Member Article

Top names sign up as mentors for Help to Grow Management scheme

Top names including banking giant Santander, FTSE 100 telecoms firm Vodafone and multi-award-winning mentor Herman Stewart, have already signed up as volunteer mentors in the Government’s flagship Help to Grow: Management course.

The programme was launched by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in August 2021, with the long-term target of reaching up to 30,000 business leaders to help improve productivity and growth.

It includes a 90% government funded, 12-week course to be taken alongside full-time work, which is then followed up with one-to-one mentoring from experienced business leaders and mentors to reinforce good lessons.

Applications for the volunteer positions were opened last week.

Herman Stewart, known as ‘the mentor’s mentor’ is the founder of Every Child Needs a Mentor and is passionate about making mentoring more accessible in the UK.

He said: “I’m excited to be involved in this important programme. If we’re really going to turn the dial on productivity and growth, we need to significantly improve access to inspiring mentors that can help the next generation of business leaders to expand their horizons and achieve their goals. “That can only happen if they can be helped to find their path, by working with someone who has already learned those lessons through challenge and experience.”

Santander has also pledged to donate the time of some of its most experienced leaders within its business, to help drive the Help to Grow: Management initiative.

Tim Hinton, Head, Corporate & Commercial Banking, Santander UK, said: “We are totally committed to supporting this national effort to help boost the growth of small businesses, not least through our talented and experienced employees acting as volunteer mentors.”

They join co-working space provider We Work and strong candidates from the mentoring scene including banking and fintech innovator Helene Panzarino, award-winning entrepreneur Chris Cole, founder of 40 Fathoms and ecommerce innovator Nathan Lomax of Quickfire Digital.

Emma Jones, founder of small business support platform Enterprise Nation, part of the consortium of businesses recruiting volunteer mentors for the scheme, said: “It’s humbling to see mentors with such calibre stepping forward to offer their experience and knowledge to the next generation of entrepreneurs.

“Giving confidence and support to future generations of wealth creators is vital if we are going to deliver the boost our future economy needs.”

Led by business support group Newable and including Enterprise Nation and the Association of Business Mentors, the consortium has been grant funded to develop a national network of business leaders and experts who will share their skills and experience with firms on the practical management training course.

Anyone interested in taking part can sign up by visiting the Help to Grow page on the Enterprise Nation website.

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