Partner Article

Business mentoring scheme steps up a gear

The Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI) and a number of major UK business representative bodies and trade associations have formed a partnership which is set to provide thousands of new business mentors.

Business Minister, Mark Prisk announced new grant funding of £1.2m to support the organisations new Get Mentoring programme, which is set to recruit 10,000 volunteers from SMEs to be mentors.

The new scheme will compliment existing national mentoring portal, mentorsme.co.uk, that provides a single point of access to mentoring services.

It was set in the summer, and presents a search engine for entrepreneurs seeking experienced business people as mentors.

Mr Prisk said: “Businesses tell us they want to get advice from other experienced business people and we know that those seeking support are more likely to succeed.

“Mentoring can deliver significant economic benefits from just a small commitment of time and resources. Building a relationship with a mentor can have a positive effect on your business, whether you are just starting up or are already established.”

Ruth Lowbridge, SFEDI chair, added: “We’re thrilled to be delivering a project with such a strong collection of strategic partners. As such this has created a unique opportunity to revolutionise business mentoring in the UK.

“Get mentoring is about small and micro businesses helping each other to succeed. Through this project new and growing businesses can benefit from the experience of those that have ‘been there and done that’ and the volunteer mentors can also learn new ideas and give back to the enterprise community.

“By training mentors and giving them further confidence to support other businesses we will contribute to making the UK the best in the world to start and grow a business.”

Newcastle based enterprise consultancy, Deal Group, are one of the organisations working with SFEDI.

Director Karen Langdon, said: “DEAL is delighted to be working with SFEDI on this. We recognise that there is a huge amount of knowledge, experience and insight within businesses in the North East.

“This initiative acknowledges that the best perspectives and wisdom comes from interaction with fellow small business owners and managers.

“We all recognise that the world of business support has changed radically. Now is the time to take back the agenda from the bureaucrats and forge the best kind of business support - businesses working together, helping each other to improve performance, sustainability and grow. A real recipe for success”.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .