School of Business

Oadby and Wigston Growth and Innovation Programme

Welcome to the Oadby and Wigston Growth and Innovation Programme, a series of practical business masterclasses, delivered by the University of Leicester School of Business and fully-funded by the UK government via Oadby and Wigston Borough Council.

If you are an SME, sole trader, microbusiness or start-up within the borough and are looking to harness, develop and drive forward your approach to innovation and growth, then this programme is designed to inspire and support you.

The programme, running between November 2025 and March 2026, is available on a fully-funded basis to any registered business with 1-249 employees, including start-ups within Oadby and Wigston.

Programme overview

This bespoke programme is designed to stimulate business growth and innovation through active participation in:

  • An initial diagnostic: an onboarding questionnaire designed to enable the learning to be tailored to you particular needs (required).
  • In-person masterclass: five thematic half-day masterclasses at the University of Leicester School of Business with breakout group activities organised according to business size, sector and maturity (you can choose to attend 1, 2, 3, 4 or all 5 masterclasses).
  • Online peer coaching: 'Growth Leadership Peer Coaching' is designed to support and help you plan your next steps - you will join one of two groups depending on whether you are an SME or a micro/start up business (optional though highly recommended).

All sessions are interactive and practical, helping you not only to gain new knowledge and skills but to apply your learning within your own work context.

Masterclass delivery

Duration: 9:30am - 12:30pm
Format: In-person interactive workshops at the University of Leicester School of Business
Pre-attendance: Details of optional pre-reading or equipment requirements will be shared in advance of each masterclass
Certificates: A Certificate of Completion will be presented to participants attending 4 out of 5 masterclasses across the programme.

 

1. The Business Strategy Growth Masterclass

Date: 18 November 2025

Facilitator: Tobias Gould, Honorary Fellow at the University of Leicester School of Business and Director of Business Innovation at Community Enterprise Engine.

Session overview:
This masterclass will get you excited about strategic business planning.  You will learn about the power of strategy to improve decision making, communications, products and services.  It will help you think big and set new directions.

Learning outcomes:
By the end of the masterclass you will:

  • Be able to describe strategy and the power of strategic thinking to a friend or colleague.
  • Develop or review your long-term vision and goals.
  • Be able to select which planning tools to use to create strategic options.
  • Be able to harness the power of strategy to improve your business plans, models and offerings.

2. The AI for Marketing Masterclass

Date: 3 December 2025

Facilitator: Professor Paul Baines, Head of Executive Education and Professor of Political Marketing

Session overview:
This introductory masterclass is designed to demystify artificial intelligence and show how you can leverage AI tools to enhance your marketing efforts - without needing technical expertise or large budgets.

Learning outcomes:
By the end of the masterclass you will:

  • Understand the basics of AI and its relevance to marketing.
  • Be able to identify AI tools suitable for your business.
  • Gain confidence in experimenting with AI-driven marketing strategies.
  • Leave with a simple, actionable plan to start using AI.

 

3. The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Masterclass

Date: 13 January 2026

Facilitator: Dr Francis Donbesuur, Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship

Session overview:
This masterclass will share practical strategies to identify new business opportunities and engage you in hands-on activities that drive innovation and creativity.  Is it designed to help you explore ideas and approaches to drive growth and stay competitive in changing markets.

Learning outcomes:
By the end of the masterclass you will:

  • Be able to identify and evaluate local (and global) business opportunities.
  • Apply creative problem-solving techniques to generate innovative solutions, products and services.
  • Leverage resources, partnerships, networks and entrepreneurial ecosystems for scaling and growth.
  • Develop an innovative action plan.

4. The Export Masterclass

Date: 3 February 2026

Facilitator: Dr Ash Sadeghi, Associate Professor in International Business

Session overview:
This practical masterclass introduces the essentials of exporting, explaining why you should consider internationalisation, how to assess export readiness and how to evaluate opportunities and risks when entering new markets.  You will be introduced to key references for sourcing reliable information on international markets and for conducting market analysis.  Using real-world tools and examples, the masterclass will guide you in developing export strategies, managing operations, and achieving sustainable growth in international markets.  Finally, you will learn how to formulate a comprehensive export growth plan, integrating market selection, entry strategy, and resource allocation tailored to SME conditions.

Learning outcomes:
By the end of the masterclass you will:

  • Explain why you should consider internationalisation, identifying motivations and the push and pull factors that drive exporting.
  • Assess the readiness of your business, recognising strengths and weaknesses, and resource gaps that affect the ability to expand internationally.
  • Conduct market analysis and selection for exporting, applying structured tools to evaluate the opportunities and risks in different markets and prioritise international markets.
  • Develop effective entry strategies for exporting, choosing modes such as direct exporting, agents, distributors, partnerships, or digital channels in line with your context.

5. The Finance for Growth Masterclass

Date: 5 March 2026

Facilitator: Dr Rachel English, Associate Professor of Accountancy

Session overview:
Led by Dr Rachel English, Chartered Accountant, this masterclass will empower you to develop budgets to enable financial planning for decision making.  It will guide you on how to design a cashflow forecast and evaluate when a business may need finance.  You will investigate different sources of finance available to small businesses and start-ups.

Learning outcomes:
By the end of the masterclass you will:

  • Have a sound understanding of budgets and monetary control.
  • Be able to create a cashflow forecast.
  • Identify when extra finance will be required.
  • Be able to gain knowledge on the various types of financing available to start ups and small businesses.

Growth and Leadership Peer Coaching Sessions

Dates: February/March 2026

Format: Online, two-hours

Facilitator: Tim Elliot, experience business coach and mentor

Two tailored peer coaching sessions aimed at embedding the learning from masterclasses and continuing to stimulate development of your growth action plan.

Session 1: Supporting sole traders, microbusinesses and start ups.
Session 2: Focused on fostering SME peer support.

Why join?

Many business owners, managers and leaders have undertaken little or no management training and may be lacking the confidence, knowledge or skills needed to take a serious, thoughtful and informed approach to effective, innovation, successful change and impactful growth.

This programme is designed to help you tackle challenges and realise opportunities, gain fresh perspectives and build your confidence, develop skills and stimulate innovation and renewed productivity.  Our interactive, problem-focused approach ensures participants leave with practical tools and strategies to grow their businesses for the long term.  Participants are invited to attend all sessions or those which are of most relevance and value.

Eligibility

This programme is available to Oadby and Wigston based business owners, directions and any employee within the business for whom it would be beneficial.  Up to two places per business are initially available on each of the five masterclasses but with the option to secure further places, if available, within the fortnight before each masterclass date.

There is significant flexibility for business owners to decide if this opportunity is for themselves or which employees would gain most value from attending each of the five masterclasses.  One employee might attend all five masterclasses, or different employees might participate in one or two each - whichever works best for your employees and your business.

Next steps

Funding

This project is funded by the UK government via Oadby and Wigston Borough Council, through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.  The UK Shared Prosperity Fund was a central pillar of the UK government's Levelling Up agenda, providing £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025.  This has now been extended for a further year until March 2026.  The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.

Additional resources

You may also be interested in three complementary programmes providing related support:

  1. Help to Grow: Management Essentials: A short, video-based government-funded course available at no cost and focuses on the essential business concepts required for growth, helping you think about these ideas in the context of your business.
  2. Help to Grow: Management: A 12-week programme starting on 9 January 2026 for owners and senior leaders in businesses with 5-249 employees focussed on innovations, resilience, productivity and growth.  90% government-funded with an additional 10% bursary available from the School of Business.
  3. Climate Leadership and Action Programme: Is your organisation ready to meet new sustainability expectations from clients, suppliers and tenders?  Join our fully-funded Climate Leadership and Action Programme from 27 October 2025 and leave with a tailored, UK government-aligned sustainability action plan.  This six-week programme is designed to accelerate your progress embedding sustainability across your business.  It combines expert-led learning, practical tools, and 1:1 support to help you develop a tailored Sustainability Action Plan you can begin implementing straight away.

    

 

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