LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAMME DESIGNED FOR BUSINESS GROWTH

A training programme for business leaders across the Liverpool City Region has been created by Edge Hill University. Called ‘The Leadership for Growth’ programme, it’s designed to help develop the capabilities of existing and aspiring leaders working in SMEs. We take a closer look.

The Leadership for Growth programme is being delivered by academic experts from Edge Hill’s Business School based in their Small and Medium Enterprise Product and Innovation Centre (SME PIC).

It has been created to enable business leaders to improve business performance, productivity and resilience. Leaders who complete the programme will be awarded professional Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Management and leadership qualifications. 

“Our programme aims to create dynamic leaders who can lead businesses and employees through change, growth and development. This help for businesses will boost their profitability and productivity, ultimately boosting the economy of the entire city region,” Professor Simon Bolton, Director of the SME PIC, tells us.

The new programme builds on the success of a similar programme the university has been running in Lancashire programme. This attracted 924 leaders 392 businesses, teaching them new management skills and delivering expert knowledge. 

The programme is being fully funded by the Liverpool City Region’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) as part of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda. “Our team of business experts are looking forward to delivering the programme to SMEs across Liverpool City Region. Enhancing local businesses with the leadership and management skills to support business growth, is not only vital for the local economy, but it also provides high-quality work-related opportunities and graduate jobs for our students,” explains Jay Cullen, Director of Edge Hill’s Business School.

The successful ‘Innovation Sprint’ programme in Lancashire, on which the new programme is based, has seen hundreds of SME leaders train to drive efficiencies in their businesses and introduce new business development processes. Titan Mechanical Services are one of these businesses and have seen a significant increase in profit following the training. They report their turnover has increased over the last three years by 198% and they have employed 10 new people as the company has grown.

“The support has been incredible working on the Programme at Edge Hill University. Taking time to work on the business, has allowed us to focus on areas of technical innovation and business development. As part of this process, we identified opportunities to introduce a digital service management software to maximise our customer base with more flexibility and scalability. As a result of the programme, we have successfully launched a new Equipment Service Division,” says Marc Fitzpatrick, Titan Mechanical Services Managing Director.

Titan Mechanical Services used the latter stages of the programme to devise their growth action plan that embedded business model changes. This included a sales qualification process at the beginning of their projects, creating upselling opportunities for other Titan services and increasing the conversion rate quotes to orders. 

The Leadership for Growth programme is available to SMEs across the Liverpool City Region and will run until 31st March 2025.