Expert help for north-west businesses
A series of workshops to help up to 150 businesses a year improve their marketing and personnel skills is being run by Lancaster University.
The university’s Institute for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (IEED) is running a programme of 6-week workshops entitled Fresh*Marketing and Fresh*People over the next year.The workshops are part funded by the European Regional Development Fund which means that the consultancy, mentoring, support and advice provided on these programmes are free to eligible small and medium-sized businesses.
Aletheia Hunn, the Business Analyst responsible for events at the IEED, said: “We’re excited about the Fresh*People workshops because it’s the first time we’ve run them.They are to help businesses improve their HR structures and processes and take a fresh look at their people. The established Fresh*Marketing workshops help with selling, branding and strategic development.
“We hope to offer up to 110 businesses from across the north-west the opportunity to attend over the next 12 months.
"We’ve had all sorts of businesses on these workshops, but they have to be businesses that have business-to-business activity such as manufacturing, professional services and technology based companies.We’ve got different people with different experiences so it’s a diverse range of companies that we can help, from creative industries to accountants.
“We’re looking for an increase in jobs and sales and especially growth. People who’ve been on the workshops say it’s really improved their confidence and that can make a huge difference.We had one client on the course who was a photographer working alone and helping her increase her publicity led to a massive influx of work.”
Both Fresh*Marketing and Fresh*People run over a period of six weeks every Tuesday and Thursday.Any business wishing to take part in either of the workshops should email fresh@lancaster.ac.uk or call 01524 510702