Local firms invited to join UK Government-funded business growth course in Coleraine

Applications are now open for businesses in Coleraine to sign up to a UK Government-funded leadership and management course being delivered by Ulster University Business School.

Funded in part by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the new Help to Grow: Management course will offer local small business leaders 50 hours of practical leadership and management training across 12 weeks at Ulster University's Coleraine campus.

Participants will have one-to-one support from a business mentor, access to a network of like-minded business leaders, and a bespoke growth plan to help their business reach its full potential.

The Chartered Association of Business School course is backed by £220 million of government funding, which covers 90% of the costs involved and leaves participants only having to pay a one-off fee of £750.

Aimed at business owners and managers from small to medium sized enterprises (SME) across all business sectors, Help to Grow: Management will help local businesses in Coleraine, and the surrounding areas, boost productivity and grow their companies in order to help create a higher wage economy.

The course can only be delivered by business schools that have achieved the Small Business Charter accreditation. Ulster University Business School will be delivering the course on Monday, October 24.

Urging local businesses to sign up, programme director and senior lecturer at Ulster University, Dr Laura Bradley-McCauley, said: “Ulster University Business School is looking forward to welcoming local Coleraine businesses to the Help to Grow: Management course in October. The programme is applied, very practical and designed to fit in with the existing commitments of busy senior leaders and managers of small to medium-sized businesses.

“There are a total of 12 topic areas across subjects like innovation and growth strategy, customer engagement, building a sustainable business, employee engagement and operations and finance but a third of the course is case study based. All learning is centred around the participants’ own organisation and its aims and objectives.

“Anyone who embarks on the course will come away with a defined growth action plan for their company developed with mentor support and peer support. It really offers businesses here a chance to help make a step change in how they are growing their enterprises.”

Praising the programme, Stephen Miller, director of recruitment at Miller Hospitality joined Help to Grow: Management because the course outcomes aligned with his current business needs.

He added: “As a local entrepreneur, you always want to get to the end goal as quickly and efficiently as possible.

"Help to Grow: Management will hopefully help us as a small business build the foundations appropriately for our expansion. My main goals for the end of the course are to have a much more structured approach to the expansion of the business.

"The overall programme is all about positive changes for the business and how I can bring the team along with me."