Aston University’s Professor Monder Ram OBE has been invited to serve as a member of the new National Business Mentoring Council.

He will contribute his specialist knowledge, particularly around ethnic minority entrepreneurship, to help the council enhance access to high-quality mentoring for underserved communities.

Professor of small business at Aston Business School and director of the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship, he was asked to join in recognition of his long standing commitment to promoting inclusive entrepreneurship and his research that sheds critical light on the barriers faced by ethnic minority entrepreneurs.

Business mentoring is widely recognised as a vital resource for entrepreneurs and business leaders. A recent study called Mentoring Matters found that eight out of 10 SME leaders credit mentoring as playing a vital part in their growth. Meanwhile seven out of 10 view it as a resource crucial to their resilience, wellbeing and their business’s survival.

Despite this, many businesses continue to face challenges accessing high-quality business mentoring support and consistently cite the difficulty in knowing where to go and finding the right qualified mentors to support them.

To address these needs leading firms from across the UK responsible for mentoring standards and accredited mentoring services have come together to form the new organisation which is referenced within the government’s small business plan.

The council brings together senior representatives from across regions and nations involved in business mentoring, finance, entrepreneurship and academia. Its mission is to reduce sector fragmentation, strengthen professional pathways for mentors, share data and industry trends, and promote the benefits of and access to mentoring for SMEs, startups, and scaling firms. It will also support government strategies that foster business growth and resilience.

Professor Ram said:

“I am proud to be member of the newly formed council because mentoring is an important part of support in business, but not all businesses and their leaders can access it. I’m delighted to contribute my expertise and work with other UK experts to take on these issues. We aim to support greater collaboration between mentoring groups and improve access to proven quality mentorship so leaders can find a mentor to support their business journey.”

The organisation held its inaugural meeting at the Department for Business and Trade in July and is now planning to promote its work on National Mentoring Day on 27 October. Members also discussed practical solutions on how to better coordinate activity across mentoring, reduce fragmentation, and better support underserved communities and regions.

Gareth Thomas MP, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Business and Trade, said:

“Having a mentor can be a game-changer for small businesses, so I welcome the creation of this new council who will make it easier for business leaders to find a high-quality mentor they can trust."

“This forms part of the government’s plan for small businesses, the most comprehensive package of support for smaller businesses in a generation, helping to deliver the plan for change.”