Business Mentor Lincolnshire, East Midlands

Clarity faster than trial and error

Cut through noise and get a clear, practical roadmap for your business in weeks, not years.

Accountability without the drama

A straight-talking business mentor who helps you follow through, without fluff, guilt trips, or corporate jargon.

Strategy rooted in real numbers

Decisions grounded in data, margins, cash flow and capacity, not vibes or wishful thinking.

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Business mentoring that helps you actually move the dial

Name: Business Mentoring
Brand: Beyond Touch

Running a business in the UK right now can feel like juggling chainsaws on a moving train. Costs go up, funding gets tighter, customers expect more, and at some point you realise you cannot think your way out of this on your own. That quiet voice that says “I should have figured this out by now” is usually the same voice that keeps you stuck.

Across the UK, only around a quarter of small and medium sized businesses currently use mentors, even though government-backed research shows mentoring can significantly improve growth, competition and innovation.

At the same time, studies report that businesses working with mentors can see higher survival rates, stronger leadership and better productivity compared to those that go it alone.

So the gap is not in the evidence; it is in access, quality and fit.

This is where Beyond Touch comes in. Our business mentoring is designed for founders, directors and managers who want a practical partner in their corner, not a motivational speaker. According to Grae Laws, principal adviser at Beyond Touch, the goal is simple: “Help leaders build better business models that can actually survive contact with the real world, not just look pretty on a slide.”

With over 2,000 businesses supported through councils, universities and growth hubs, the Beyond Touch team specialises in hands-on, no-nonsense business mentoring across Lincolnshire, the East Midlands and the wider UK.

Key takeaways

A clear, prioritised roadmap for your next 6–18 months, built around your real constraints on time, money and capacity, not a fantasy wish list.
Sharper decision-making as you test assumptions against real data, customer behaviour and margins, instead of reacting to every crisis in isolation.
Increased confidence and resilience, because you are no longer the only adult in the room thinking about strategy, risk, performance and long-term success.

How does Beyond Touch business mentoring actually work?

Most mentoring pages talk about “journeys” and “unlocking potential”. Ours starts with “where is the money going, and why are you tired all the time?”. From there, we build something useful.

The usual stages of our bespoke business mentoring:

Discovery call and fit check
A short conversation to understand your business model, pressure points and appetite for change, and to check we are the right people to help. Grae and the team typically work with growth-minded SMEs, start-ups with traction, and leaders under real pressure to perform.
Diagnostic: where the leaks really are
We map your current business across a few core lenses: business model, pricing and margins, pipeline, operations, team capacity and leadership. Government research highlights mentoring works best as part of a broader package of business improvement support, which is exactly how Beyond Touch approaches it.
Strategic clarity and action planning
Using our strategic planning frameworks, we translate the diagnostic into 3–5 priority outcomes, with concrete milestones, metrics, and clear “stop doing” decisions. Strategic business planning and action planning both feature strongly here, tying into Beyond Touch’s wider business planning support packages.
Accountability partnership
This is where “accountability partnership” and “business accountability” become real rather than buzzwords. You will agree specific actions between sessions, supported by simple tracking tools so progress is visible and shared. Many SME leaders report that mentoring is particularly valuable for disciplined execution and productivity.
Skills and confidence building
Along the way, your mentor will plug gaps in strategy, finance, leadership, AI, or project management skills, often drawing on Beyond Touch training materials, playbooks and the blog. Research into mentoring consistently finds that it boosts leadership capability and confidence as much as financial results.
Review, adapt, repeat
Markets move, people leave, funding falls through. We schedule regular reviews to adjust plans, taking a “test–learn–adjust” mindset rather than locking you into a rigid 12-month script. Evidence from UK mentoring programmes suggests ongoing, flexible relationships deliver more meaningful performance gains for SMEs than one-off workshops.

Real-World Examples - What does good business mentoring look like in practice?

Mentoring boosts survival and growth

A study for the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship reported that UK businesses with a mentor had a 70% higher survival rate than those without, highlighting the power of ongoing, practical guidance for founders.

Mentoring outperforms training alone

Nesta highlighted research showing that microenterprise owners who received mentoring from local experienced entrepreneurs increased short‑run profits by around 20% on average, while formal classroom training on its own did not deliver similar performance gains.

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Why is business mentoring such a big deal for UK SMEs right now?

Across the UK, mentoring has shifted from “nice to have” to critical infrastructure for ambitious SMEs. A government report has linked mentoring to improvements in innovation, competition and economic growth, and sees it as part of a broader Business Improvement Programme for small firms. Yet, despite this, a survey cited by National Mentoring Day notes that only 25% of small and medium sized businesses currently use business mentors, revealing a major support gap.

The commercial market around mentoring is also booming, which is both exciting and slightly alarming. Recent analysis suggests the UK business mentoring market reached around £182 million in value in 2024, up from about £67 million in 2019, with costs ranging widely depending on provider and region. That level of growth means the quality spectrum runs from outstanding to frankly exploitative, so working with an experienced, evidence-led provider like Beyond Touch can help you avoid expensive mistakes while still benefiting from structured, accountable support.

What is different about Beyond Touch mentoring compared to generic business coaching?

Beyond Touch blends traditional mentoring, hands-on consultancy and practical training, rather than forcing you into a one-size-fits-all coaching script. The team brings experience in strategic planning, AI integration, project management, and business improvement, which means sessions can move fluidly between high‑level strategy and “let us rewrite that sales process together” detail.

This mixture is particularly valuable for time‑poor founders who need thinking support and implementation help, not just reflective questions.

The mentoring is also anchored in Lincolnshire and the East Midlands, while remaining accessible UK‑wide online, so it stays grounded in the realities of local economies, supply chains and skills gaps. Beyond Touch has delivered support for over 2,000 businesses through councils, universities and national programmes, building a reputation for relaxed, direct, and constructive facilitation that still ends with clear action plans.

Client feedback repeatedly highlights the same themes: practical outcomes, clearer strategy, and improved production, sales or team performance after structured mentoring and planning sessions.

For more depth on our frameworks and thinking, the Beyond Touch blog covers topics like strategic clarity, project management, AI adoption and local business growth, while the downloads section provides templates and tools you can try immediately. Both are useful whether you are already a mentoring client or still weighing up your options.

Business Mentoring in Lincolnshire & the East Midlands — Supporting SMEs Across the UK

At Beyond Touch, we provide professional business mentoring to ambitious leaders across Lincolnshire and the East Midlands, helping them build clarity, confidence and strategic momentum.

Based in Lincolnshire, we understand the unique challenges regional businesses face — whether that’s scaling operations, improving leadership capability, enhancing profitability or navigating periods of change. Our mentoring approach blends real-world experience with practical tools, tailored to the needs of each business we work with.

We’re proud to support clients in Lincoln, Boston, Grantham, Newark, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and across the broader East Midlands region.

But geography doesn’t limit our reach. Beyond Touch delivers mentoring UK-wide, working with leaders and teams in start-ups, established SMEs, remote and hybrid teams and clients beyond the Midlands.

Most mentoring sessions are held online, offering flexible scheduling that works around your business — wherever you’re located.

Whether you’re looking for a business mentor in Lincolnshire, a business mentor in the East Midlands, or strategic support across the UK, Beyond Touch offers structured, outcome-focused mentoring that drives real growth.

"Many business owners see training as a cost when it should be viewed as the most predictable investment you can make. Get your people skilled properly and the returns show up in weeks, not years."
Grae Laws, MD at Beyond Touch Ltd

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Get in touch today

Additional Resources to Support Your Business Journey

Explore our extensive library of business insights, tools, and guidance:

Beyond Touch Blog – Practical articles on AI integration, business strategy, leadership development, and operational improvement, written by experienced advisers working with UK SMEs daily.

the blog

Free Downloads – Access templates, frameworks, and guides covering business planning, value proposition development, project management, and more.

resources

Open University Business Barometer 2024 – Comprehensive analysis of UK skills challenges and opportunities, revealing that 71% of businesses lack formal skills plans—highlighting the competitive advantage gained by those who invest strategically.

OU business barometer

CIPD Learning and Development Research – Evidence-based insights on training effectiveness, skills priorities, and workforce development trends shaping UK business in 2025 and beyond.

cipd research

Ready to accelerate your team's capability and your business growth?

Contact Beyond Touch for a free 30-minute consultation to discuss your training needs and explore how structured skill development can solve your specific business challenges.

Call: 01790 751238
Email: grae@beyondtouch.co.uk

Serving Lincolnshire, the East Midlands, and businesses across the UK

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rated 5.0 stars with 170+ Google reviews

Business Mentoring Posts

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Business Mentoring FAQs

These frequently asked questions tackle the practical questions that UK business owners raise when considering about business mentoring with Beyond Touch

In practice, business mentoring can boost performance by improving leadership capability, decision-making and operational discipline. Studies of mentoring programmes show increases in productivity, profitability and business survival, often because leaders have structured space to think and act instead of firefighting every day.

At Beyond Touch, that translates into clearer business models, better cash flow understanding, and concrete project plans for growth, often supported by tools available through our business planning support packages.

Session frequency usually ranges from fortnightly to monthly, depending on the pace of change in your business and the intensity of support you want. A typical session might start with a quick check‑in on progress against actions, then dig into one or two strategic or operational topics, such as pricing, hiring, marketing focus, process improvement or AI adoption, finishing with agreed actions and measures for the next period.

Because the team is used to working with councils, growth hubs and accelerators, structure and accountability are baked in, rather than tacked on at the end.

Mentoring appears to be particularly valuable at both ends of the spectrum: for firms under pressure to stabilise and for high‑growth businesses trying not to spin out of control. The ScaleUp Institute notes that mentoring can significantly increase sales and productivity for ambitious SMEs engaged in growth programmes, while other UK reports link mentoring to improved innovation and competitiveness more broadly

Beyond Touch regularly works with both scenarios: stabilising margins and systems for established companies, and helping younger firms design scalable business models, sometimes through dedicated start‑up or SME mentoring offers.

Mentoring appears to be particularly valuable at both ends of the spectrum: for firms under pressure to stabilise and for high‑growth businesses trying not to spin out of control. The ScaleUp Institute notes that mentoring can significantly increase sales and productivity for ambitious SMEs engaged in growth programmes, while other UK reports link mentoring to improved innovation and competitiveness more broadly

Beyond Touch regularly works with both scenarios: stabilising margins and systems for established companies, and helping younger firms design scalable business models, sometimes through dedicated start‑up or SME mentoring offers.

If you want a local or UK‑wide partner with genuine experience in business planning, AI, project management and SME operations, and you prefer straight, informal conversations over glossy “success theory”, Beyond Touch is likely a good fit. The organisation is based in Lincolnshire, serves the East Midlands and beyond, and is trusted by councils, universities and 2,000+ businesses, which provides evidence of impact and staying power in a very noisy mentoring market. A short exploratory call is usually enough to test chemistry, expectations and whether our mentoring style matches how you like to work.

Costs vary depending on intensity, duration and whether mentoring sits inside a wider support package such as strategic business planning, project support or AI training, but pricing is intentionally set at SME‑friendly levels compared with London-centric providers.

In many cases, Beyond Touch delivers mentoring through local authority or university-backed programmes where some or all of the cost is subsidised for eligible businesses, particularly across Lincolnshire and the East Midlands, so it is worth asking about current schemes when you get in touch.

Yes. While we are based in Lincolnshire and work extensively with organisations across the East Midlands, Beyond Touch offers business mentoring to clients throughout the UK. Through online mentoring sessions, workshops and digital support tools, location is not a barrier — whether you’re in Cornwall or Cumbria, we can help you grow your business with tailored guidance and strategic accountability.

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What customers say on our Google Business Profile

"They embedded themselves within our team and implemented ongoing process improvement solutions. They are reliable, trustworthy and highly dependable. I look forward to working with them on the next project."

- Melford Technologies

"They provide a professional service that is effective and will leave a lasting impact on the business. I would have no hesitation in recommending their services. Excellent value for money."

- Allglass Facades Ltd

"I found their style to be relaxed, informative, and very constructive. We have an action plan and a great list of contacts and suggestions to take our business forward into a new era."

- Dan Medical

"This was really useful and has made me look at rationalising my range to a more realistic level. I have also benefited from the learning on supply chain strategy. I would recommend anyone taking time out of their business to look at changes that can be made."

- Mia Tui Ltd

"We had an enjoyable and productive planning session attended by our management team. As a result we have a number of production improvements and a sales plan in place. The strategic session focussed on the direction of the business, giving a much clearer vision of how to take it forward."

- Custom Cookie Company

"The strategy workshops were extremely helpful and thought provoking exercise. It has caused us to rethink a number of the ways that we are working. Discussing issues with such a knowledgeable and helpful group of business people helped not only to identify problems but to see solutions to them."

- Auberge du Chocolat

"Working with the team on project management and sales strategy has changed our business model entirely."

- EZ-Charge

"Outstanding content and structure to the session. Creative ideas and relevant experience helped move the day along. A really helpful session. Would recommend."

- Dom Reilly

"Beyond has helped Evoke develop a structure that delivers substantial improvements in production efficiency. Beyond continues to offer excellent support."

- Evoke Interactive

"They embedded themselves within our team and implemented ongoing process improvement solutions. They are reliable, trustworthy and highly dependable. I look forward to working with them on the next project."

- Melford Technologies

"They provide a professional service that is effective and will leave a lasting impact on the business. I would have no hesitation in recommending their services. Excellent value for money."

- Allglass Facades Ltd

"I found their style to be relaxed, informative, and very constructive. We have an action plan and a great list of contacts and suggestions to take our business forward into a new era."

- Dan Medical

"This was really useful and has made me look at rationalising my range to a more realistic level. I have also benefited from the learning on supply chain strategy. I would recommend anyone taking time out of their business to look at changes that can be made."

- Mia Tui Ltd

"We had an enjoyable and productive planning session attended by our management team. As a result we have a number of production improvements and a sales plan in place. The strategic session focussed on the direction of the business, giving a much clearer vision of how to take it forward."

- Custom Cookie Company

"The strategy workshops were extremely helpful and thought provoking exercise. It has caused us to rethink a number of the ways that we are working. Discussing issues with such a knowledgeable and helpful group of business people helped not only to identify problems but to see solutions to them."

- Auberge du Chocolat

"Working with the team on project management and sales strategy has changed our business model entirely."

- EZ-Charge

"Outstanding content and structure to the session. Creative ideas and relevant experience helped move the day along. A really helpful session. Would recommend."

- Dom Reilly

"Beyond has helped Evoke develop a structure that delivers substantial improvements in production efficiency. Beyond continues to offer excellent support."

- Evoke Interactive