Help to Grow Management course is a 90% government-funded leadership growth programme for SME leaders, delivered by industry experts at Kingston University Business School.
On 27th March, as the sun sat on another year of business growth, it was time for us to gather and celebrate the remarkable achievements of our graduating cohorts of Year 3 Help to Grow: Management Course. This completion ceremony wasn’t just a symbolic gesture; it’s a testament to the commitment, hard work, and growth each SME leader has exhibited throughout their journey.
Following the musical welcome by Yao and Mihkel, Dr. Bahare Afrahi, Director Help to Grow Management at Kingston University and founder of Innovation Playground Kingston University Business Training, welcomed everyone. Dr. Afrahi gave a moving speech acknowledging the commitment of each SME leader and reiterated the importance of a strategic and innovative approach to growth. She also shared her views on innovative thinking and reminded of life as a pie to measure the quality of a life – if one section gets bigger, the others shrink.
Soon after the welcome speech, Help to Grow Speakers, Glenn Bowering and Juan L Soon joined Dr. Afrahi and handed out certificates to graduating SME leaders from a diverse background.
Among the graduating SME leaders, were Jennifer Walker, who is the Head of Growth at Bandstand and Tamsyn Jefferson-Harvey who runs a Business Accountancy Business joined by Jess Guard, Steve Bushill, Saša Gostić, Natalja Petkune, Conor Bath and many others. Graduating participants commented how the Alumni network, 1.2.1 business mentoring and networking opportunities make Help to Grow Management a unique knowledge exchange programme and bring invaluable support to SME leaders to last a lifetime.
Paula Middleton, Executive Consultant at Centre for Political & Diplomatic Studies Ltd, and Help to Grow Alumni, also attended and received a certificate on behalf of her colleague Marketta Brennan. Paula shared how this leadership management course has transformed her business growth. She highlighted how the applied learning of strategic innovation from Help to Grow has driven the success of CPDS.
Ahead of the networking event, Andrei Ceteras, our Help to Grow Alumni, founder and director of Medukcare spoke about the impact of Help to Grow Management on his domiciliary care business and shared a valuable insight on his business growth journey. He commended how the valuable knowledge of Kingston University speakers that helped transform his business post-covid and increased it revenue by 250% in 1 year.
To register for May cohort:
Kingston Business School, Kingston University | Small Business Charter