Trade Association Update: September

We’ve all seen the headlines: the current economic landscape and cost of living are holding back economic growth. It’s a sentiment shared by businesses of all sizes from each sector and region.

The answer is just as clear: in order to ensure sustainable growth in the nation, the business community and the government should create and maintain an environment where firms are supported at every stage to boost their performance and resilience.

Trade Associations are a powerful force for good in helping to achieve this.

Central to the commitments of a renewed CBI is our promise to work more closely with Trade Associations. Throughout our work we will crowd in your insights and intelligence, and signpost the fantastic work you’re involved in to represent and lead your sector.

As a start, we’re happy to share an article from The Small Business Charter on the Help to Grow: Management Course, which supports small firms and equip them with the tools to grow their business, and how trade associations can work with them to support their members.

Boosting the confidence of the UK’s small business leaders

How does a small business not only survive but thrive, growing year-on-year, attracting and retaining profitable customers, and engaging employees? What support is available to members of associations like yours, to achieve this and support your members?

In 2021, the 90% government-funded Help to Grow: Management Course was launched to help SMEs boost productivity, growth and innovation. At the end of March 2023, 3,643 small business leaders from almost every industry across the UK had completed the course. Many more have participated since, and course completers have given it a big thumbs up with 90% of those surveyed saying they would recommend it to a peer.

Help to Grow: Management helps business leaders and senior managers, like those in your member firms develop their leadership skills which, in turn, leads to improvements in business performance. Individuals sign up for many reasons but there are three personal drivers that stand out.

Isolation

Business leaders are continuously expected to present the very best version of their business and its performance, keeping any concerns about winning new contracts, or staff turnover to themselves. This can lead to a feeling of isolation and loneliness, despite a diary full of meetings with clients, employees and suppliers. Being able to talk honestly with peers experiencing the same doubts and fears, or challenges, is invaluable.

Alongside the 12 modules, the course also includes 10 hours of 1-2-1 mentoring. Course alumni, Louise Nicholson, is the Founder and Managing Director of Little Superstars, a sports and holiday club for children in Warrington and found this particularly valuable. 

”It can be difficult to talk to staff because they are not looking at business problems from the same perspective, so the ability to explain my organisation's challenges and thoughts with a mentor was very useful.”

Confidence

Running a business requires many wide-ranging decisions to be made each day. Help to Grow: Management is designed to equip your members with the knowledge to make those decisions with more confidence.

Greg O’Connell, Managing Director of County Durham-based GOC Construction Management told us, “Being taught by people who understand how to run a business, because they’re at the coal face themselves, is so refreshing and invaluable. They provide real world examples and perspectives in a digestible format with key insights on the best tools and approaches they have personally tried and tested.”

It’s not just about learning new things either. Understanding how to use established and proven business management tools provides the confidence to execute against business decisions already made.

In a recent evaluation completed by Ipsos, 91% of course completers surveyed reported greater confidence in managing their business.

Fundamentals of running a business

For the entrepreneur who follows their passion and then finds themselves responsible for a team of 10 or 15 people, the responsibility for those people, and the need to be knowledgeable about the fundamentals of running a business, can be daunting.

Cheylesmore Accountants’ founder and CEO Manny Rai is a good example.

”Starting my own business has always been a long-term aspiration of mine. Since I was young, I wanted to set up my own company and work for myself. It wasn’t a matter of if, it was when. There is nothing else like it, knowing that every decision you make directly impacts the success of the company, you get hooked. But I didn’t anticipate all the challenges that come with leadership and running your own business.”

Founder of Scoop and Waffle Helen Barker-Benfield found herself in a similar situation. ”I’ve never run a business before; it can be quite alienating. I wanted to learn how to do it properly and to put operational processes and marketing in place.”

Who can attend Help to Grow: Management?

While the eligibility criteria for the course only requires businesses to have been operational for a year, Help to Grow: Management still attracts a large number of more experienced leaders who are keen to invest in their leadership skills.

Huddersfield-based Accu had a turnover of £8m a year in 2021 but co-founder Martin Ackroyd still found the course useful. “While business was good, you still ask if there’s more you could be doing for you and your team. I knew I needed greater knowledge in areas such as finance and HR – and that’s exactly what Help to Grow: Management provided me with.”

Two years after the first course began, we are seeing evidence that this course is making a real difference to small businesses across the UK. Businesses have doubled or tripled their revenue, increased customers, launched new products, and employed more staff.  

The course is available for small business leaders and senior managers that work for an organisation that employs between 5 and 249 employees, and has been operational for at least a year. Delivered by 60 Small Business Charter-accredited business schools, cohorts run throughout the year and across the UK. You can find out more information about the course here. Alternatively, email [email protected] for a discussion about bespoke information for your trade association.