Q&A with a Help to Grow: Management Course mentor: Andrew Sperring

The Help to Grow: Management Course is a government-funded, 12-week course with a combination of online sessions and face-to-face learning delivered by business schools. Businesses with five or more employees can receive expert mentoring to aid their future growth.

Currently, there are 2,500 trained mentors sharing their insights and expertise with the businesses that have joined the course. Here, we talk to one of them: Andrew Sperring, from Bristol.

About Andrew

• Began his career in the construction industry, completing an apprenticeship in carpentry and working as a carpenter before being promoted to working supervisor and foreman.

• After a short spell of self-employment, moved into a role as a site manager in London and later a national site manager travelling around the UK.

• Joined ISS Integrated Solutions in 2012, supervising projects across the Telefonica estate, and quickly progressed to national project manager, working on blue-chip accounts and mentoring junior colleagues.

• In 2015, began helping out with his father's business while still working as a project manager. Left that role to support his family when his father fell ill.

• Incorporated the family business in 2017 and oversaw significant growth over the next few years, until the pandemic hit.

• Began receiving business coaching in 2021 and became a Board Member for the Federation of Master Builders.

• In 2022, decided to volunteer for the Help to Grow: Management Course and get qualified as a business coach. Certified in May 2023.

• Grew the family business to £1.5 million turnover while continuing to develop his skills and experience as a mentor and coach and creating a networking group called The SME Alliance.

• Invited to 10 Downing Street by the Prime Minister to discuss ways that SMEs can help grow the UK economy.

What made you want to become a mentor to other business owners?

After years of my career and running our family business, and the incredible challenges of Brexit, skills and material shortages and then the pandemic, I realised I needed to learn more.

I wanted to find out what it is that I don't know about business. I invested in a business coach (Gary Keating of ActionCOACH Bristol) and began my journey of growth, both personally and professionally.

I got through some difficult times in business. When I had to make really tough decisions, I knew I had the support of a mentor and coach when others who didn't had failed or given up. I learned more about myself in those tough moments.

I found that I enjoyed helping people and that I wanted to pass on all the knowledge I'd gained from my career, from running a business and from being coached. I decided to volunteer with the Help to Grow: Management Course and get qualified as a coach through the training provided.

I quickly found that my own mentoring and coaching style was incredibly effective when my mentees started to succeed. I got feedback and reflected on my session notes to make sure I continued to learn and grow to be as impactful as I could.

What do you think makes a good mentor?

Being able to:

• build strong and supportive relationships

• listen, understand and show empathy

• offer a safe space

• act as a sounding board to guide a mentee to find clear perspective and solve their own problems

This, combined with real-world experience, knowledge of mentoring and coaching and the ability to hold people accountable, allows mentors to be highly effective.

Small businesses see significant development through mentoring: Become a mentor and provide 10 hours of one-to-one support. Find out more

Can anyone be a mentor, or does it take a specific type of person?

I believe we all have the potential to mentor. We all have knowledge, skills and experience which other people will find valuable and helpful. That said, there are certain skills you do need to learn before you can be successful at mentoring.

How does being mentored benefit business owners specifically?

Business owners get support so they no longer feel alone, and accountability to help them make decisions or take appropriate actions needed to succeed. Often, I meet business owners who lack both support and accountability.

And personally, what do you get out of mentoring?

The main benefit for mentors is giving. It's incredibly rewarding to help other people. With the Help to Grow: Management Course, they also get access to support and training to grow themselves alongside the mentoring work.

I've benefited in this way and also made connections that will last as meaningful professional and personal relationships.

What do you look for in a mentee?

Someone with an open mind and willingness to learn, and whose values align with mine.

Finally, what's the best thing about being a mentor, and what's the biggest challenge?

The best thing for me is seeing other people defeat their limiting beliefs and realise their potential. The challenge is getting mentees to believe in themselves.

Want to help a small business grow?

Being a mentor goes far beyond the rewarding feeling of 'giving back'. Mentors gain a range of personal development benefits from the experience.

Become a voluntary mentor for the Help to Grow: Management Course and commit 10 hours over 12 weeks to support businesses with their growth action plan. Sign up today

The national mentoring element of the Help to Grow: Management Course is being delivered by a partnership of Newable, Enterprise Nation and the Association of Business Mentors on behalf of the Department for Business & Trade.