Our Cultivate Business Workshop series, delivered by regional industry experts and designed to create immediate commercial impact, empowers small businesses to overcome their barriers to growth.

A three-tier series of workshops tailored to help businesses to grow, expand their reach and drive sales, each workshop tackles a key business area integral to cultivating a resilient future.

  • Sow - our fully funded, entry-level tier of workshops
  • Feed - our paid, advanced-level tier of workshops
  • Grow - our paid, expert-level tier of workshops

Who are the workshops suitable for?

  • Sow workshops are ideal for new entrepreneurs, local micro-businesses and career changers keen to develop their basic business skills
  • Feed workshops are ideal for growth-stage small to medium-sized enterprises, team managers and ambitious professionals keen to level up their applied business skills
  • Grow workshops are ideal for business leaders, scale-up founders, senior managers and sector innovators keen to master their digital leadership, innovation and people strategy

What you'll achieve at the end of a workshop

  • Sow delegates will develop their basic business skills, building their confidence and awareness to progress their small business further
  • Feed delegates will build on their foundational skills and knowledge, developing their applied ability to create actionable growth strategies, make operational decisions and optimise their business
  • Grow delegates will develop their mastery of digital leadership, innovation and people strategy

A CPD Certificate of Completion

Delegates, on completion, will receive a CPD Certificate of Completion endorsed by the RAU.

How are the workshops delivered?

We offer our workshops face-to-face at our RAU campus at Cirencester. Our workshops are typically delivered over 1 hour (Sow); 2 hours (Feed); and 5 hours (Grow).

We adopt a blended learning approach, combining the delivery of theoretical knowledge with practical and interactive activities, to promote understanding of and engagement with workshop content amongst delegates.

About the Workshop Leaders

Workshops are delivered by the following regional business experts:

  • Ben Kinnaird
  • Gill Smith
  • Diana Wheatley

Find out more about our workshop leaders here.

Book today

Our next workshop dates:

Sow workshops (fully funded)

  • Find your fastest route to growth (with Gill Smith) – Wednesday 21 January 2026, 10.00 am – 11.30 am.

Find out more and book here.

Feed workshops (£90+VAT)*

  • Shape your strategy for growth (with Gill Smith) – Wednesday 4 February 2026, 9.30 am -12.30 pm

Find out more and book here.

Grow workshops (£150+VAT)*

  • Design and drive your growth plan with (Gill Smith) – Wednesday 25 February 2026. 9.30 am – 2.30 pm

Find out more and book here.

 

* A 20% RAU student discount is available to a limited number of students per paid workshop.

To register interest in future dates, please get in touch via our continuing professional development enquiry form or call +44 (0) 1285 652531.

Funding options

If you are looking at grants to cover the cost of attending our course, you may meet the requirements for Cotswold District Council UK Shared Prosperity Fund funding. For more information, visit the Cotswold District Council website here.

You may also meet the requirements for Gloucestershire Disability Fund's well-being grants which can fund education and training for adults. For more information, visit the Gloucestershire Disability Fund website here.

Terms and conditions

Read our terms and conditions for short courses and CPD training here.

Please read these carefully before booking.

Do you have a continuing professional development enquiry?

Submit an enquiry