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UK200 launches mentoring initiative

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18th Nov 2015
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UK200Group, a professional association of independent accountancy and law firms in the UK, debuted  a new initiative at their annual conference to offer mentorship to UK businesses.

The initiative is attempting to install UK200’s members as business mentors, providing business people, specifically young entrepreneurs, a better understanding of accounting, finance and legal matters.

Swan plans to officially launch the ambitious strategy in spring next year. The plan comprises of four strands, which include:

  • The UK200Group Entrepreneurship Academy; a development programme which will provide business planning and business growth.
  • The UK200Group SME Voice to identify issues affecting the sector through debate and expert panel discussions.
  • The Pathways Programme to offer entrepreneurs and business people access to training providers in management, leadership and business development.
  • Industry Groups which will offer more granular guidance on more specific industry sectors like farming, construction and healthcare.

“We want businesses to know about you,” said UK200’s chairman Declan Swan at the conference last week at The Belfry. “This is a very important step for UK200Group and redefines us as the voice of those that we represent.”

According to Swan, the initiative will offer UK200 members a vehicle to  effectively market their services. “SME don’t need just an accountant or just a lawyer; they need a friend who understands their needs,” Swan told AccountingWEB. “It’s the old saying: ‘You don’t need a drill; you need a hole in the wall’. Entrepreneurs need to be able to get up tomorrow morning and straight back into business. So we’re not selling accountancy services here, we’re marketing business advice.

“The overall objective is to make sure that in the next few years is to ensure that we put our member’s skills are placed firmly in the minds of SMEs,” said Swan. “Many businesses go with larger firms because that’s what they’ve always done. We want to correct that imbalance.”

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Richard Sergeant
By Richard Sergeant
18th Nov 2015 14:58

Good looking initiative..
Am intrigued by this, and on the face of it think it's an interesting and well thought out approach.  A couple of things stand out though - the amount of organisation required to pull this off, and to keep member firms fully motivated and engaged will be significant.  And secondly “Many businesses go with larger firms because that’s what they’ve always done. We want to correct that imbalance.”- troubles me a little bit. I thought UK 200 represented some pretty decent sized firm's to be begin with.
So who are the competition here? Saying that it's entirely positive and a focused agenda. Good luck!

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