Skills for Sustainable Growth
Ixion is at the forefront of providing support to businesses that will enable them to grow and prosper even in these particularly difficult economic times.
Having launched the ‘Planning for Growth’ programme last year, we have successfully helped over 300 Managing Director Owners of small businesses, and now Ixion are rolling out the next phase of support that will target those businesses that are classified as having ‘fast or high’ growth potential.
The Coalition Government published the ‘Skills for Sustainable Growth’ in November 2010. This strategy reinforces the Government’s commitment to building both sustainable economic growth and stronger communities.
It focuses on:
‘the shared responsibility of Government, employers and individuals to create a system for skills in which all parties can invest with confidence and benefit with consistency’.
In particular, the strategy signalled the intention to:
‘continue to support the development of leadership and management skills, prioritising small and medium sized enterprises, as a key to allowing these companies to grow and make full use of their people’.
Ixion is now looking to move this whole agenda forward in line with the requirements of The Coalition Government, Local Enterprise Partnerships, Skills Funding Agency and Local Authorities and provide a range of support services to enable businesses to deliver fast or high growth through increasing their turnover by 20% p.a. for 3 years or achieving a turnover of £500k within 3 years of trading.
About the Planning for Growth Programme
This programme has been developed so that leaders of small to medium sized business can develop an understanding of some of the issues around growing their business.
There are hundreds of thousands of businesses that are launched, but fail to make it into the second year of trading. The main reason for this is that people who start a business may have a clear ‘competence or knowledge’ in the area that they wish to operate but often lack any formal business training.
For those that make it through the first year, they face a number of issues that can prevent any focus on the growth potential they may have: They can spend far too many hours concentrating on activities that are purely operational and may be unable to break out of their grinding routine and look at the options they have for achieving growth.
Planning for Growth is a one day training programme that aims to change this by giving Senior Leaders (Managing Director Owners) the chance to stop and think. It provides the opportunity and guidance needed to review what they are doing, understand how far they have come and most importantly begin the process of defining where they want to be in the future.
Response to the Programme
Krishna Subramanian - The Feed Bin
‘It was really good and a great presentation. The Material is a treasure; it is a lifetime reference regardless of how big my business grows. Planning for Growth - not just for your business, it’s a great experience to grow ourselves. A Big Thank You!’
Kim Smith - Kim Smith Associates
‘I found the day & the materials thought provoking & very user friendly. The next step is to get cracking with my business plan! A very useful day. Thanks!’
Josephine Simmonds - Posh Frocks
‘An excellent presentation with clear and good dialogue. I like the workbook, it was very good. I now feel confident in moving forward to grow my business & be successful.’
Clive Cross - Forming Solutions UK Ltd
‘Very good and thought provoking. It was comprehensive, with many useful business tools for future reference and to enable focus.’
Future Developments
Ixion aims to build on the Planning for Growth programme and will soon be in a position to launch a complete ‘Business Growth Programme’ that will look to work with Senior Leaders and take them on a journey from planning for growth all the way through to realising high growth and increasing the overall profitability of their business.
To find out more contact Karen Martin, Head of Training, Skills and Business Support at karen.martin@ixionholdings.com