A program from the London Stock Exchange Group in collaboration with the FT – IE Corporate Learning

The SME-centered pan-European platform ELITE makes its Spanish debut

-      ELITE is a pan-European platform that works to accelerate the growth of companies by connecting them with consultants and investors, and providing professional training.

-      More than 200 companies, 150 consultants, and 70 investors are already part of the ELITE community.

-      Growth-oriented SMEs from all over Europe can now gain access to this exclusive program. 

-      Spanish companies will benefit from a specially designed program, thanks to collaboration with the FT – IE Corporate Learning Alliance. 

Today, Spain welcomes ELITE, a program from the London Stock Exchange Group in collaboration with the FT – IE Corporate Learning Alliance, a scheme that will offer concrete support to growing SMEs via an innovative program designed to hone managerial skills, while working to strengthen competitiveness, visibility and attractiveness in the eyes of investors. It is a pan-European platform that aims to create a community of companies of excellence, and guide  them in taking advantage of new opportunities to improve their visibility and build contacts; encouraging growth and a closer affinity with financial markets.

During the event - held today at IE Business School, Madrid - the organization presented the program that it has created especially for the Spanish market. In brief, Spain’s economic fabric is highly diverse and characterized by a multitude of small and medium-sized businesses. The goal of ELITE is to provide them with the tools and the skills they need to start conversing with the international financial community.

Barbara Lunghi, head of the ELITE program, stated:

“ELITE is targeted at businesses of excellence with a desire to expand internationally, and aims to position itself at the very center of a pan-European structure that helps SMEs to organize and to prepare themselves to build capital, with a view to taking on new international challenges. Thanks to its sectoral and territorial diversity, the presence of a great number of small and medium-sized businesses and a growing ambition to participate at the international level, Spanish companies can expect to reap substantial rewards from joining a dynamic community such as ELITE.”

“Professional training for Spanish business persons is a core element of the ELITE program. Our objective is to offer the training, tools and skills necessary to help SMEs grow, innovate and find the right strategies to go global,” explained Vandyck Silveira, CEO of  the FT – IE Corporate Learning Alliance.

ELITE’s partners in Spain include: the FT – IE Corporate Learning Alliance; Cepyme; UK Trade & Investment; the Family Business Association (Instituto de la Empresa Familiar), Informa and a number of other consultants and investors, on hand to offer assistance to companies on their individual growth trajectories.

Program structure

Elite encourages businesses to aim higher through a unique, three-phase program, comprising support sessions in management, training and contact-building with investors, consultants and entrepreneurs:

Phase 1

A global training program led by the FT – IE Corporate Learning Alliance, and coordinated by Academy at the London Stock Exchange, designed to stimulate change and in-company reorganization.

Phase 2

Companies progressively adopt new managerial practices, as they prepare to reach out for longer-term financial opportunities.

Phase 3

Companies capitalize on the benefits gained during the first two phases of the program to support them in the development of new business opportunities and to prepare them to enter a broader sector of consultants and investors.

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