Welcome to the final conversation in our Coaching Impact Series interviews, a podcast series exploring the impact of our coaching work with entrepreneurial support organisations.

In this interview we explore the funder perspective. Creative Metier Impact Area Lead Jessica Stewart speaks to Nicholas Colloff OBE, Executive Director at Argidius Foundation. Nicholas discuss his motivations for investing in coaching and coaching skills development across the Argidius portfolio, and the impact he has seen as a result.

Argidius Foundation partners with business support organisations to help small and medium sized businesses grow and generate employment. They work jointly with other funders and with learning partners to find out more about which kinds of support best help entrepreneurs scale their businesses and to apply the findings globally. Through their work, they show that with the right support, businesses thrive, jobs are created, local economies grow and communities are strengthened.

Nicholas Colloff OBE

“A job in the formal economy is the best indicator of a person moving out of poverty. More than this, I strongly believe that being able to get decent work is at the heart of recognising and affirming a person’s dignity. Since 2014, our strategy has been to focus intensively on finding out what actually helps entrepreneurs develop their businesses, and putting this into practice through our work with partner business support organisations. Every day, I see and greatly admire how small business owners and their teams create income and employment within their communities, overcoming multiple obstacles and rising to the challenges they face.”

Nicholas Colloff OBE has directed the Argidius Foundation since January 2014. He is a senior executive with experience as a founder, a funder and a senior manager. Prior to Argidius he was Director of Strategy and Innovation at Oxfam GB and Regional Director of the global microfinance network Opportunity International in Eastern Europe.

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