Beyond
business as usual with the Small Business Leadership Programme SME support from De Montfort University’s Leicester Castle Business School to positively impact Leicester’s future WORDS BY KERRY SMITH
DR DYNESHIA JOHNSON 22 | NICHE
NADINA NORTH
JACKIE COOPER
W
hile DMU’s public engagement team reaches out to the public for ideas to build back better in Leicester, its associated Leicester Castle Business school (LCBS) has been on the frontline helping businesses to go beyond business as usual in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. DMU’s Dr Dyneshia Johnson, Associate Professor at LCBS, has said that reskilling and retooling is “usually what happens in a time like this.” She added: “Personal mastery is important, especially in turbulent times. The ability to handle uncertainty is a big factor for entrepreneurs.” As such, Dyneshia is pleased to be named Programme Director of the fully funded Small Business Leadership Programme, which she runs alongside Programme Manager Jackie Cooper and Programme Facilitator Nadina North. LCBS exists to “meet the needs of 21st Century business” by teaching students, who may already be graduates or are currently working and wish to upskill, to go “beyond business as usual” in ways that positively impact local communities. The school itself is proactive in developing Leicester’s economy by teaming up and making links with organisations and business leaders to give back to their students providing tools and inspiration. The connections the school makes are passed down through its courses that have been designed since their inception to help improve businesses with the economy in mind. Currently,