Lynne Fox (left) of CREA and Jo Hampson (right) are building a network of over 40 volunteer business mentors across Cumbria in the coming months.
The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has selected just one local agency to deliver its new £4.9 million business mentoring programme in Cumbria. Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency (CREA), with offices in Penrith and Kendal, will be responsible for coordinating the three-year programme which aims to help leaders and senior managers of small to medium sized businesses to develop their skills at no cost.
The NWDA has launched the Mentoring programme as a result of research which shows that significant gaps exist in leadership and management skills in North West businesses. Part of the Government’s ‘Solutions for Business’ portfolio, the scheme is the largest of its kind dedicated specifically to meeting the needs of small businesses in the region and will work by matching leaders and senior managers of small businesses with suitable mentors who can provide practical help by sharing their experiences, knowledge and wisdom.
CREA’s Business Support and Planning Manager, Lynne Fox and local entrepreneur, Jo Hampson will be adding to their existing network of volunteer mentors in the coming months, recruiting a range of client businesses to the programme and delivering one-to-one mentoring to over 150 businesses in the next three years.
“CREA has been using mentoring as an approach to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for several years,” said Lynne, “and we were delighted when NWDA recognised our past experience and asked us to deliver the Mentoring programme for Cumbria.”
“One-to-one mentoring can really help a business to optimize growth, enabling small business leaders and senior managers to be more innovative and entrepreneurial, thus maximizing the full capability of their workforce. Each mentoring relationship will be tailored to meet the needs of each client and we will aim to match local business leaders and senior managers with mentors who have worked in and understand their industry.”
Jo Hampson is working with CREA on the delivery of the programme and she has plenty of personal experience of mentoring in the food and drink sector as well as a background in public service. “The other big plus is that Jo brings to this project her own network of Cumbrian business experts and enthusiasts,” said Lynne, “so we know that there are some great potential mentors out there who could really help growing businesses in the county.”
“We have a core of 20 enthusiastic and experienced mentors across Cumbria but we want to focus their work on businesses in a range of sectors and of different sizes,” said Jo. “Mentoring can work well for medium-sized engineering or manufacturing businesses as well as for one-man (or woman) companies. We held a couple of first meetings with mentors and prospective client companies in November and it would be great to hear from interested managers as soon as possible so that they can be included in future mentoring partnerships.”
Bob Clark is Executive Director of CREA: “Our programmes are delivering valuable practical support to businesses across Cumbria and there is huge potential in areas such as energy and environmental technologies, food and drink and the creative and digital sectors. This new programme will ensure that the learning and expertise of our senior managers and business owners is passed on to those who are creating and developing tomorrow’s success.”
If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a mentor or if you think that your business would benefit from working with a mentor in the coming months, please contact Jo Hampson (jo@crea.co.uk or 01931 716638) or Lynne Fox (lynne@crea.co.uk or 01539 726624) as soon as possible or contact Business Link Northwest on 0845 00 66 888 or at www.businesslinknw.co.uk/mentoring.
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