Most people who want to know how to find a mentor imagine one big moment: you find the perfect person, ask "will you be my mentor?", and they say yes. In practice it rarely works like that. Good mentoring usually starts with one useful conversation with someone a few steps ahead of you, and grows from there. This guide covers free UK routes for business and career mentoring, how to find a mentor at work, how to choose the right person, and scripts for asking.
Start with what you want help with
"I'd like a mentor" is hard for anyone to act on. "I'd like to talk to someone who has hired their first five staff" is easy. Before you look, write down:
- The one or two problems you'd most like help with in the next six months.
- The kind of experience that would help: someone who has run a café, moved from engineering into management, sold to the NHS, raised money.
- How much time you're asking for. One call? A monthly coffee for six months?
That short list decides where you look and makes your request far easier to say yes to.
Informal vs formal mentoring
Formal mentoring runs through a scheme: an employer, a charity, a business support programme or a professional body matches you with a volunteer mentor, often with a set number of sessions and some ground rules. It's a good choice if you don't know where to start, or want someone trained to mentor.
Informal mentoring is a relationship you build yourself with someone whose experience you value. There's no paperwork, and it often never gets called mentoring at all. It tends to last longer and be more specific to you, but you have to find the person and keep it going.
Many people have both: a formal mentor through a programme and two or three people they message when a particular problem comes up.
Where to find a free business mentor in the UK
These routes are free or very low cost. Details and eligibility change, so check the current terms on each site before you apply.
MentorsMe
MentorsMe describes itself as the UK's online gateway to business mentoring. It's run by UK Finance and lists verified mentoring organisations in your area, plus mentoring programmes run by banks, government and others. It's a good first stop if you don't know what exists near you.
Your local Growth Hub and the Business Support Service
If you're in England, your local Growth Hub offers free advice and can point you to mentoring programmes in your area. Find yours with the Growth Hub Finder. The GOV.UK business support helpline page lists the free services for each nation: the Business Support Service in England, Find Business Support in Scotland, Business Wales and Invest Northern Ireland.
Digital Boost
Digital Boost offers free one-to-one mentoring from volunteers for small organisations, including start-ups, sole traders, charities and social enterprises. It covers getting started, digital and AI, productivity and growth.
Start Up Loans
If you're borrowing to start a business, the government-backed Start Up Loans scheme, part of the British Business Bank, offers personal loans for business use at a fixed 6% a year, and recipients get 12 months of free mentoring. It's a loan you have to repay, so only apply if borrowing makes sense for you anyway.
The King's Trust (formerly The Prince's Trust)
If you're 18 to 30, The King's Trust Enterprise programme offers one-to-one support, business guidance and mentoring to help you start a business, with possible grant and loan funding. The GOV.UK summary sets out the eligibility, and links to the Trust's own page.
Help to Grow: Management
Not free, but heavily subsidised. If you lead a UK small or medium-sized business, Help to Grow: Management is a 12-week course run by business schools, 90% funded by the Department for Business and Trade, and it includes one-to-one mentoring. King's College London's course page shows the current cost and eligibility; other business schools run their own intakes.
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How to find a mentor at work
- Ask about formal schemes. Many employers run mentoring through HR, graduate programmes or staff networks. Ask HR or your manager what exists.
- Look one or two steps ahead. The most useful mentor is often someone who was in your position a few years ago, not the most senior person in the building.
- Go outside your reporting line. Someone in another team can be more candid, and you can be more honest with them about wanting to move on or up.
- Ask your manager for names. "Who here would be good to talk to about moving into product?" is an easy question for them to answer.
- Make it visible that you're learning. Volunteer for cross-team projects, ask good questions in meetings, and follow up on advice you've been given. People like mentoring someone who acts on what they hear.
How to find a mentor for your career, online and for free
Outside work, look where people in your field already gather:
- Professional bodies and trade associations. Many run mentoring for members, especially early-career members.
- Your university alumni network. Alumni are often happy to help people from their old course.
- Free online platforms. ADPList lets you book free video sessions with people in design, product, engineering, marketing and more.
- Events and meetups. A good conversation at an event is the most natural start to a mentoring relationship. See what to say at a networking event if starting those is the hard part.
- Matching services. On Linktwos you describe who you want to learn from, for example "a mentor who has opened a second restaurant in the North West", and it introduces you to one well-matched person at a time with a reason to meet. Nobody can cold-message you, and you can skip anyone who isn't right.
How to choose the right mentor
Seniority matters less than relevance. Look for someone who:
- Has done the specific thing you're trying to do, recently enough that it still applies.
- Asks you questions rather than just telling stories about themselves.
- Is honest with you, including when the answer isn't what you hoped.
- Has the time. A brilliant mentor you see once a year helps less than a good one you see monthly.
- Has nothing to sell you. Be cautious if "mentoring" turns into a pitch for paid services.
How to ask someone to be your mentor
Skip the big question. Ask for one conversation about one thing, show you've done your homework, and make it easy to say no. If it goes well, ask to do it again.
1. A first message to someone you don't know
Hi Rachel,
I run a small bakery in Leeds and I'm trying to decide whether to take on our first wholesale customer. I read your interview about moving into wholesale with your café group, and the point about payment terms stuck with me.
Would you be open to a 20-minute call in the next few weeks? I'd come with three specific questions. Completely understand if you're too busy.
Thanks,
Hannah
2. Asking someone at work
Hi Marcus, I'm hoping to move into a team lead role in the next year and you made that move fairly recently. Could I buy you a coffee and ask how you prepared for it? Half an hour would be really helpful.
3. Turning a good conversation into something regular
Thanks again for Tuesday. I've already changed how I'm pricing the wholesale order because of what you said. Would you be open to a short catch-up once a month for the next few months? I'll send an agenda beforehand and keep it to 30 minutes.
If you know someone who knows them, a warm introduction will work better than any of these. Our guide on how to ask for an introduction shows how to make that request.
How to make mentoring work
- Agree the basics early. How often you'll meet, for how long, and how to get in touch in between.
- Bring an agenda. Two or three questions or decisions, sent a day ahead. It respects their time and gets you better answers.
- Act on the advice, then report back. "I tried what you suggested and here's what happened" is the most motivating thing a mentor can hear.
- Give something back. Share a useful article, make an introduction, tell them about something they'd find interesting. Mentoring works better when it isn't one way.
- Review and end well. After three to six months, ask whether it's still useful for both of you. It's fine to wind down a mentoring relationship; a thank-you and an update a few months later keeps the door open. Our guide on following up after networking has templates for staying in touch.
If you're building a company, a mentor who has been through it can also help you find a co-founder or think through finding investors in the UK. And if you're starting from scratch, our guide on building a professional network covers the groundwork.
Common questions about finding a mentor
Where can I find a free business mentor in the UK?
Start with MentorsMe, UK Finance's directory of verified mentoring organisations, and your local Growth Hub if you're in England. Digital Boost offers free volunteer mentoring to small organisations, Start Up Loans recipients get 12 months of free mentoring, and The King's Trust Enterprise programme includes mentoring for 18 to 30 year olds.
How do I ask someone to be my mentor?
Don't open with the word mentor. Ask for one short conversation about a specific question, explain why you picked them, and make it easy to say no. If that conversation goes well, ask whether you could check in again in a month. Most mentoring relationships grow out of a few good conversations rather than one big request.
How do I find a mentor at work?
Ask whether your employer runs a formal mentoring scheme, often through HR or a staff network. If not, look for someone one or two levels ahead in a role you'd like, or in another team, and ask your manager who they would suggest. Someone outside your reporting line can give you more candid advice.
How often should you meet a mentor?
Once a month for 30 to 60 minutes suits most people, with short messages in between when something comes up. Agree it at the start and review after three months whether it's still useful for both of you.
What is the difference between a mentor and a coach?
A mentor shares what they learned from doing something you want to do, usually for free and informally. A coach is usually paid and trained to help you find your own answers through questions, and does not need to have done your job.
Can I find a mentor online for free?
Yes. MentorsMe and Digital Boost cover UK small businesses, and platforms such as ADPList offer free sessions with people in design, product, engineering, marketing and other fields. Professional bodies, alumni networks and online communities in your industry are also worth checking.
Linktwos is an intent-based professional networking platform founded by Tom Hartley-Mills and Dan Price. linktwos.com