Mr Smith was selected from more than 1,100 applicants, with just 71 business owners chosen for the Oxford online cohort delivered in partnership with Saïd Business School at Oxford University.
The qualified heating engineer, who runs the business with his wife Terri-Anne Smith, said the programme had provided crucial business acumen to complement his industry expertise. "As a qualified heating engineer within a family run business, I had industry knowledge and skill but lacked an understanding of business and financial models. Understanding different ways of tracking and measuring financial health and being able to adopt those into our company has been invaluable," he said.
Custom Heat was established by Mr Smith's father in the 1980s and has grown significantly under Lincoln's management. The company currently employs around 70 people including apprentices and has already implemented changes as a result of the programme including management restructuring, new key performance indicators and standard operating procedures. The company now holds monthly management meetings focused on financial health metrics and has developed its own KPI dashboard.
Mr Smith said the programme had also reinforced the importance of processes within growing businesses, with the understanding that mistakes within a team are usually attributable to poor processes rather than people.
The business growth plan sets out Custom Heat's ambition to double its workforce and become the leading plumbing and heating company across the Midlands and South West. The 75 new jobs will be created locally over the next three years.
Mr Smith said access to business education was vital for small businesses navigating the current economic landscape. "We'd really urge SME business leaders to identify routes for learning to help overcome some of the challenges faced by small businesses throughout the country," he said.
The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK programme is fully funded by the Goldman Sachs Foundation. Since launching in 2010, it has supported over 2,000 business leaders across the UK.
