Welsh tourism businesses have seen the benefit of developing their leadership skills having taken advantage of our part-funded 20Twenty leadership programme.
Empowering Leaders
Oneplanet Adventure, which was established in 2005 by keen mountain bikers Jim Gaffney and Ian Owen started their business in Coed Llandegla Forest.
Oneplanet Adventure is a mecca for mountain bikers from all over the UK who come to test their skills on the 40km’s of man made trails they have created.
It now attracts 170,000 visitors a year and the hub of the business is the visitor centre which hosts an award winning cafe, bike shop, workshop and bike rental facilities.
“We have sent several staff members on the 20Twenty Business Growth course to enable them to grow as leaders and empower them to develop themselves further, in turn helping to move the business forward as well. It has allowed the business to grow from within rather than needing to recruit management.
This helps us to build stronger teams with a greater sense of belonging and loyalty.’ says Jim Gaffney, Company Director of One Planet Adventure.”
Sharpening Business Skills
Shelly Barratt the founder and Director of the Award Winning ‘Real Ale Trail’ set up her company to help people rediscover pubs in hard-to-reach rural parts of Wales, by riding a bus instead of a organising a car journey, to the doors of up to 9 pubs.
“The Ale Trail events are part of a bigger picture, to help the tourism economy of the immediate area and benefit small businesses with marketing. It was firstly a tourism initiative and secondly a mini festival to celebrate rural Welsh pubs with people who don’t visit the area often.
The trail gives good friends a reason to get together for a day out. They say human connection is the deepest form of unconditional love, and after the last two years we’ve all experienced there has never been a more relevant time then to reach out and get together with your friends for a day out, sampling the local ale, local farmed foods, local music, all in great pubs.”
Shelly attended the 20Twenty CMI level 7 programme and said “I joined the 20Twenty programme to do better in business, my degree didn’t provide everything I needed to run a successful company. I plan brands from concept to delivery and I built my businesses to grow and never to flip and sell.
Business for me is about the long game, and you’ve got to work on your weak areas but how do you do that when you’re running a business, join 20Twenty of course!”
“The courses elements really helped my business and unintendedly, I met some very bright peers, who have helped me progress my company in leaps and bounds.”
Because I gained so much from the course, I sent a staff member onto the 20Twenty CMI level 4 programme.
I mean why would anyone turn down this opportunity, its subsidised, you make long lasting business connections, and you take away tools you’ve not implemented into the business before. It’s a gift!”
Business Efficiencies
Lee Browning also graduated from the 20Twenty CMI level 7 programme and is one of the people behind The Boardroom Climbing in Deeside, an indoor climbing venue just off the A55/M56 gateway to Wales.
“We are climbers, we like climbing, so we built The Boardroom. It isn’t really just one person’s dream or one person’s idea, its grown organically through the interactions and input of all the wonderful staff and wonderful customers.
The Boardroom Climbing is stylish, relaxed and friendly with some beautiful problems, lead and TR lines.”
“We have nearly 2000m2 of climbing and we’re home to the UK’s first Psicobloc wall. We run taster sessions, induction to climbing, kid’s clubs, birthday parties, wheelchair climb/abseil, yoga classes, physio and sports massage. We also do great coffee and have a cafe.
It’s been really useful. The course is part-funded and like all small businesses you haven’t got a lot of spare money around, so the fact that it’s part-funded to quite a large degree is good. The course has given me lots of skills which has made me more efficient, it’s been really useful.”
The next 20Twenty CMI (Chartered Management Institute) level 5-7 cohort starts in September in Wrexham and is aimed at developing the leadership skills of business owners and managers in North East Wales.
We are currently recruiting and the programme is up to 80% funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) through Welsh Government and is valued as a 1/3 of an MBA.