BT is offering free one-to-one mentoring sessions to at least 1,000 small businesses in the East of England following a successful pilot.
The communications giant is working in partnership with free non-profit platform Digital Boost — which brings together digital experts with small business bosses — as part of its Skills for Tomorrow programme.
It is encouraging small firms across the East of England to register their interest.
BT has enlisted the expertise of its own staff — including senior bosses — to help small businesses in a range of areas including cyber security, marketing, social media and strategy.
Digital Boost will connect the small businesses with the relevant BT expert via its free online platform, where they can register their interest in booking a free virtual mentoring session.
Jon Pollock, BT director for corporate and public sector in the East of England, said: “Helping small businesses to acquire new skills and boost their confidence during these exceptionally challenging times is a central part of BT’s Small Business Support Scheme.
“We’ve already equipped a further 20,000 small businesses with digital skills since the launch of the scheme and now we’re going even further by introducing a free mentoring programme.
“By partnering with Digital Boost we can engage our own colleagues around the need to step up and support small businesses, with experts around the businesses volunteering their time as BT mentors.”
Their ambition was to scale up the project very quickly, involving BT staff from all levels, including the senior leadership team.
“I would encourage any small businesses in the East of England who feel they would benefit from this direct support to book a spot as soon as possible via the website,” he said.
Digital Boost founder Sherry Coutu said: “At Digital Boost, we help those who work for and lead small businesses and charities to survive the Covid-19 crisis and be more competitive in the long run. BT is a key partner in our effort to help prepare the UK to build back better after the pandemic.”
Small businesses interested in mentoring support can book a free one-to-one coaching session now by visiting: https://www.digitalboost.org.uk/
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