The inaugural Help to Grow: Management Alumni event, hosted by Ulster University Business School (UUBS), took place recently to celebrate the success of 80 Northern Ireland SMEs completing the programme. This included businesses from sectors such as Construction, Healthcare, Hospitality and Tourism, Professional Services and Media.
Held at Ulster University’s Belfast campus, the event provided Help to Grow: Management course alumni with the opportunity to connect with businesses from different cohorts and share experiences of how the programme helped grow their company.
The Help to Grow: Management course, which supports small businesses in Northern Ireland to increase their growth and productivity potential, is 90% subsidised by the UK Government, meaning it costs participating businesses just £750.
Delivered over 50 hours, participants avail of 16 hours of online classes and 16 hours of face-to-face workshops. In addition, all course participants are provided with a mentor, with 10 hours of one-to-one dedicated support, to help them apply the learning from the modules to their own business context, making the programme inherently practical and tailored to the individual business.
The scheme is designed to work around existing commitments and covers key areas including strategy and innovation, building vision and brand, adopting digital technology, growing national and international markets, engaging and inspiring teams, and creating customer value. At the end of the programme, SME businesses develop a growth action plan specific to their own business needs.
Attending the event was Cara McCartney, Development and Creative Engagement Manager at Millennium Forum Theatre and Conference Centre. Cara said;
“I can’t praise the course enough! Over 12 weeks, it provided me with the perfect blend of online, face-to-face sessions and an invaluable 10 hours of professional mentoring, which accommodated my hectic schedule. I feel like a more confident leader, and it has empowered me to take on more challenges”.
Help to Grow: Management Programme Director, Laura Bradley-McCauley, added;
“Business experts within UUBS have a long history of working with SMEs across NI, helping to support them to excel and grow. The Help to Grow: Management programme is aimed at those business owners and leaders from small to medium sized enterprises (SME) across all business sectors, to help boost productivity and grow their companies in order to help create a higher wage economy.
Applications are now open for the next course starting on Wednesday 6th September 2023 in Belfast.
For more information and to register for Help to Grow visit www.ulster.ac.uk/helptogrow