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Businesses offered chance to rebuild and refocus with the launch of Help to Grow at Nottingham Business School

The government-backed Help to Grow: Management course is set to launch at Nottingham Business School (NBS), offering leaders of small and medium businesses (SMEs) the chance to rebuild, refocus and move their organisation forward following the pandemic.

    Women together in a room
    Help to Grow: Management participants will learn alongside local peers

    The first cohort of businesses to benefit from the programme includes SMEs with products ranging from auto parts through to children’s leisure activities, and services from digital marketing to waste reduction.

    Help to Grow: Management is aimed at both new and experienced decision makers at SMEs. It covers strategies for growth and innovation, leading high-performance teams, and digital adoption, as well as marketing and branding, financial management and responsible business practices. The topics have been developed specifically with an SME focus, including real life case studies to inspire and inform future growth plans.

    Delivered by leading UK business schools all accredited by the Small Business Charter, Help to Grow: Management includes 50 hours of in-depth training, 1:1 business mentoring, and the chance to hear from inspirational business leaders and learn alongside local peers, with access to a national alumni network.

    Dr Lynn Oxborrow, programme director at NBS, said: “The course is designed to build confidence among SME leaders and help to stimulate rapid growth and support recovery from recent challenges. By the end of the programme, participants will have developed a tailored business growth plan to increase productivity, grow revenue, and take their business to the next level.”

    NBS offers a range of business support, including leadership and management development, workshops to support strategic growth, access to graduate talent, funding for innovation, and access to facilities.

    In the last two years NBS has supported the growth and resilience of more than 200 SMEs through the UpScaler programme, enabled over 100 SMEs to collectively respond to Covid-19 challenges through the Small Business Leadership Programme and encouraged more than 500 SME employees to upskill through short course programmes such as Women in Leadership, Sustainable and Inclusive Leadership and Practical Marketing Skills.

    The businesses belong to a wide range of sectors, from construction and manufacturing to solicitors and digital marketing agencies, hospitality and leisure to beauty and wellness.

    Matthew Dunn, managing director, Slo Drinks, took part in NBS’ Leading to Grow and Upscaler programmes. He said:“The support we’ve received has given us the confidence to think about things from a different perspective, set some bigger goals and then go for them. I was looking for knowledge and skills to take a small company and grow it overseas. The support has been fantastic and has enabled us to take the business in a completely new direction.”

    The 12-week Help to Grow: Management programme is delivered by business experts at NBS and is 90% subsidised by the government, so the cost to SMEs is just £750.

    Participants can complete the course around their existing work commitments and access learning through a blend of online and face-to-face sessions – all based on what is relevant to SMEs. To be eligible SMEs must have five or more employees and have been trading for at least 12 months.

    To find out more about how NBS might be able to support you through Help to Grow, email or visit the website

    • Notes for editors

      Press enquiries please contact Helen Breese, Public Relations Manager, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8751, or via email.

      About Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University

      Nottingham Business School (NBS) at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a world leader in experiential learning and personalisation of business, management and economics education and research, combining academic excellence with positive impact on people, business and society.  NBS has an unrivalled level of engagement with business, public and voluntary organisations and thus is known as the business school for business. With more than 6,000 students, NBS is also one of UK’s largest business schools.

      NBS is accredited by EQUIS and AACSB, which are internationally recognised hallmarks of excellence and quality for business education. The School is one of only six UK business schools recognised as a PRME Champion and held up as an exemplar by the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME).

      Nottingham Trent University (NTU) was named University of the Year 2019 in the Guardian University Awards. The award was based on performance and improvement in the Guardian University Guide, retention of students from low-participation areas and attainment of BME students.

      NTU was also the Times Higher Education University of the Year 2017, and The Times and Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2018. These awards recognise NTU for its high levels of student satisfaction, its quality of teaching, its engagement with employers, and its overall student experience.

      The university has been rated Gold in the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework – the highest ranking available.

      It is one of the largest UK universities. With nearly 32,000 students and more than 4,000 staff located across four campuses, the University contributes £900m to the UK economy every year. With an international student population of more than 3,000 from around 100 countries, the University prides itself on its global outlook.

      The university is passionate about creating opportunities and its extensive outreach programme is designed to enable NTU to be a vehicle for social mobility. NTU is among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and was awarded University of the Year in the UK Social Mobility Awards 2019.

    Published on 22 September 2021
    • Category: Business; Press office; Nottingham Business School