Partner Article

Workshops to beat the recession

A series of events aimed at enhancing the skills of managers of SMEs is being organised by Newcastle Business School.

The Business Aware programme, funded by the Higher Education Innovation Fund, is providing a group of SME owner managers with a series of six seminars and networking events to provide them with ideas to take back into their business.

Professor Teresa Waring, from Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University, said: “In the current economic climate, SMEs may be struggling to survive and managers may have no time to devote to their own professional skills development. This could have major consequences for the health of the company and the economy in the North East and this programme is a direct response to address the problem.”

Angie McLean from Fast Forward Now, which is working in partnership to stage the programme, said: “These seminars are tailored to meeting the needs of the SME managers taking part. To date, these have covered topics ranging from marketing, sales and the innovative use of IT.

“We have found that SMEs do not always know what can be offered by universities and those attending these events have been pleasantly surprised by the collegial sprit they have encountered. Participants in the programme have found it highly relevant and, in some cases, inspiring.

Newcastle Business School is planning to stage another set of seminars in the autumn. Any SMEs interested in finding out more about them should contact Nigel Petts at nigel.petts@northumbria.ac.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .