Shott Scale Up Accelerator: Leadership programme opportunities available

Making the leap from a technical expert to a business leader can be challenging. The Shott Scale Up Accelerator is a 12-month programme that aims to help senior decision-makers in high-growth engineering and tech SMEs develop the skills needed to scale their business to the next level.
The programme is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Ian Shott, who is a highly successful entrepreneur looking to support a new generation of entrepreneurial engineers.
Successful participants pay no costs for the programme.
The programme includes leadership coaching and business mentoring, as well as access to an investor network. A £10,000 grant is also available to pay for leadership courses.
The growth training programme will focus on people and culture, good governance, customer acquisition, product and service development, securing growth capital, and access to new markets. Each module will be led by experts in their subject and seasoned entrepreneurs.
To be eligible for the programme you need to be a senior leader in a UK-based engineering or technology SME that has a turnover or equity investment of at least £1m in the last financial year.
Applications are currently open, with a deadline of 4pm on 28 May 2024.
See: https://enterprisehub.raeng.org.uk/shott-scale-up

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