Small Business Counselling – a new departure for TSCS

As 2021 drew to a close and we were all in the dreadful grip of the Covid19 lockdown, we were invited by the Cumbria Learning and Skills Council to work on their Peer-to-Peer programme, delivering small business mentoring and guidance. Using Microsoft Teams and ZOOM technology, we worked with several local businesses in sectors ranging from a demolition contractor to a producer of fragrances and cosmetics. Others were a specialised clock repair business, a retailer of firepits, wood burning stoves and other indoor and outdoor heating kit, a steel erector, an archaeologist working for a significant engineering contractor and a newspaper and e-magazine publishing business. As diverse a group as one could conjure up but all equally anxious to improve performance and learn from their peers how to make sense of the increasingly complex business environment we all inhabit.

Our sessions covered everything from focused conversations around image and brand management to mega-issues like managing climate change as SMEs. Inevitably, we learned at least as much as we imparted and we will distil some of those lessons in the case studies section on the TSCS website.

Sadly, the Peer to Peer programme has ended but talks about reviving it or something similar are ongoing. Stay in touch with this and other initiatives at www.thecumbrialep.co.uk