Lloyds Banking Group has worked in partnership with the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI) and Business Mentors South West (BMSW) to develop a brand new suite of qualifications for enterprise mentors keen to develop their skills in digital skills, business support networks, strategic planning, and financial support.

The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) qualifications, which will be made available to thousands of mentoring volunteers across the country from January 2014, will be delivered by industry experts and will help enterprise mentors improve and widen their skills across a range of subjects and specialisms.

The training will be made available through the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE) and SFEDI, and after the initial launch will be open to the entire IOEE membership, which includes over 20,000 members, including over 400 Lloyds Banking Group mentors.

The series of CPD qualifications will include:

Digital know how
A specialist digital module to help train mentors to support businesses looking to procure and manage issues relating to web services. It will cover topics such as how to win new business digitally and maximise their online digital presence.

Business support networks
This will include Information on national and regional business support networks that can offer industry-specific support for both mentors and mentees. As part of this, mentors will have the opportunity to meet representatives from several sector organisations and discuss how they can effectively work together to provide practical, relevant and tailored guidance for their mentees.

Strategic planning
This qualification looks at the importance of generating strong business strategies, including what these should encompass and how they can help business leaders develop a durable plan.

Financial support
This will include the importance of securing the most appropriate forms of funding, focusing on different support options available to businesses. Mentors will also learn more about how to support business leaders in managing their finances effectively and ensure they are in the best position to secure funding.

Lloyds Banking Group has supported the development of these qualifications as part of their commitment to the Business Finance Taskforce's (BFT) mentoring initiative which was set up by the banks and the British Banking Association (BBA) to train volunteers to work as mentors, passing on their expertise to nurture and support all types of businesses.

Jackie Jenks, enterprise mentoring manager at Lloyds Banking Group, said:
“Mentoring is an important and effective way to help support UK businesses and the CPD qualifications will equip mentors with additional skills to provide more effective and relevant guidance to their mentees. We now have 425 mentors, which makes up 45 per cent of the total involved in the initiative, which is a fantastic achievement".

Andy Copp, director at BMSW, commented:

“We are dedicated to helping UK enterprises grow and we understand that the effective support mentoring delivers is an invaluable tool for enterprises across the country. It is our duty to ensure that all of our volunteers are equipped with a core set of skills that will enable them to impart useful and practical guidance for the businesses they work with. The CPD qualifications will be a key way of achieving this.”

Ruth Lowbridge, executive chair at SFEDI, added:

“Working with Lloyds Banking Group and BMSW on this project means that a wealth of experience in supporting UK businesses has been brought together to create an in-depth, varied and specific qualification that really focuses on strengthening the skills of existing mentors. A lot of planning has gone into the content of the modules and they cover how mentors can provide useful support on the most prevalent issues facing UK enterprises.”

The qualifications are due to be available to bank mentors from September and to all mentors interested from January 2014. We will provide an update in Mentoring and Enterprise Monthly when these are available.

Read more about Lloyds Banking Group’s mentoring commitment here. One of the key commitments within the initiative was to establish a free enterprise mentoring scheme, find out more at Mentorsme.

This month's Mentoring and Enterprise Monthly includes a case study from Divian Mistry, a business owner that's benefiting from a Lloyds Banking Group bank mentor. Read his story here.