Pam Calvert is the Chief Executive of Communications Management, an integrated PR and marketing communications consultancy that specialises in the education sector. It was recently ranked as the leading PR consultancy in the public sector, by industry magazine PR Week, and understandably the company has an impressive list of clients, including, Brunel University, Lancaster University, Henley Business School, Gabbitas and the Imperial War Museum.

Pam set up the business 25 years ago and now employs 20 people, she says:

"I'd describe business ownership as challenging, exciting and rewarding, but not without the occasional heartache. I was in my early 30s when I set it up and I just felt that it was the ultimate challenge. My husband had been offered a job in Canada and after making a case to stay in the UK I really felt that I had to make a success of it."

Pam describes how starting her business felt like leaping into the abyss. She did find helpful people to talk to, like a great accountant and a friend that was an HR expert, but they were more like specialist advisors as opposed to mentors; "I didn't have anyone who had actually been through anything that I was going through", she says, and it was her memory of that feeling that led to her interest in mentoring, she says:

"I read about Get Mentoring and I just thought it was a brilliant scheme. As working lives change people are going to have to take their fortunes into their own hands so I passionately believe it's essential we all do what we can to support enterprise for the economic health of the country".

She says of the mentoring training itself;

"The training surprised me because it was so good, it was very thorough and the supporting  materials were fantastic. I was well aware of mentoring as a tool and technique, but it solidified my thinking and helped me clarify how to approach it".

Once Pam had completed the training she was keen to start mentoring as soon as she could. She registered with a few mentoring organisations, including Enterprising Women and PRIME, however it was as a result of a single tweet about her willingness to mentor that she got her first mentee, she says;

"My tweet was re-tweeted by a few people and quite quickly someone came forward looking for a mentor, not long after Enterprising Women also matched me with a mentee, so I decided to mentor both of them".

Not long after PRIME also found a match for Pam, but as it was still in her early stages of mentoring she wasn't sure how much time commitment she was able to give, however she's very keen to support an entrepreneur in the 50+ bracket in the future.

Pam's two mentoring assignments were extremely different, one mentee was just starting up her business, whilst the other had been in business for several years and was now looking to diversify and develop. Pam describes how her experiences have been able to support them in different ways:

"The start up mentee is very unfamiliar with the common problems and challenges, so I've been able to reassure her about simply things, such as how to cope with suppliers that don't deliver on time. My second mentee, also a female business owner, has been around the block a bit more so we talk about how the business can achieve its potential to grow and diversify".

Although Pam didn't set out to only mentor women led businesses she's very happy to support them, she says "Women are still quite often underrepresented as business owners so I'm glad support any grouping which should feature more prominently in this arena".

Pam meets each mentee on a monthly basis, and as they're all based in and around London, they find a quiet place to meet in the capital, she says:

" I spend an hour, sometimes two, discussing the areas that are key priorities for their business. I'm careful to make sure we're focusing on the right areas so that we're making the best use of the time available. Sometimes I look at things they've sent me in between meetings when they need feedback and because of my background they often send me newsletters and press releases to cast my eye over, and I support when I can".

With Pam's knowledge of PR, coupled with her business success it's easy to see how valuable her support is for the mentees, so we asked her what she felt she got from the relationship, she says;

"I've learnt from both of them actually. I've learnt about some aspects of IT that might be useful in my business, I've got an insight into the jewellery sector and learnt about a consumer product based business, which has been incredibly interesting".

"On a personal level I've also had terrific feedback which has been incredibly rewarding. The support and confidence I've been able to give to them has been a real eye opener. I received two amazing Christmas cards from my mentees thanking me for the support I'd given, that was incredibly special for me".

"You take for granted what you've learnt in this journey, you're always looking forward you very rarely look back, I think it's useful to reflect on what you've learnt".

The mentoring journey has now led Pam to consider developing her mentoring skills further with more training. Although Pam is modest about the support she's given so far, it's clear that it's a talent she's keen to develop further, she says;

"I suppose I've realised I've got an ability to do something which I'd to more of in the future. I like to think I'm able to ask the right questions and help them reach their own conclusions".

As a committee member on the BIS Holt review of apprenticeships, we asked Pam what her thoughts were on the potential for mentoring to support business owners about to embark on the apprentice process, she says:

"I had a terrific apprenticeship experience so I really want to encourage more SME involvement, and I think there are many more businesses like mine that would be willing to encourage others to recruit apprentices. The same system of supporting other businesses through mentoring could certainly work in this context".

Pam Calvert is the CEO of Communications Management and a committee member on the BIS Holt review of apprenticeships.

If you're interested in mentoring a new and growing business, find out how to go about this here {link}.

In the coming months, the National Apprenticeship Service will be launching a new project which supports peer to peer mentoring and experience sharing between apprentice employers. Updates will be sent out in Mentoring and Enterprise Monthly and via National Apprenticeship Service communications.