This week, the London Stock Exchange Group has presented its ELITE program at IE; a program focused on small and mid-sized companies. ELITE provides a platform that connects the involved enterprises with investors throughout Europe and a training program to foster the competitiveness, visibility and attractiveness of the participants.

The programme is structured in three phases, starting with training sessions and workshops for a later implementation of the acquired knowledge:

1. Get ready: this first part will provide the participants with the required tools for improving their organisational structure in economic and human capital terms. This aim will be achieved through an educational program commanded by the FT-IE Corporate Learning Alliance, featuring collaborations of a broad set of entrepreneurs, industry experts and advisers from all sectors.
2. Get fit: the second stage consists on workshops designed to reflect on company-specific issues and progressively adopt new practices to increase competitiveness and get access to long-term funding opportunities. In order to do that, companies will receive assistance in the elaboration of an improved business plan and an “equity story”, as well as improving their corporate communication and optimizing its governance.
3. Get value: building on the experience acquired during the first two phases, ELITE finally helps its participants to capitalise what they have learnt for exploiting new business opportunities and accessing to new funding options.

During the presentation speech, Barbara Lunghi, the director of the program, highlighted the important benefits that Spanish companies can get by adhering to ELITE’s dynamic platform. With reference to their expectations from the participants she assured that «This program is aimed at companies who want to grow and internationalize, helping SMEs to create a system and prepare to raise capital in order to meet the international challenges.”

ELITE has been successfully implemented in Italy in 2012 and the UK in 2014 and currently comprises more than 200 companies, covering all sectors, as well as more than 150 assessors and more than 70 investors.

Interested in joining? The program offers a limited number of vacancies, which will be assigned by considering the historical growth and future potential, the credibility of the expansion project and the management team, as well as the cultural fit to promote the changes within the organisation. Good luck!

For more information about ELITE: www.elite-growth.com
For more information about ELITE in Spain: www.elite-growth.es