South: £1,000 grants for leadership training

Businesses throughout the South East are being urged to apply for up to £1,000 of grant funding to develop their leadership and management skills.

The Leadership & Management Advisory Service in the South East, led by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), has been awarded an extra £369,000 by the Learning and Skills Council to support businesses throughout the region. This figure is in addition to the £4.3m, which was already available.

The programme is available to businesses employing between five and 250 staff and aims to improve profitability, productivity and competitiveness.

Grants can be used to gain qualifications, training, coaching, workshops and mentoring. Participating businesses will receive a Personal Development Plan following a review of their current leadership and management capabilities. This will be delivered by independent and impartial advisors trained to establish a business’s training requirements.

Susan Priest, Executive Director Business Development at SEEDA, comments: “The funding provides businesses throughout the region with an opportunity to gain valuable skills that will deliver increased profitability and competitiveness. Clear leadership and management provide the backbone for all businesses and through expert advice and guidance, this funding will contribute to driving growth throughout the regional economy.”

Evaluation of the previous programme revealed that the funding had a positive impact on businesses. 69% claimed it had improved productivity, 59% believed it increased profitability and 73% increased their investment in training. Over 10,000 businesses are expected to benefit during the programme’s delivery, which runs until March 2011.

Rodger Broad, regional director of the Institute of Directors and chairman of the Leadership & Management Advisory Service Advisory Group, added: “The extra funding now available in the South East is recognition of the wealth creation potential of business leaders in this region. The willingness of South East business leaders, including their managers, to continually improve their skills makes a huge difference to the success of a business and this grant goes some way to ensure that this continues."

£500 is available to managing directors, owner managers and company directors. A further sum of £500, which must be match funded, is available to any member of the management team.

For more information or to apply for funding please contact Train to Gain on 0845-7512288 or email info@traintogainse.co.uk