Goldman set to extend its SME scheme

GOLDMAN Sachs may launch a successor to its ­successful mentoring scheme for small to medium sized ­enterprise (SME) businesses when the current one comes to an end, vice chairman Michael Sherwood says.

Goldman Sachs, Goldman Sachs SME scheme, Goldman Sachs mentoring scheme, medium sized enterprise Goldman scheme, Michael Sherwood Goldman, GETTY

Goldman Sachs is looking to launch a successor to its successful SME mentoring scheme

The investment bank’s 10,000 Small Businesses ­programme was launched in 2010 with leading business schools in Oxford, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and London. It aimed to identify and support established small companies that have the potential to expand ­rapidly and create jobs.

When Goldman started the small businesses scheme, which is two to three times oversubscribed, it set itself a target of working with 1000 SMEs. To date, it has worked with more than 800 small firms, of which 70 per cent have grown their head count and close to 80 per cent have seen increased revenues.

As this programme comes to an end, I think we will look at ways to continue its work

Vice chairman Michael Sherwood

“As this programme comes to an end, I think we will look at ways to continue its work. Almost certainly there will be [a successor scheme],” Sherwood said. SMEs that ­participate in the scheme ­attend modules focused on topics such as identifying ­export opportunities, hiring the right people and obtaining ­finance.

It also brings the owners of SMEs from a variety of sectors ­together to exchange tips, opinions and ideas.

While Goldman has traditionally focused on working with large multinational ­corporations, Sherwood said that the 10,000 Small Businesses scheme was part of the bank’s efforts to “give something back to the econ­omy”, in the wake of the ­credit crunch and the resulting recession.

In an interview with Sky News last week, Sherwood said that the investment bank believes that Britain will grow by 3 per cent next year despite the economic woes afflicting Europe, our biggest trading partner.

It believes that strong growth in the US will help ­offset the impact Europe’s poor performance will have on the UK economy. Goldman predicts that Europe will have the lowest growth in the world, while Britain’s econ­omy will expand by 3 per cent both this year and next.

He said: “Unfortunately, I think we have a relatively large sick neighbour in ­Europe. We think growth in Europe is going to be lower than in the rest of the world, probably below one per cent.

“The US is actually doing pretty well, growing at above 3 per cent, and we would ­expect it to continue to grow at 3 per cent. So net-net we think things are OK.”

Last week Prime Minister David Cameron warned that “red warning lights are once again flashing on the dashboard of the global economy”. Although Cameron is right to be concerned, Sherwood ­predicted that the UK’s economy will hold up.

“The Prime Minister’s just got back from the G20, he’s seen all the problems of the world in one place,” he said. “I think Mr Cameron has r­easons to worry because we trade a lot with Europe but I think for now the UK is doing pretty well.”

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