Help to Grow continues to make an impact on our local SMEs

Course helps businesses review their current position and plan for growth.

The 90% Government funded training programme was set up to support business growth and the University of Brighton is one of 60 universities in the UK to deliver this.

It’s a 12-week course delivered face to face and online and covers all areas needed to review your current business, find gaps and opportunities and produce a business growth plan. All with the knowledge and support of university experts and your own one to one mentor.

To celebrate their 250th business leader graduating from Help to Grow Brighton they have been catching up with people who took the course over the last 3 years to find out the impact that the programme has had on their business and on themselves as business leaders.

Richard Worsfold at Branding Box, a brand and digital marketing agency, graduated from the Crawley programme in 2024.

He said: “At the time of the course, there was only me and one other employee at Branding Box. Less than a year later, we’ve just recruited our sixth team member.

“I realised I spend a lot of time on admin within the business, so I took on a Virtual Assistant, who helps me with that side of things, freeing up my time to work on developing the business.

“We have increased our turnover and profits substantially.  Help to Grow opens your eyes to what you can achieve in your business and gets you on the road to achieving it.”

Another business leader who saw an increase in sales after implementing changes following Help to Grow is Rebecca Smith, of Pruden and Smith luxury jewellers in Ditchling, who took the course last year.

She said: “After 35 years as a brick-and-mortar business, we made the bold decision to transition online and embrace digital transformation. Our goal was clear: leverage our rich history of design and craftsmanship to fuel growth in a digital-first world. I joined the Help to Grow programme to learn how to implement this.

“Central to our success was restructuring our organisation to support scaling efforts. We partnered with a mentor who specialized in both our sector and digital strategies, helping us build the tools to measure and optimize our ad spend across multiple platforms.

“To streamline operations, we simplified our product offerings, which freed up resources for increased order volume. We also implemented automated tools for tracking breakeven points and profits across platforms, providing a holistic business overview.

“The results speak for themselves: in the year of completing the course, sales grew by over 20%, while online sales surged by 250% after launching on Shopify. This digital shift not only improved our bottom line but also positioned us for sustained growth in the future. “

Nationally the programme is making an impact

Modules the course covers:

1. Strategy and innovation

2. Digital adoption

3. Internationalisation and winning new markets

4. Vision, mission, and values

5. Developing a marketing strategy

6. Building a brand

7. Organisational design

8. Employee management and leading change

9. High performance workplace

10. Efficient operations

11. Finance and financial management

12. Implementing growth plans

You can join the cohort in Brighton in September or Crawley in October if you are a senior leader/decision maker in a business with 5-249 staff.

Find out more and sign up to the course Help to Grow or email helptogrow@brighton.ac.uk with any questions or to arrange to chat to a course leader to see if the course is for you.