Gareth Hartley, managing director of Litmus, says the Hull University Business School’s Help to Grow programme allowed him to connect and share knowledge with business owners like himself
I joined the Help to Grow programme to improve my overall knowledge and wanted to go on a journey to get a much more rounded approach to business.
We didn’t have any specific challenges in the business but there is always room to improve and running a business can be quite a lonely process, so it was good to meet other business owners. I wanted to gain a better understanding of key business challenges that all SMEs face. The course touches on so many different areas of innovation and managers of SMEs tend to only have time and knowledge to focus on a few at a time, so I wanted to gain greater depth on other topics as well.
My favourite topic was digital marketing and how we are perceived by our customers. Being a print-based media manufacturer, looking at the digital marketing side of things has been very interesting. Learning how to apply digital marketing techniques will help us become a modern digital business. Especially knowing how and when to take risks in a strategic way.
We have big growth ambitions and want to add digital services to our traditional print manufacturing. From the course I have learned various new tools and techniques, which I will take back to the other directors and start to embed in the business.
The content is very fast paced, so there is a lot to digest, and I would personally love more time on the programme, but the fact it is delivered in short bursts over 12 weeks is a positive because we all have our businesses to run. I have learned a lot of tools that I will pick and use as needed in my business, so this is just the start for me. I like to map things out, which can be time consuming, so I will be taking that outside of the course and applying what I have learnt.
Help to Grow is very flexible and easy to access. I like the blended approach with most of the course accessible online and some delivered on campus, and I really enjoyed coming to the university. I get a lot from the energy of the group when we get together and the tutors have been great.
I have enjoyed mixing with the others on the course, as we are all from different areas of business and I have learned about the hardships their businesses are facing, which I can relate to and apply in my own company.
The mentoring on the programme is great. The mentor I was assigned is knowledgeable on digital transformation and has lots of advice to share. Being supported to find ways we can apply digitisation to our business has been helpful.
I would absolutely recommend the Help to Grow programme, as it gives you more tools in your arsenal to succeed in business.
- To apply and see the full programme timetable, register at execeducation.hull.ac.uk/help-to-grow-hull. Alternatively, email help-to-grow@hull.ac.uk to find out more about what the programme involves and about how the Business School can support your business to grow and innovate.
