Beating the drum for small businesses in the north east

The Centre for International Labour Market Studies at Aberdeen Business School has been successful in obtaining European Social Fund backing of £411,000 for its ‘Business Skills For Growth project’. The project is supported by a steering group, including representatives of Robert Gordon University, Enterprise Trust North East, Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce and learndirect scotland for business.

The central objective of the project is to provide short courses to improve the business skills of SMEs in specific areas.

Current research shows that small businesses don’t have the resources to allow their staff to go on courses and this can put them at a disadvantage. The project team is currently in the process of carrying out research to find out how best the course can be designed to suit small local businesses.

It is intended that the new training course will be innovative, using an interactive approach in its delivery. The programme will be delivered using online tools such as podcasts and vodcasts, through which high flying local entrepreneurs will deliver presentations to the candidates. This will be backed up by the series of workshops that will cover topics such as: finance, marketing, entrepreneurial skills, leadership, green business and business law.

David Imevbore, a graduate of RGU who now owns his own African drumming business, ‘Afriquetone’ (www.afriquetone.co.uk), has already signed up for the course. His business is dedicated to providing and running African drumming workshops as an alternative tool for businesses to identify and solve communication problems at work, improve individual confidence and enhance team work while having fun. David believes that the course will help to strengthen his business performance by him gaining the skills to better promote and manage the service..