A divorce coach from St Albans is one of the latest business people to take advantage of a free mentoring scheme in Hertfordshire.
Nawal Houghton, a qualified solicitor and accredited mediator, was matched to Helen Froggett-Thomson, who is one of the lead mentors on the scheme which has been running for the last 18 months across the county.
“We had a great 50-minute debrief and I came off the call feeling both exhilarated and excited about ideas and proposals around my business and next steps.
"It was so good to be able to connect with someone who had the experience and wisdom of having run her own business for many years and to be able to bounce off ideas and suggestions.
"Quite frankly, we could have spoken for another hour but I had an appointment!”
The Business Support Scheme was set up by Hertfordshire Growth Hub, in partnership with the University of Hertfordshire, as part of the £3.28m business support package launched by Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) in response to Covid-19.
The scheme was a direct response to the difficult trading conditions experienced last year and was specifically designed to cater for small and micro businesses, of which 91 per cent of the businesses in the county are ‘micro’ (10 or under employees).
Since the scheme started in June 2020, almost 300 businesses have been helped with over 1,000 hours of free, confidential one-to-one support provided by 70 volunteer business mentors, who were recruited specially for the scheme.
Demand for Nawal’s business, www.yourdivorcecoach.org.uk, has been vastly increasing and she is about to launch a new service to help the children caught up in divorce feel more empowered.
Nawal’s service specialises in those attempting to navigate a separation of families dominated by a toxic or narcissistic ex-partner.
Her new downloadable webinar, Children and Narcissism, is being launched on November 8 and free 15-minute discovery calls are also available.
Helen Froggett-Thomson said: “It’s been an honour to support so many businesses under the scheme over the last 18 months and anyone interested in ongoing business support should check out the valuable support provided by hertsgrowthhub.com, the Hertfordshire LEP and the University of Hertfordshire."
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