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Nottingham Business School marks two years of Help to Grow programme

Nottingham Business School (NBS) is celebrating two years of delivering the Help to Grow: Management programme, supporting more than 170 UK small and medium-sized (SME) business leaders to overcome persistent and emerging challenges in a tough economic environment.

    Man and woman sitting at a desk looking at charts
    The 12-week Help to Grow: Management programme is aimed at senior leaders from SMEs

    The government-funded course supports senior business managers to boost performance, resilience, and long-term growth. It covers strategies for 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.

    Over the last two years, NBS, part of Nottingham Trent University, has successfully assisted businesses from a range of sectors, including construction, manufacturing, solicitors, digital marketing agencies, hospitality, leisure, beauty, and wellness.

    Reflecting on how the programme content responds to a changing economic climate, Lynn Oxborrow, Professor in Sustainable Small Business Growth and Director of Help to Grow: Management at NBS, said: “We are in difficult times economically, which means there are many challenges confronting SME leaders, such as high energy and fuel costs, rising interest rates and increasing wage demands, skills shortages, as well as the opportunities and challenges presented by digital adoption.

    “The programme is designed to address these challenges, and more. Participants have benefited not only from the key insight of experienced facilitators, who can tailor the curriculum to each cohort and the issues they face, but also from peer learning and the opportunity to share ideas and best practice among each other.”

    Professor Lynn Oxborrow
    Professor Lynn Oxborrow

    Former participant Alice Hibbert, said: “The Help to Grow course was a useful learning experience, providing an opportunity to step back, reflect and explore new ideas, as well as providing information, models, and resources which I have since applied within my organisation. The mentoring in the final stages of the programme were particularly transformative for me, both for specific workplace projects and my own professional development. I’ve also benefitted from several useful contacts made with others in my cohort since the training concluded.”

    Tom Walters, Board Director at creative agency, The Dairy, said: “The course enabled me to build on my existing learning and progress in areas I was unsure of before, so it was fantastic for my personal development, with skills and learning that I can implement long term and helped my agency to prepare for the future.”

    The 12-week Help to Grow: Management programme is delivered by business experts at NBS, which is Quadruple+ Accredited by EQUIS, AACSB, EFMD BA for International Business - all globally recognised hallmarks of excellence and quality for business education. NBS is also accredited by the Small Business Charter for providing a range of support and development for SMEs. The school is also a PRME Champion and held up as an exemplar and beacon by the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME).

    The programme 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.

    It 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.

    For further information on the course and upcoming September and November start dates, visit www.ntu.ac.uk/helptogrow

    • 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 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. With more than 8,500 students, NBS is also one of UK’s largest business schools.

      NBS is Quadruple+ Accredited by EQUIS, AACSB, EFMD BA for International Business, which are globally recognised hallmarks of excellence and quality for business education. NBS is also accredited by Small Business Charter, providing support and development for SMEs. The school is also a PRME Champion and held up as an exemplar and beacon by the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME).

      About Nottingham Trent University

      Nottingham Trent University (NTU) received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2021 for cultural heritage science research. It is the second time that NTU has been bestowed the honour of receiving a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its research, the first being in 2015 for leading-edge research on the safety and security of global citizens.

      The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent. 86% of NTU’s research impact was assessed to be either world-leading or internationally excellent.

      NTU was awarded The Times and The Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2023 and ranked University of the Year in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023. It was awarded Outstanding Support for Students 2020 (Times Higher Education Awards), University of the Year 2019 (Guardian University Awards, UK Social Mobility Awards), Modern University of the Year 2018 (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide) and University of the Year 2017 (Times Higher Education Awards).

      NTU is the 5th largest UK institution by student numbers, with approximately 40,000 students and more than 4,400 staff located across five campuses. It has an international student population of 7,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.

      Since 2000, NTU has invested £570 million in tools, technology, buildings and facilities.

      NTU is in the UK’s top 10 for number of applications and ranked first for accepted offers (2021 UCAS UG acceptance data). It is also among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and was the first UK university to sign the Social Mobility Pledge.

      NTU is ranked the second most sustainable university in the world in the 2022 UI Green Metric University World Rankings (out of more than 900 participating universities).

    Published on 16 August 2023
    • Category: Business; Press office; Nottingham Business School