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The Abbey Information Exchange: Add invaluable skills to your business and apply to Goldman Sachs 10K Small Businesses. It’s FREE.

Tuesday, 15 October 2019

Add invaluable skills to your business and apply to Goldman Sachs 10K Small Businesses. It’s FREE.




Over the past 18 months, Abbey’s MD Richard Brown has embarked on the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK Programme. As part of our new initiative ‘The Abbey Information Exchange’, we thought we’d share our experience of the programme with you and see if your business can also benefit from the scheme.

So what’s it all about? Essentially, the Goldman Sachs 10KSB helps make small businesses big. The course, which is entirely funded by GS, provides invaluable skills to help businesses scale up, create employment, expand to new markets and make long term behavioural changes. The course is taught by leading business lecturers in illustrious universities such as Oxford, Leeds and Aston, and Goldman Sachs also fund your accommodation – an expense that can be a significant financial burden for SMEs.

Reflecting on our own business, Richard Brown tells us about the impact the course has had on him.

1. How has the programme helped you?
Going on the course allowed me to focus again on all aspects of the business rather than the daily rush to get the parcels out of the door. We learnt about all aspects of business and there was a particularly strong emphasis on how the 5.7 million SMEs are the bedrock of the UK economy. As businesses, we need to have the courage and confidence to employ more staff when business is growing.

2. What impact has the programme had on Abbey England?
We now make time to look at the opportunities and the team structures and make decisions on how we can collectively manage a group employing over 80 people. We have a team looking at the marketing and alongside their Abbey role is the opportunity to grow the leather trade around us. I hope that we are now a more rounded and structured business whilst never losing sight of the family business at our core.

3. What would you say to our customers who are unsure whether to apply?
If you feel that your business can grow and that you are confident that there is an opportunity out there then please apply. The 4-month course might seem like hard work at the time but being part of the alumni community is an opportunity too good to miss.
And you don’t need to take our word for it.  Over 1,600 participants from the programme were surveyed and the results from the GS Business 2030 survey resonate similar themes and highlight the positive impact the course has had on small businesses, including growth, internal training and corporate responsibility.

DOES MY BUSINESS QUALIFY FOR THE PROGRAMME?

If you would like to apply, please check your business matches the following criteria.

  • Operating as a business for at least three years
  • Have between 5 and 50 employees
  • Should have turnover of at least £250k in the previous financial year
  • Applicant should not have any recent management education
  • Applicant should be the primary owner or decision-maker of the business
If your business fits the conditions listed above, simply click on ‘APPLY NOW’ and complete the application form.
APPLY NOW