Funding for Leadership Development
Last month, the government announced a new £20m management training fund for small businesses. Administered by the Leadership and Management Advisory Service (LMAS), the funding is available for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and social enterprises across some regions in England. It is available until 31 March 2012 and is accessible to training providers, colleges and employers.
The funding is aimed at supporting senior leaders within SMEs and social enterprises that demonstrate a potential for growth. The provider’s delivery solution must satisfy the new specification: ‘to enable the applicant to fully engage and optimise the contribution of their staff and therefore grow the business’.
The LMAS grant is match funded up to £1,000, meaning that if you deliver a programme or a range of programmes (up to a maximum value of £2,000) the employer will only have to pay 50%. It is important to remember that eligibility for the grant comes from the employer organisation and referrals from providers will not be accepted.
Employers must therefore be guided to your regional LMAS organisation to apply for a Leadership and Management Advisory Service Application Form. The grant can be used for leadership and management development solutions that develop the skills of senior management within the SME or social enterprise.
1EM Business Coaching Programmes all meet this criteria which provides offering flexible delivery solutions including workshops, online training, coaching, mentoring, bespoke/tailored training.
A recent review by Skills South East demonstrated that businesses are taking up LMAS funding to develop learning through action learning, coaching, private tuition, course-led and non-course-led qualifications, one-off bespoke training programmes and mentoring.
As part of the fund, employers can also have a free consultation with an expert adviser before the training begins, as well as a free follow-up session to discuss the impact of the training.
The eligibility criteria is as follows:
Employ 2 or more full time equivalent staff
Potential to grow 20% per annum for the next 3 years
You will be pleased to know that 1 Events Media are listed on the North East England Service Provider Register (NEESPR) and all the programmes available in our business coaching section are eligible for the funding.
More information can be found the Business & Enterprise Group’s website or alternatively contact 1 Events Media on 01254 790786.