Found: He then started talking to me about what became the Help to Grow scheme.

Found: Help to Grow scheme s Adam Harper, Director of Professional Standards, Association of Accounting

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to measure the potential impact of the Help to Grow scheme on business productivity.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Monitoring and evaluation of the Help to Grow: Management programme is a priority for the government and is key to understanding the impacts and success of the programme.

So far, we have published six evaluation reports covering up to March 2023. We will continue to regularly publish reports during the lifetime of the programme.

Ipsos Mori, our independent evaluation partner, will be assessing the early impacts of Help to Grow Management in line with best practice, as productivity impacts can take 3 – 7 years to be measurable.

Our Year Two evaluation report shows that approximately 90% of surveyed SME leaders felt they had increased awareness of factors that drive business and productivity growth, and two thirds of surveyed SME leaders said they had made changes to the way they manage, organise and operate their business.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2023 to Question 126730 on the UK Tradeshow Programme, how much and what proportion of the funding allocated to the Exhibit element of the UK Tradeshow Programme pilot was spent in 2022-23; and how many exhibitors received support through the scheme that same year.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The UK Tradeshow Programme 2022-2023 had a total allocated budget of £904,512.00 with actual spend totalling £347,755.67.

From 2022-2023, the Department spent a proportion of this on identifiable exhibitor and attendee elements. £191,057.54 on the exhibitor element and £41,020 on attendees’ elements. In the same period, the Department provided 56 exhibitors and 35 attendees with support.

The Tradeshow Programme offered an insight into how the Government can support business. We will continue to analyse the ways in which we can develop business support programmes to meet business needs, such as the Help to Grow scheme, and Business Academy programmes.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2023 to Question 126731 on the UK Tradeshow Programme, how much and what proportion of funding allocated to the Attendee element of the UK Tradeshow Programme pilot scheme was spent in 2022-23; and how many attendees received support through the scheme.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The UK Tradeshow Programme 2022-2023 had a total allocated budget of £904,512.00 with actual spend totalling £347,755.67.

From 2022-2023, the Department spent a proportion of this on identifiable exhibitor and attendee elements. £191,057.54 on the exhibitor element and £41,020 on attendees’ elements. In the same period, the Department provided 56 exhibitors and 35 attendees with support.

The Tradeshow Programme offered an insight into how the Government can support business. We will continue to analyse the ways in which we can develop business support programmes to meet business needs, such as the Help to Grow scheme, and Business Academy programmes.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to increase opportunities for economic growth in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London in the last three years.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department for Business and Trade supports businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the whole country including Enfield and wider London.

For example, as of August 2023, the Department provided Start Up Loans worth over £2.2m to local businesses in Enfield North.

£14.76m has been awarded to Energetik, an Enfield council-owned heating company developing low carbon infrastructure. A further £1m for Enfield's Retrofit Accelerator Programme is generating green jobs in construction, manufacturing, and project management.

London has also benefited from the national Help to Grow scheme which supports small and medium sized enterprises across the UK.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what progress she has made on the Help to Grow scheme; what plans she has for the future rollout of this scheme to (a) SMEs and (b) other businesses; and which businesses in Broadland constituency are participating in the scheme.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Up to the end of February 2023, the Help to Grow: Management (HTG:M) programme has had 5,395 enrolments, including 295 businesses from the East of England. Our Year One evaluation findings show that 90% of SME leaders surveyed say they would recommend the programme to another business leader. It is not possible to disclose individual business information due to data protection. The programme will run until 2025.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she plans to take to support businesses with increasing productivity.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government’s ‘Help to Grow’ scheme is helping small and medium sized (SME) businesses across the UK learn new skills, reach more customers and boost profits and productivity.

Furthermore, the 38 Growth Hubs (led and governed by Local Enterprise Partnerships) provide all businesses, regardless of size or sector, with advice support via a free, impartial, “single point of contact”.

They simplify the local business support landscape, bringing together organisations involved in the provision of business support from across the public and private sectors to develop and deliver integrated national and local business-facing programmes, services, and campaigns.

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have participated in the 'Help to Grow' scheme since its launch; and how much has been spent on that scheme.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Help to Grow schemes have supported over 5,000 businesses so far. We will release details on the uptake and costs of both the Help to Grow schemes in due course after Help to Grow Digital has fully closed.

Better no advice than bad advice. Fantastic then that 5000 proven business leaders now mentor on the Help To Grow scheme. As Business Minister, I know their wealth of experience will support our brilliant small business owners to grow and seize new opportunities 💼 📈

Finally, boosting the 'Help to Grow' scheme will drive the upskilling agenda.

Found: Access to finance and advice is available as part of the Help to Grow Scheme to drive government’s ambition

Found: Access to finance and advice is available as part of the Help to Grow Scheme to drive government’s ambition

Found: to Grow scheme, to improve digital and management skills in the workforce.