Business mentors given a chance to shine
SMALL business owners are being given the opportunity to reward and recognise their mentors with the launch of a new award.
The competition hopes to highlight the important and often overlooked role that mentors play in helping small businesses flourish.
Business leaders are being asked to forward candidates for the Yell Small Business Mentor of the Year Award, which has been created by social networking site horsemouth.co.uk.
They can be formal mentors or supportive colleagues, peers, or family so long as they demonstrate three key attributes as specified by horsemouth including friendliness, helpfulness and timeliness.
The winning mentor will receive £1,000 cash, plus a private mentoring
breakfast with a business hero of their choice.
Potential ‘Prize Mentors’ supporting the award include Dame Mary Perkins, founder of Specsavers and Sahar Sashimi co-founder of Coffee Republic.
Dame Mary is offering to fly the winner to Guernsey for a day for a tour of her head office and a personal mentoring session, as well as a visit to St Peter Port.
Final judging will be conducted by a panel of business and coaching experts,
including Maxine Benson, co-founder of Everywoman and MT (Mary Teresa)
Rainey, founder of horsesmouth, Helen Stevenson, chief marketing officer at
Yell, and Professor David Clutterbuck, co-founder of the European Mentoring
Centre.
MS Stevenson said:
“There are many thousands of people out there mentoring and supporting small businesses – either formally or informally – and we want to celebrate that as small businesses are at the heart of our business.”
The Yell Small Business Mentor of the Year Award follows the successful
January launch of horsesmouth, which enables users to profile their experiences, publish their stories and mentor each other one-on-one in a safe, hosted online environment.
The award is part of a wider joint initiative called the Yell Mentoring Works Awards.
To nominate a mentor, small business owners and managers should log onto
www.horsesmouth.co.uk and complete the simple entry form.
