A government scheme designed to help up to 26,000 of England’s brightest small businesses has launched.

A government scheme designed to help up to 26,000 of England’s brightest small businesses has launched.

GrowthAccelerator, a new partnership between the government and the private sector will see proven business experts working with companies to identify their barriers to growth and how to overcome them.

This will include tackling problems such as securing finance, commercialising innovation, developing leadership and management capability.

Business Secretary Vince Cable launched the programme at Huddle, the cloud collaboration company, and one of the businesses taking part. He said, ‘The UK boasts vibrant small and medium-sized businesses that have the chance to become the household names of tomorrow.

‘With targeted support we are giving entrepreneurs a fantastic opportunity to take their businesses forward to succeed both here and abroad. I look forward to seeing what this great programme helps them achieve in the future.’

As well as coaching, GrowthAccelerator will aim to help by fast-tracking clients to trusted providers of business advice, such as UK Trade and Investment, professional advisers and angel investors.

Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk welcomed the launch, saying, ‘Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our economy and we are giving them the support they need to realise their potential.’

Prisk adds that in addition to this programme, his department is creating a ‘network of thousands of business mentors’ and will soon be launching a new £10 million start-up loans scheme to give young people access to business advice and a small amount of capital.

Further information about GrowthAccelerator and how to benefit from the scheme can be found here.

See also: Advice on mentoring for SMEs