University of Worcester extends Help to Grow Management course for another three years

In today’s unpredictable economy, small and medium-sized businesses need more than resilience — they need the skills and confidence to adapt and grow. The University of Worcester’s Help to Grow Management programme, 90% government funded, is giving local leaders the tools, strategies and networks to do just that…

In the modern economic landscape, SMEs face a constant challenge. How can you grow while adapting to change; and make sure it’s sustainable?

Market volatility, regulatory and policy changes, talent retention and more, contending with uncertainty has become a big part of modern business.

For leaders trying to navigate this terrain, the University of Worcester’s Help to Grow Management course offers a lifeline. It provides senior leaders with the skills they need to boost business performance and leadership skills so they’re not just surviving the tough times; they’re thriving in them.

The course is part-government funded and delivered by the University of Worcester’s Business School for senior leaders. Across 12 weeks, participants are given the tools they need to strengthen their businesses in areas such as brand development, building a high-performance workplace culture, strategic growth and much more.

It also covers approaches to digital adoption, financial management and responsible business practices, and is designed to be studied around the work commitments of the busy leaders who enrol.

Through Help to Grow, participants are encouraged to look at their practices and ask, ‘what could we do better?’.

Sometimes this is about addressing a weakness, other times it’s about ensuring that strengths are taken full advantage of; course members are guided through processes which help them assess what they’re doing, identify vulnerabilities and plan for long-term growth.

It’s 90% funded by the government, and businesses only contribute the remaining 10% of the total cost.

Now that the University has announced that the course will be delivered for a further 3 years, it’s the perfect time to find out more about how Help to Grow can help you develop yourself, your business, and your networks.

The next cohort of students will begin learning on October 2. For more details on how to join please contact Laura Swain at L.swain@worc.ac.uk

 

Case Study
The strength of the Help to Grow Management course is that it helps participants apply their learning directly to their businesses.

Leaders are encouraged to bring their real-life challenges and their university learning together to come up with genuine solutions to problems and promote real growth.
One standout success story is Richard Sadler, Managing Director of CJC Aggregates & Landscaping Supplies in Upton Snodsbury. The firm started during one of the most challenging times in recent memory.

“We started our business during Covid, and it grew very quickly,” said Richard. “I’d spent my life selling to big businesses but never run my own business and that’s why Help to Grow appealed to me.”
Richard said: “The course enabled me to identify a weakness in the business, which was that we’ve got great data on our customers, but we had no customer relationship management systems in place.”

He continued: “We’ve now addressed that, and coupled with other changes we’ve made, our retail business is up 50% in the last quarter on the same time last year, and our B2B (Business to Business) is up 20%, which is brilliant. I’m really pleased at how we continue to grow.”

Based on the outskirts of Worcester, CJC is fast becoming a big name in selling hard landscaping products to trade and non-trade customers.

In uncertain times, connections become more and more important. The course helps foster a community of business leaders who support and learn from one another.

Peer discussions, mentoring and networking create opportunities for collaboration which extends far beyond the classroom.

Richard said: “Someone who was on the course at the same time as me has now actually become a really great customer, we’ve been able to put a load of work each other’s way and we’ve got a great trading relationship.”

Scott Andrews, Head of Worcester Business School
I think one of the greatest opportunities that Help to Grow brings local leaders and managers is that they’re surprised by the extent to which they’re facing very similar challenges.

They not only receive inputs from the front of the classroom, and we have some incredibly knowledgeable individuals who present to them on a weekly basis, but they’re able to learn from one another as well.

Looking at the strengths and weaknesses of your business through different lenses and seeing other people’s perspective is genuinely helpful for people, and they’ve also got that coaching and support from the University to encourage them too.

They’re able to take that learning straight back into their workplace and see what sticks, and what they need to do differently; sometimes it’s just about asking how we can rethink things, big and small.

We had one person who ran a hands-on business, and I met up with him shortly after he finished the course and I asked him what it did for him. He said it helped him learn how to put down his tools and pick up the computer. He told me he now employs 9 people and business is booming.

This is the only Help to Grow Management programme in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire area, and it’s already making such a difference to businesspeople across the region.

By now, we’ve had 50 people come through the Help to Grow Management Programme, and we’re now seeing a strong alumni network building. They meet up and network, and we have had several of them progress onto our Executive MBA programmes, so you can see it’s invigorating that learning process for a lot of people.

I’ve been delighted to hear about the positive impact that course has had on Richard and the team at CJC Aggregates and Landscaping supplies, and as with all of our participants we’re all looking forward to seeing them continue to grow.

For many people the course could be the first time on a campus since their university days, or it could be the first time they’ve ever been to a university and that can seem daunting. Very quickly we get around that and people become comfortable in the environment and are ready to start their learning and development.

For more information on the Help to Grow course, visit the University of Worcester website.