Applications Now Open for Aston Programme for Small Business Growth: Cohort 3

Aston Programme for Small Business Growth

The six-month programme provides practical workshops taught by experts in SME leadership and management, and one-to-one support from an experienced business mentor.

Find out more here: www.aston.ac.uk/smallbusinessgrowth  

And... Best of all it’s free!

The Aston Programme for Small Business Growth is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and is free for SMEs who have an operational address within the Black Country, Coventry and Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham and Solihull or The Marches (transitional area only… Telford and Shropshire) LEP regions.

Please, confirm your operational registered business postcode:

Eligibility:

Before you apply find out if you are eligible for the programme first by clicking here.

Thinking of applying?

Before you apply it would be really useful to learn more about you and your business so that we can distinguish if you are in fact eligible for the programme before you take the time to submit your application form.

(Unless, you are absolutely confident of course, then by all means submit your application straight away! And we’ll be in touch if we need any further information from you).

If you wouldn’t mind answering the following questions below upon your response to this email:

  • How long have you been trading for?
  • How many employees do you have?
  • What is the nature of your business?
  • What is your position in the company?
  • Your business needs to be an SME as defined by HMRC and meet the De Minimis State Aid criteria – has received no more than 200,000 euros State Aid in the last 36 months. Is this you?
  • Have you applied for this programme before?

Please note businesses in retail or agriculture sectors are not eligible for this programme. 

You’ll be pleased to know that the process of applying is really very simple. It should take approx. 30 minutes to complete the application form. By you completing the form it gives us an insight into the nature of your business and how you would like it to grow.

If you are confident that you are eligible and would like to apply please, complete and return the attached application form to centreforgrowth@aston.ac.uk before the next deadline date.

Cohort 3: Deadline Date

  • Closing Deadline: 25th October
  • Interview Date: 29th November

We are actively looking for businesses to apply for cohort 3 which will begin, January 2018

Aston Programme for Small Business Growth is funded until March 2019 and we are looking to work with a total of 125 businesses in total.

We are proud to say that…

All of the 2015 participants surveyed after completing the programme are anticipating significant growth in turnover with 60% expecting turnover growth in excess of 200% and 48% also projecting employee numbers to grow in excess of 200% by 2018. You can read some of the case studies here.

Would you like to be one of the businesses enrolled onto our programme?

You’ve already expressed an interest and so this is the first step to take.

The Next Steps…

  • Submit an application before the closing deadline ( 25th October, 2017 )

The Shortlisting Process…

  • The panel will read all of the applications and select a shortlist to interview.
  • If your application is shortlisted you will be invited to attend an interview.
  • If successful at interview stage; you will be granted a place on the programme.

Cohort 3

  • Duration: 6 months
  • Workshops: 9 Workshops, usually fortnightly (mid-week)
  • Duration: Workshops currently run between 1pm – 7pm
  • Mentor: Up to 15 hours face to face, one-to-one support from an experienced business mentor

We understand that businesses usually find it useful to set-up in the morning and so, we give the leeway to enable this by starting the workshops later on in the day. If you feel differently, let us know, we take all feedback constructively and tailor each programme to suit the different group of businesses enrolled per cohort.

Core Workshops

  • Introduction to Your Network - 25/01/2018
  • Growth and Goals - 31/01/2018
  • Opportunities and Innovation - 13/02/2018
  • Leadership - 07/03/2018
  • Finance for the Business Leader - 21/25/03/2018
  • Culture and People - 25/04/2018
  • Marketing Strategies - 18/04/2018
  • Operations and Processes - 16/05/2018
  • Options for External Finance - 04/06/2018
  • Presenting your Growth Strategy - 20/06/2018

For more information and details on topics covered in the workshops please click here.

Additional workshops

In addition to the workshops listed above, a small number of additional shorter workshops will be delivered across the duration of the programme. These workshops will provide additional value to the programme and some will be bespoke according to the cohort needs.  

Want to find out more?

To book a phone meeting with myself or a member of the team please, email with a convenient date and time to suit you.

APFSBG Breakfast Meetings:

We have recently run breakfast meetings in each of our LEP regions (Black Country, Coventry and Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham and Solihull and The Marches) to offer businesses that are potentially interested in applying for programme the opportunity to meet the team, hear in more detail what the programme entails, ask questions and receive application support: Breakfast Meeting Date: To be confirmed.

If you are interested in registering your interest to attend a future breakfast meeting please email to register and confirm your name, business and location.