Help to Grow programme

What is Help to Grow?

Improve business performance, efficiency, and resilience in 12 weeks

Help to Grow is an executive development programme designed to take SME business performance and growth potential to the next level. Created for founders, and those in leadership roles in SMEs, participants will develop practical and strategic skills that increase resilience, capacity to innovate, and long-term productivity benefits, within their company. 

This 12-week government funded* leadership course, delivered at the University of Essex, will explore strategies for innovation and growth, effective approaches to marketing, building high-performing team dynamics, and how to establish long-term financial sustainability.

You will hear from a range of industry and academic subject matter experts while working alongside like-minded business owners and operators, providing an invaluable opportunity to both learn and build your business network simultaneously. 

Benefits

1. Finish the programme with a bespoke Growth Action Plan for your business
2. Develop a toolkit to nurture innovation, productivity and financial sustainability
3. Grow confidence with new and enhanced leadership skills
4. Establish pathways for change management and adopting best practice

Course content

The course is delivered over 12 weeks (approximately 50 hours) through a combination of in-person and online MS Teams sessions. Sessions will take place at the Innovation Centre, Knowledge Gateway on the University’s Colchester Campus. It will cover:

Costs

• The course is 90% funded by the government*.
• Businesses pay just £750 per participant.
• Eligibility criteria apply. 

A limited number of £750 bursaries are available – email helptogrow@essex.ac.uk for more information.

Eligibility criteria

• Be a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) based in the United Kingdom
• Be from any industry sector, employing between 5 and 249 people
• Have been operational for at least one year
• Be a decision-maker or member of the senior management team within the business, such as Chief Executive, Finance Director, Operations Director etc. with at least one line report.

Please note, if your business employs between 10 and 249 people, you can send up to two participants on the course. Unfortunately, due to external terms related to the funding, charities are not eligible to participate.

Still not sure?

• 93% of participants would recommend the programme.
• 90% share new insights across their organisation.
• 78% adopted best practice approaches based on learnings from the course.