Member Article

Gill has the secrets of software success

IT Trainer Gill Carnell plans to share the secrets of software success with small enterprises looking to improve their IT systems.

Gill, 44, from Urpeth Grange, near Chester-le-Street, who owns IT consultancy business, Secrets of Software, is hosting a short course, designed to debunk the myths surrounding spreadsheets, and to help small enterprises make the most of them in their social media campaigns.

Gill, originally from Birtley, in County Durham, but who spent her formative years in Norton, near Stockton, has been an IT trainer since leaving her job as a secondary school teacher in1996.

“Teaching had become a more administrative role, and what I really wanted to do was impart my knowledge to the children I was teaching”, says Gill, who was teaching maths at Park View School in Chester-le-Street, when she took the decision to work for herself.

She initially worked for other IT consultancies in the North-East, providing services to education, including, Northumbria University and Durham University school of education, as well as many small businesses in the North East, Cumbria and Yorkshire. At the same time Gill continued to work part-time as a lecturer in maths and IT at Newcastle, Sunderland and Derwentside colleges.

Gill was helped to start her business with support and advice from the Chester-le-Street and City of Durham Enterprise Agency (CDC), in Chester-le-Street.

She said: “I heard about CDC, through word of mouth, and contacted them. The team there provided lots of practical advice, which I was able to use to start my own enterprise.

“I was appointed a personal business adviser, Michael Harriott, whose knowledge, support and advice on how to run a business has been, and continues to be, both amazing and inspiring.”

Michael Harriott, Business Adviser at CDC, said: “Gill’s friendly approach and enthusiasm are contagious and not only make her courses useful, but also really enjoyable. She is the first person I call when I have a problem with spreadsheets as I’ve found her knowledge to be second to none.”

With her previous experience in the education sector, and a continued interest in teaching and learning, it felt like a natural progression to share her IT skills with other educators.

Gill has worked with several schools in the North East, and says it is both a pleasure and privilege to currently be running IT workshops for the senior management, teaching and support staff at The Royal Grammar School in Newcastle, one of the most prestigious schools in the UK.

Drawing on more recent knowledge, gained through the personal experience of setting up a business and managing the day to day tasks involved in being self-employed, Gill was commissioned by the Enterprise division of the Five Lamps Organisation, a social enterprise in Thornaby, near Stockton, to create and deliver IT workshops aimed specifically at start-up businesses.

With such a vast array of online advertising and marketing opportunities available to business owners, the demand for information has moved away from paper sources to the Internet, and in particular social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and facilities to create your own website and Blog posts. Secrets of Software want to help small enterprises make the most of these new tools.

Gill said: “The Sensational Spreadsheet course will cover the traditional skills and use of spreadsheets as applicable to the self employed, but will also focus on how valuable they can be in co-ordinating social media campaigns, email marketing and maintaining contact with your existing and potential customers.

“When spreadsheets are combined with social media, the possibilities really become endless.”

She added: “The problem with online tools and spreadsheet software is that some of the really useful tips and tricks are hidden away, and are difficult to find for the untrained user.

“It is only through my many years of using spreadsheets and running IT training courses that I have found and learned to use these tips and tricks. It’s these that I want to share with small enterprises to help them grow and be successful.”

The ‘Sensational Spreadsheets’ course, which starts on Tuesday, April 24, at Park View Community Association, in Church Chare, Chester-le-Street, is a five-week course of weekly two-hour sessions, aimed at the self-employed. The cost of the course is £55.

For further information on the course, or to discuss bespoke IT workshops for your own company, contact Gill Carnell, on (0191) 410 2219 or visit her website www.secretsofsoftware.co.uk

To book a place on the course, call Park View Community Centre on (0191) 3881043.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jonathan Jones .