OXFORD, May 6, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - Leaders of high-growth UK small businesses and social enterprises are being urged to apply for the next programme in the Goldman Sachs '10,000 Small Businesses' initiative, led by Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, which for the first time is using online collaborative tools to help participants combine their learning with the demands of running a small business.
The curriculum, a practical education on business and management, is delivered through a mix of flexible online learning and residential modules. It supports each participant in the development of a customised 'Growth Plan' for their business that will enhance productivity, allow greater access to capital, and unlock potential for job creation.
'The opportunity to meet and swap ideas with other small business leaders from different industry sectors and locations has been a big part of the effectiveness of the programme. Using online collaborative tools as well as residential sessions is a way of enriching those interactions and developing new insights from working in different ways,' said Megan Morys-Carter, Director of the Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Centre. She continues, 'the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses programme is one of several ways that the Entrepreneurship Centre supports business scale-up, drawing upon insights such as those discussed in the recent "Scale-Up UK" report co-authored by the Centre's academic lead Professor Thomas Hellmann.'
The 10-week programme comprises formal learning, mentoring, and peer-to-peer support. There are specialist workshops on the core business functions and skills, from marketing to leadership, as well as business coaching and one-to-one advice from professional experts. Participants work in groups to help articulate each other's challenges and critique the strategies and plans they develop. Previous participant Rich Walker, the Shadow Robot Company commented: 'At first you think: "How is that going to work between a restaurant, a cleaning company, a haulage company and a robot company?", but it soon becomes apparent that the problems are the same across all businesses.'
Charlotte Keenan, Head of the Office of Corporate Engagement for Goldman Sachs in EMEA, says that the programme's flexible, modular format is a particular strength. 'Participants learn by doing, but importantly they also learn whilst doing their day job. They benefit from having time away from the office to reflect and look at what they are doing through an external lens, but they also benefit from embedding their learning in the day-to-day activities of the business. They can learn something in the morning and put it into practice that afternoon.'
Over 900 participants have graduated from the 10,000 Small Businesses programme in the UK. A 2014 report on the impact of the programme found that, on average, participants were growing turnover at between 23% and 42% per year after participating in the programme, and growing employment between 16% and 26%, depending on when they graduated. The strong revenue growth and job creation exhibited by participants continues well beyond graduation, with 88% of participants increasing turnover three years after starting the programme, and 90% of participants growing net employment.
Goldman Sachs launched the 10,000 Small Businesses UK programme in 2010 specifically to address the support gap for small enterprises. The programme is run in partnership with Oxford Saïd, the Aston Centre for Growth, Aston University, and Leeds University Business School.
For more information about the programme and to apply, please visit http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/faculty-research/entrepreneurship/goldman-sachs-10000-small-businesses-uk/about
For further information, contact the Press Office:
Josie Powell, PR Manager, Saïd Business School
Mobile +44 (0)7711 387215; Tel: +44 (0) 1865 288403
Email: josie.powell(at)sbs(dot)ox.ac.uk or pressoffice(at)sbs(dot)ox.ac.uk
Notes to Editors
About Saïd Business School
Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford blends the best of new and old. We are a vibrant and innovative business school, but yet deeply embedded in an 800 year old world-class university. We create programmes and ideas that have global impact. We educate people for successful business careers, and as a community seek to tackle world-scale problems. We deliver cutting-edge programmes and ground-breaking research that transform individuals, organisations, business practice, and society. We seek to be a world-class business school community, embedded in a world-class University, tackling world-scale problems.
In the Financial Times European Business School ranking (Dec 2015) Oxford Saïd is ranked 10th. It is ranked 10th worldwide in the FT's combined ranking of Executive Education programmes (May 2015) and 28th in the world in the FT ranking of MBA programmes (Jan 2016). The MBA is ranked 7th in Businessweek's full time MBA ranking outside the USA (Nov 2014) and is ranked 5th among the top non-US Business Schools by Forbes magazine (Sep 2013). The Executive MBA is ranked 2nd worldwide in the Economist's Executive MBA ranking (Sep 2015) and 9th worldwide in the FT's ranking of EMBAs (Oct 2015). The Oxford MSc in Financial Economics is ranked 14th in the world in the FT ranking of Masters in Finance programmes (Jun 2015). In the UK university league tables it is ranked first of all UK universities for undergraduate business and management in The Guardian (Jun 2015) and 2nd in The Times (Sept 2015). For more information, see http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/ ENDS
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