Other news: Scholarships Available For Social Entrepreneurs

Owner managers who participate in BGP have a wide range of motivations and drivers both for their businesses and themselves. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of �social entrepreneurs� who have expressed an interest in participating in BGP. Unfortunately, in businesses where profit is not necessarily the primary motive, the level of financial investment required to participate in BGP can be a constraint. Coutts & Co (the UK private banking arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland) have agreed to assist a select number of social entrepreneurs by providing a significant contribution to the programme fees.

BGP is the UK�s leading programme for ambitious owner managers and has run every year since 1988. During that time, BGP has helped over 1,000 owner managers to achieve their business and personal ambitions.

Past participants of BGP form a roll-call of Britain�s most dynamic owner managers, including Angus Thirlwell of Hotel Chocolat (the UK�s number 1 fastest growing business according to the Sunday Times FastTrack 100), Lord Karan Bilimoria of Cobra Beer, Tristram Mayhew of GoApe (also one of the 100 fastest growing businesses in the UK) and Lara Morgan of Pacific Direct.

Jason Holt of Holts Academy is currently participating in BGP thanks to support from Coutts. Having taken over his family gemstone business, Jason set up the training academy as a social enterprise to help more young people gain the skills and experience needed to work in the jewellery industry.

Commenting on his BGP experience, Jason says: �Through this programme I have been able to access support from peers (other owner managers) and expertise from the BGP team, which has enabled me to grapple and address issues that I�ve put off for far too long. This does not feel like a one off experience, but more the start of a journey. I started the programme with a hazy goal and now with this framework I am much more capable of plotting and tracking where I am going and that gives me great confidence that I will achieve my goals.

�Being awarded the Coutts scholarship meant my business could afford to send me on this programme, for which I am very grateful. I hope to pay back some of this investment by becoming a champion for entrepreneurship to young jewellers and designers and introducing them to some of the concepts I�ve learnt with BGP.

�I am delighted that the Coutts Scholarships will enable other social entrepreneurs to benefit from this fantastic programme.�

Andrew Haigh, Head of Entrepreneurs at Coutts commented: �One third; or 20,000; of our clients in the UK are entrepreneurs, and three years ago, Coutts became the first Private Bank to create a team dedicated to philanthropy. We believe that this makes us ideally placed to lead the way in bringing together, and supporting business leaders to explore the world of social enterprise, and help develop the third sector. There is a very obvious growing vibrancy and excitement in the area and it�s very encouraging to see that so many already very successful entrepreneurs are interested in learning about how they can contribute to building our society for the future.�

BGP Programme Director, Gerard Burke, said: �We are very proud of the reputation of BGP and of the hugely positive impact that it has had on so many owner managers and their businesses. It is a privilege to work with Coutts to inspire other social entrepreneurs to similar achievements.�

The next BGP starts in May 2009. To find out more, visit www.cranfield.ac.uk/som/bgp or call Kristy McCrindle on 01234 754880.

For more information about the BGP please contact:
Gerard Burke, BGP Programme Director, Cranfield School of Management, T: 01234 751122, or E: .