One company benefiting from the expertise available through the mentor programme is Robinson Surerest, a handcrafted bed manufacturer in the centre of Dublin which specialises in the production of orthopaedic beds.

Mr David Robinson returned to Ireland from an investment banking job abroad to help run the business which has been in his family for three generations since it opened in 1922.

"After Robinson Surerest's former factory was sold in the 1970s the business moved to smaller premises and tended just to service existing customers. Now we're chasing new customers, accessing new markets and to some extent reinventing the business."

When his mentor, Mr Vincent O'Neill, first visited 18 months ago, Mr Robinson had "about 10 million ideas" for the business.

"What I expected from the mentor programme was expertise and guidance. I wanted someone experienced to bounce my ideas off and to help me realise which ideas were important and needed immediate attention."

Mr O'Neill, a chartered accountant by training, who had 30 years experience of introducing strategic planning and report systems to clients, helped Mr Robinson set up a projected cash flow statement and a marketing activity schedule. He also encouraged him to formulate a plan for the purchase of new equipment and to look into the possibility of employing a junior marketing executive.

"The focus on marketing he gave us was crucial. Vincent is quite disciplined in what he wants. He more or less said to us: `Send the following number of mailshots, make the following number of calls, have the following number of meetings this week.'

"It's been a good discipline to have somebody there to discuss targets. Even though there's no enforcement element to the mentor's job, Vincent's influence helped me to adhere to the targets."

Despite his enthusiasm, Mr Robinson admits: "There have been times when the meetings have been deferred because I haven't done my homework."

However, the pressure to achieve results hasn't put him off the mentoring programme, and he and Mr O'Neill are on their second session of visits.

Mr O'Neill, managing director of Financial Controllers Ireland, has been involved in the mentoring programme for more than eight years, and has helped almost 100 companies in that time.

The bulk of his work has been to assist companies in improving their financial planning and general management. At the moment he is involved in a panel which advises small businesses about what is involved in the changeover to the euro.

He says his mentoring work gives him "a pretty good idea how the economy of the country is going far sooner than the Central Bank or any economist" as it involves visiting "a range of businesses dotted around different parts of the country".

And his verdict on his latest charge?

"David came in with the ideas of a new generation to rejuvenate a business which had supported two generations before him.

"Since then the turnover of the business has increased by a factor of nearly four. Things have progressed remarkably."