Sometimes it’s simply building confidence as an entrepreneur, other times it’s transforming communications to reach more people. The Lloyds Bank Academy helps businesses to thrive.

The Academy is an online learning hub which offers a wide range of lessons which are open to everyone and are completely free.

Topics and Webinars include:

• Digital Skills

• Leadership Skills

• Managing your business’s finances

• Keeping your business safe

The Help to Grow: Management Course runs over 12 weeks and includes online and face-to-face sessions, 1-to-1 mentoring and peer networking.

With just one session a week, it is designed to fit around existing work and personal commitments. You will finish the course ready to lead on the delivery of increased profitability, innovation and growth.

Help to Grow has been developed by industry experts and entrepreneurs, and is delivered by the UK’s leading business schools. You will apply the learnings to develop your own growth plan, so it is intended to be practical and easy to relate to your own business. You’ll also receive additional one-to-one mentoring as part of the course to help you with this. 

You’ll work alongside other business leaders and managers, and current participants have fed back that a significant benefit has been the strong network of peers they have built through the programme. This has allowed them to share ideas and discuss their challenges with other like-minded business leaders facing some of the same day-to-day pressures. 

  By the end of the course, you will: 

• Develop a growth action plan uniquely tailored to helping you lead and grow your business. 

• Recognise what drives productivity and growth in your market and understand what this means for your business. 

To join the Help to Grow: Management Course you should:

• Be a member of the senior leadership team and have direct reports.

• Work for a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise based in the United Kingdom

• Employ between 5 and 249 employees

The Help to Grow: Management Course has a commercial value of £7,500 and is 90% funded by government.  

You can view all the cohorts in your region and register your interest by following this link – once on the webpage, if you put your town/city or postcode into the search bar, then it will sort the live cohorts by those closest to you. From there, you can view the cohort schedule by clicking ‘full course details’ and register your interest on that page. 

The Association of Business Mentors (ABM) is very active in the business support sector as the trade association and professional body for business mentors in the UK. If you’re looking for expert business support you can look through their membership directory for someone who may be able to help.

The ABM is recognized by HM Government for its work. Currently, the ABM is part of a three-member consortium which is delivering the government’s Help to Grow (HTG) programme for SMEs, which has been very successful for SMEs.      

The ABM is a membership organization with members throughout the UK, providing benefits and support for its members. The ABM is owners by its members and is not for profit. All ABM members and mentors are proven business people, all with extensive and business experience, especially in the SME sector.

Help to Grow: Management Essentials is a free, online course that explains the essential business concepts required for growth aimed at SME business owners. It is funded by UK Government and part of the Help to Grow programme.

Help to Grow: Management Essentials was created by the team of SME experts behind the 12-week Help to Grow: Management Course.

The content is divided into three modules. Each module contains bite-sized videos and resources to help you think about the ideas in the context of your business.

There are 17 videos, each lasting 5 to 7 minutes, which you can consume at your own pace.

Ready to get started? Complete the short registration form to get instant access.