Leicester experts help local businesses face COVID-19

Business experts at the University of Leicester have this week launched a fully-funded leadership course for small-to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) facing the impact of COVID-19.

Supported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Small Business Leadership Programme (SBLP) is a free, 10-week training programme for senior leaders in SMEs.

The programme is free and fully funded by the Government to enhance small business resilience and recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to develop potential for future growth and productivity. All business schools delivering the programme have been accredited by the Small Business Charter (SBC).

Martin Quinn, leader of the Small Business Leadership Programme at the University of Leicester School of Business, said:

“The University of Leicester School of Business was proud to build on its long history of providing executive business education this week with the launch of its first three cohorts for the BEIS funded Small Business Leadership Programme run by the Chartered Association of Business Schools.

“We were joined by 75 SMEs from the East Midlands and Oxford-Cambridge Arc regions for the first module on the programme’s core themes of productivity, resilience and sustainability.

“The SMEs will go through a programme designed to build leadership and management capacity to assist them in their recovery from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Experts from the School – including entrepreneurs, business leaders and academics – will cover a range of practical topics in eight 90-minute webinars alongside independent and peer-to-peer learning.

The practical syllabus is open to participants in senior management roles, with at least one direct report, in businesses with have been operating for at least one year with between five and 249 employees.

The Small Business Leadership Programme is being delivered across the country by a consortium of business schools accredited by the Small Business Charter (SBC). Run in partnership with the Small Business Charter, the programme is being delivered by business schools across the country.