Business leaders from across London are to be brought together to share their experiences and knowledge at an enterprise mentoring event organised by Lloyds Banking Group and the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI), aimed at increasing the support available to SMEs.

The free Meet a Mentor event on Tuesday 9th December aims to connect new and existing business owners and experienced enterprise mentors, providing them with an opportunity to learn from one another and make connections with the wider business and professional services community in their area.

Taking place at the Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) Conference Centre in London, the event is part of a series across the UK. Sponsored by the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE) and Lloyds Banking Group, all attendees will also be given free Affiliate Membership of the IOEE. This event will provide attendees with access to a range of mentors who have volunteered to help business-owners deal with the day-to-day and longer term challenges of running a business.

The enterprise mentoring events form part of Lloyds Banking Group’s SME Charter in which it pledges to support UK businesses by expanding its network of trained volunteer mentors to 400. The events also underline the bank’s support for the Government’s 'Business is GREAT Britain' campaign, which is designed to build confidence amongst SMEs.

Jackie Jenks, senior manager enterprise mentoring at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “Mentoring is a useful way of providing entrepreneurs with access to support and information from skilled and experienced industry professionals, which is why we are working to make mentors more widely available.

“For smaller and newer companies, the chance to use another industry professional as a sounding board for new ideas and strategies can be a huge benefit, as well as having an objective perspective.

“In addition to the wide range of experienced professionals who are trained as mentors at Lloyds Banking Group, we also work with a number of organisations including the IOEE and SFEDI to help share our collective knowledge, expertise and contacts with business owners.”

SFEDI Executive Chair, Ruth Lowbridge, said: “These events are a great opportunity to bring together volunteer mentors with businesses, to help them share their experiences and give something back to the business community.

“Given the many challenges associated with running a business, it’s vitally important that experience and knowledge are shared. Everyone that supports in this way, in their own business community and at events like this, is helping to drive continued economic recovery across the UK.”

Interested attendees can register for the events at: www.ioee.eventbrite.co.uk