Business Secretary names top business brains set to boost Help to Grow: Management scheme

Business Secretary @KwasiKwarteng has today (18 May) issued a rallying cry to British businesses, inviting them to scale up through the government’s Help to Grow: Management scheme. 

Speaking at Scaleup Week, the Business Secretary unveiled the members of the scheme’s Expert Advisory Council, including Confederation of British Industry (CBI) President Lord Karan Bilimoria, Natwest CEO Alison Rose and Managing Director of Goldman Sachs Charlotte Keenan.

The council will provide expert insight to ensure the programme meets the needs of small businesses.

The Help to Grow: Management scheme is a new executive training programme delivered by the UK’s leading business schools. This 12-week course will combine a practical curriculum with 1:1 mentoring from a business expert, peer-learning sessions to give businesses the opportunity to learn from one another, and an alumni network.

By the end of the programme participants will develop a tailored business growth plan to lead their business to its full potential.

The scheme is 90% government-funded and will launch at the end of June. It will help small, enterprising businesses to seize every opportunity to grow and is an important part of the government’s Plan for Jobs, promoting opportunity and boosting employment as we recover from the pandemic.

Today, applications have opened for the first business schools. Businesses can also register their interest in the scheme now. Courses will begin from the end of June.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said:

After such a challenging year for British businesses, Scaleup Week is the time for shining a light on how fast-growing firms are adopting new tech and ways of working to shake up how they do things.

Helping small businesses to learn from the best will be central to building back better from the pandemic. Our new A-Team of experts will ensure 30,000 small and medium sized firms across the UK get the very best advice on how to innovate, reach new customers and boost profits so they can expand operations and create more job opportunities.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said:

Growing our small businesses, upskilling our workforce and driving investment are at the very heart of our plan for jobs.

Our Help to Grow scheme will equip thousands of SMEs with the skills and technological know-how that will allow them to succeed. It’s great to have a strong line up of distinguished business leaders on board to help deliver this ambitious programme.

Help to Grow: Management aims to support 30,000 small business leaders to increase productivity, invest and grow their business, while levelling-up productivity across the UK.

By helping firms to adopt modern management techniques and business technologies, the government will unlock their potential and help to level up every part of the country.

The members of the Expert Advisory Council appointed by HM Treasury are:

• Charlotte Keenan (Chair) – Managing Director Goldman Sachs
• Alison Rose- Chief Executive NatWest Group
• Tera Allas CBE, Director of Research and Economics, McKinsey (Member of BtB Productivity Leadership Group)
• Mark Hart, Deputy Director, Enterprise Research Centre (ERC)
• Anthony Impey MBE, CEO, Be the Business (Member of BtB Productivity Leadership Group)
• Ann Francke OBE, CEO, The Chartered Management Institute
• Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, President, Confederation of British Industry
• Byron Dixon OBE, CEO of Micro-fresh
• Karen Lynch, Non-Executive Director for Social Enterprise UK
• Nickyl Raithatha, CEO at Moonpig and Managing Director at Moonpig PhotoBox

The government is working to make the UK the best place in the world to start, scale up and grow a business. Government action to support small businesses includes:

• facilitating over £8 billion of finance through the British Business Bank, which is supporting more than 90,000 SMEs. The Start Up Loans programme, also operated by the British Business Bank, has delivered more than 80,000 loans across the UK with a value of more than £722.3 million since the programme’s launch in 2012
• an action plan to unlock over £20 billion of investment in innovative and high potential businesses. As part of this, British Patient Capital – a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank – has been given £2.5 billion to support UK businesses with high growth potential to access the long-term financing they need to scale up
• tackling late payments, including through the Small Business Commissioner and the recently relaunched Prompt Payment Code, which is setting standards and best practice in payment culture

About Scaleup Week

Scaleup Week brings together scaleup leaders from across the UK to unlock potential and accelerate growth, as part of a week-long series of debates and discussions about opportunities for UK businesses.

The event is organised by the Business Growth Fund and the ScaleUp Institute with the support of the Business Secretary.

Scaleups play a pivotal role in driving the UK’s economic growth and will be crucial to driving recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Scaleup businesses account for 20% of employment among businesses with more than 10 employees, making them a major engine in the government’s Plan for Jobs.

Other speakers at Scaleup Week include Noel Quin, Group Chief Executive of HSBC, the economist and broadcaster Linda Yueh, the founder of Gousto Timo Boldt, and the founder of The Dots Pip Jamieson.

Help to Grow: Management courses at the following business schools are open for applications:

• Aston Business School – 28 June 2021 – West Midlands
• Leeds Business School (Leeds Beckett University) – 14 September 2021 – Yorkshire & Humber
• Coventry Business School – 23 August 2021 – West Midlands
• University of Bradford School of Management – 21 September 2021 – Yorkshire & Humber
• Derby Business School – 5 July 2021 – East Midlands
• Bristol Business School (University of West of England) – 6 September 2021 – South West
• Kingston Business School – 30 August 2021 – London
• University of Leicester School of Business – 13 September 2021 – East Midlands