Businesses from across Plymouth and beyond have been taking advantage of the opportunity to enhance their digital skills for free.
Backed by the European Social Fund, SMART Skills is a special project that supports Devon-based businesses to identify skills gaps in their existing workforce and provide fully funded training that will help these businesses become more resilient. At City College, businesses can sign up to improve their skills in areas such as online marketing, generating video content, utilising the Google suite for maximum benefit, and cyber security.
So far, the College has supported numerous small to medium-sized businesses, including Bright Solicitors, whose staff wanted to improve the firm’s presence on social media, with a focus on LinkedIn.
Matt Cook, Partner and Head of Commercial at Bright Solicitors, said: “We contacted SMART Skills asking if it was possible to receive high-quality LinkedIn training for our staff. The whole process has been smooth and the communication has been exactly what we hoped for.
“This training will help the business in a period of significant growth and devolvement, enabling our staff to learn about a new form of lead generation and client communication. We recognised this as an area that we should improve on, and this training will provide the skills and knowledge that benefit, not just the company, but the individuals who work for us as well.
“SMART Skills put us in contact with one of its training providers, City College, which put together a bespoke LinkedIn training package. Since then, more than 40 members of our staff have been receiving training that will help them to build relationships and share their professional work with members of the community. We hope this will help the business grow.”
Social media and building presence online is just one essential way the College can support you and your businesses via the SMART Skills project, with a dedicated Digital Innovation Coach on-hand to quickly identify the best way to get the most out of this offer. The College can deliver anything from one-day masterclasses through to ten-week flexible programmes, which can be taught face-to-face, online or via a blended delivery to meet employer and individual needs.
Training provided by the College will focus on areas such as digital marketing, Google applications, project management and other skills and topics related to digital skills.
The SMART Skills project launched in 2020 and will run for another two years. Contact Kelly Quick, ESF Project Manager, by e-mailing kquick@cityplym.ac.uk to find out about signing up to SMART Skills.
Learn more about SMART Skills here.
