University of Bristol students will get the chance to compete for personal business mentoring from experienced professional bankers from a wide variety of specialisms through a new partnership between the university and Lloyds Banking Group.
The mentoring scheme, which is free and open to any student running a business or starting a commercial or social venture, will provide 10 individuals with mentoring support for nine months from Lloyds TSB’s qualified business mentors.
Mentees will get face-to-face meetings with their mentor on a monthly basis as needed and will also be able to phone and email them on a more regular basis with simple queries and questions.
The trained mentors will all be matched to the appropriate businesses by Business Mentors South West, which provides mentoring services to business owners and leaders who are seeking to grow and improve their company’s performance.
The project aims to support young enterprise and to research and showcase the best methods of supporting young entrepreneurs.
While mentors do not advise businesses on specific actions, they are able to offer a wide range of guidance on business matters and act as a sounding board for ideas. Many mentees find it helpful to have someone to share previously agreed business goals, as well as having an objective observer to maintain focus on their targets.
Applications for the scheme will be available through the University of Bristol website next month with the deadline for individual applications on October 26.
A panel of university and Lloyds TSB staff will then select the 10 best applications on the basis of their ideas, expectations and the level of benefit they are likely to receive from a mentor.
Lloyds Banking Group mentoring manager Jackie Jenks said: “Young business owners and entrepreneurs need all the support they can get in today's highly-competitive business environment and it’s great that we’re able to offer these students the chance to benefit from the guidance of highly-experienced mentors.
“Mentoring is a process by which an experienced professional, in this case a Lloyds TSB staff member, shares their accrued wisdom and skills with a less experienced individual to help them develop the skills and knowledge they need.
“Bristol has a thriving business community and it is crucial that we work closely with small firms to ensure they are aware of all the support available.
“At Lloyds Banking Group, we are dedicated to supporting businesses and we are delighted to be involved with the University of Bristol in this scheme, which we hope will help us to develop even stronger relationships between banks and small firms.”
University of Bristol head of enterprise education Dave Jarman, added: “Many successful business professionals and entrepreneurs affirm the value of support from an experienced mentor, who can offer an external perspective, feedback and guidance.
“Mentors can help provide focus to a growing business and give useful feedback to both the mentee and their business, and this support can often make the difference between success and failure for young enterprises.
“There is a real appetite amongst aspiring entrepreneurs for high quality support and advice, and we hope that this scheme will enable and encourage growing enterprises to gain insight and guidance from established business professionals to put them on the path to successful growth.”
