New virtual workshops aim to help Greater Manchester SMEs strive and thrive

Janine Smith, Head of Specialist Services for GC Business Growth Hub

With the UK now taking its first tentative steps away from lockdown and towards a new kind of normality, SMEs in Greater Manchester looking for a strategy to help them bounce back from Covid-19 can receive help from a new series of fully funded virtual workshops.

The Strive and Thrive workshops have been designed to help businesses deal with the immediate challenges of the situation but also to enable them to create a robust strategy for the long term so they can again thrive.

These workshops form part of the work being done to support SMEs in the Greater Manchester region by GC Business Growth Hub, part of The Growth Company and part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. This work continues to be crucial as the region starts to move towards the recovery phase.

The six Strive and Thrive workshops will be run by specialist industry experts from the Hub and have been tailored specially for local SMEs and cover the following topics:

• Strategy
• Finance
• Marketing Strategy
• Digital Marketing
• Leadership Through Challenging Times
• Supply Chain

Issues that will be discussed include fundraising during a pandemic, how to use digital marketing tools, staff engagement and communication, health and wellbeing and understanding and exploiting the benefits of supply chain digitalisation.

The workshops are free to attend and in keeping with Government guidelines on social distancing, they will be delivered virtually in small groups of up to 12 people, while still encouraging peer to peer learning and the chance to engage with other business that are facing similar challenges.

Janine Smith, Head of Specialist Services for GC Business Growth Hub, said: “We’re now entering a crucial time for local businesses as they look at ways to safely get workers back to workplaces and find some new sense of normality. Our Strive and Thrive workshops will help with these processes, as well as discussing and decoding the latest Government guidance.

“The workshops will be led by expert Hub advisors, tailored to the needs of Greater Manchester SMEs and will be full of practical and implementable measures to protect against the impacts of COVID-19 and strategies to enable future growth as we reach the recovery phase. Whether it’s identifying funding opportunities or rebuilding supply chains, you will come out of the workshops ready to tackle your challenges and get ready to thrive again.”

The Strive and Thrive workshops will begin on Tuesday 19 May and there are a limited number of spaces available for eligible businesses to sign up for the subjects they feel will be of most benefit for them at the GC Business Growth Hub website.

• www.businessgrowthhub.com/coronavirus/strive-and-thrive-workshop-series

Businesses looking to access specialist support can visit www.businessgrowthhub.com for more information about the organisation’s extensive range of services. This and other GC Business Growth Hub projects are part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the GM Business Growth Hub project designed to help ambitious SME businesses achieve growth and increase employment in Greater Manchester. The Hub is also supported by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Greater Manchester local authorities.