Norfolk business mentor wins national award for excellence

A business mentor from Wymondham near Norwich has been awarded the Excellence in Mentoring Award at the National Mentoring Matters Awards 2024 for the outstanding work he does to help businesses to unlock their growth potential.

Simon Wingfield has vast business experience, having worked for more than years for large corporations including Sainsbury's, Tesco, BP, and Shell.

In 2022 he decided to use his experience to support small businesses and founded his own consultancy, Wingfield Consultants, to support organisations in the public, private, and third sectors while also enlisting as a volunteer mentor on the Help to Grow: Management course.

His work was recognised earlier this month, at national awards where he was one of seven mentors rewarded for their contribution to UK growth. Simon said:

"I'm thrilled to have won the 'Excellence in Mentoring Award'. I've been helped by having fantastic Help to Grow mentees who have been a dream to work with on their growth journeys."

Simon's business model means he does 20% pro bono work supporting local communities, charities, and businesses. He added:

"I firmly believe that 'People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe', it's a line from Simon Sinek's book Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action and I that principle remains at the heart of what we do."

Emma Jones, CBE, founder of small business support platform Enterprise Nation, said:

"It's brilliant and so important to see the outstanding contribution that dedicated mentors like Simon have on the economy, helping businesses to grow and thrive.

"Since the launch of the voluntary mentoring scheme, we've recruited thousands of experienced mentors who give up their time and energy to support the next generation of ambitious, growing businesses that go on the Help to Grow: Management course.

"The course and its mentors have become an important stepping stone to business success and is playing a critical role by increasing resilience."

The Help to Grow: Management course offers senior business leaders 50 hours of leadership and management training across 12 weeks, with the government covering 90% of the costs involved. They each receive one-to-one support from an experienced and rated business mentor. Training is delivered via a national network of over 50 business schools.

Each participant is matched with a voluntary business mentor via the online Help to Grow: Management Course platform. A consortium delivers the mentoring element of the course.

Led by business support group Newable and including Enterprise Nation and the Association of Business Mentors, the consortium was appointed by the Government to develop a national network of business leaders and experts who will share their skills and experience with firms on the practical management training course.    

ENDS

About Newable    

Newable is the leading provider of Money, Advice and Workspace to SMEs. Now employing over 1,000 professional staff, it has grown to become a national business with a presence from Aberdeen to Brighton, serving over 43,000 client companies each year. 

About Enterprise Nation    

Enterprise Nation is a business support platform and provider delivering support to more than 50,000 small businesses every month. Its aim is to help people turn their good ideas into great businesses through expert advice (including a comprehensive resources library), events, acceleration support and networking.  

Enterprise Nation was founded in 2005 by British entrepreneur Emma Jones CBE, also co-founder of national enterprise campaign StartUp Britain. She is author of best-selling business books and is a frequently called-on and regular media commentator on a range of issues which affect the UK's growing number of SMEs. 

About the Association of Business Mentors   

The Association of Business Mentors (ABM) is the UK's leading professional body supporting the business mentor and coach sector while raising the profile of the value of business mentoring to small business owners.