based on the Isle of Wight.
Aimed at senior leaders in small and medium businesses, the course covers strategies for growth and innovation, leading high-performance teams and digital adoption, as well as financial management and responsible business practices. Participants will hear from inspirational business leaders, learn alongside local peers and learn from like-minded leaders with bespoke peer-to-peer networking sessions.
Lucy Johnson, Director of Simplex Accounting based in Sandown completed the course earlier this year and said:
“There’s that element of mentoring for 10 hours which is really helpful. It’s that time to sit down and really map everything out and have somebody deep dive into your business is really important.”
Meanwhile Will Overton, Director of Vectis Refrigeration in Cowes, also completing the programme earlier this year said:
“I didn’t know what to expect, but when we started I was absolutely blown away with the content and the amount of information and how it just made my brain think. It’s been really good to have these little pointers, how to add value to your business and ways that we can go about it.”
By the end of the course, a participating business will be able to take away a tailor-made growth action plan and have the confidence in how to grow their business.
That is great but why not use already accredited mentors like myself here on the island? All my mentees are off the island!!
as long as they are not peddling some anti white, anti heterosexual diversity mantra, then the course might be ok