Business schools and Small Business Charter to deliver Government backed programme to support small businesses

We are delighted to announce that we have partnered with the Government to provide a nationwide management programme for small and medium sized businesses. The programme will be delivered through the Small Business Charter and business schools accredited with the Small Business Charter Award.

Help to Grow: Management was announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in Wednesday’s Budget and will give 30,000 small business leaders and managers the opportunity to take part in a practical management training programme to help boost their business’s performance, resilience, and growth potential.

The 12-week executive development programme will be led by business and enterprise experts from business schools across the UK, and feature case studies from entrepreneurs and guest speeches from leading industry figures.

All business schools delivering the programme have been accredited by the Small Business Charter, our national accreditation scheme which is awarded by small businesses to business schools who excel in supporting SMEs and the local economy.

To support businesses to access the programme, the cost to attend will be subsidised by 90% by the Government as part of approximately £220 million in funding to support small business recovery and growth. Small and medium sized businesses with 5-249 employers, from all industries within the economy, will be eligible.

Help to Grow: Management builds on the strong evidence from existing business support schemes of the impact of improved management practices on business performance. The recent Small Business Leadership Programme has supported over 2,000 businesses through the pandemic.

The curriculum for Help to Grow: Management will be designed to support senior managers enhance their skills in areas critical to business growth including leadership, innovation, digital adoption, sustainability, and employee engagement.

Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “Too often smaller firms don't have the time or resources to acquire the extra skills and training they need to be more efficient, more digital and more productive. Help to Grow: Management will help tens of thousands of small and medium sized businesses get world class management training. Government will contribute 90% of the cost - a real commitment to learn more, make more and earn more.”

Anne Kiem OBE, Executive Director of the Small Business Charter and Chief Executive of the Chartered Association of Business Schools said: “This represents a fantastic opportunity for the nation’s small businesses to experience the first class practical support on offer in the UK’s business schools. Through evidence-informed business and management education, this timely initiative will help small business leaders to drive their businesses towards growth and give the economy, and the millions employed within it, a much-needed boost.”

For more information, about the Help to Grow: Management Course, please click here.