Yorkshire SMEs receive valuable support from fund assisted sole trader

Over 25 Yorkshire SMEs have improved the efficiency of their operations after receiving support from a local project management expert and regional funding scheme.

Sarah Wilson, who works for 54 Degrees in Halifax, specialises in providing businesses with practical skills to plan and deliver work more effectively.

After being awarded funding from the Skills Enhancement Fund (SEF), she was able to host training sessions geared towards small businesses wanting to improve their project management skills.

The SEF is a £50m resource unique to Yorkshire and Humber providing interventions in skills and workforce development which cannot be funded through other sources. The fund is co-financed by the Skills Funding Agency through the European Social Fund (ESF) and managed by Calderdale College on behalf of the West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges.

Since acquiring the funding, Sarah has helped upto 25 businesses address a range of different issues.

Many had become overwhelmed by their workload and needed direction on how to make it more manageable, whereas others had been ignoring projects and needed the motivation to tackle them. Several firms had simply gone from being headed by one person to employing a member of staff and needed guidance on how to work as part of a team and how to delegate.

The results from Sarah’s guidance reveal that 93% of delegates increased their skills in project delivery, 90% expressed that they had grown in confidence when dealing with daunting projects, and 93% said they had completely changed the way they work since attending the project management courses.

Sarah commented: “Being awarded SEF funding allowed me to reach out to micro businesses by offering them valuable training courses at a hugely reduced rate. Not only that, it has led to long-term relationships with delegates that have found worth in my expertise and have continued working with me on a 1-2-1 basis to ensure that their businesses reap the benefits from effective project management.”

Stefanie Hopkins, owner of faith PR in Brighouse, said: “Delivering campaigns and projects is part of our daily workload and we are always looking for ways to streamline the process and deliver work more effectively. When I learnt about the project management course I signed a couple of team members up to attend. I have since noticed a marked improvement in those who attended. They have become more effective at handling projects from inception to delivery, and are also more confident in how they tackle them and their working day in general.”

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