SMEs in Greater Manchester have been given the chance to learn how to increase international sales, and help win new public-sector contracts, through two new fully-funded masterclasses being hosted this month.
The first event, being hosted on May 11th, is one of a three-part programme which will focus on how to tender more effectively for public sector contracts, and specifically how to bid for work from Greater Manchester’s transport agency, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).
With the first session looking at developing and articulating an environmental policy – something which is key to winning contracts from bodies like TfGM – the overarching objective is to give Greater Manchester SMEs practical actions, tools and techniques to help them secure more business through better environmental credentials.
In particular, the programme will look to address the fact that many Greater Manchester SMEs aren’t aware a key deciding factor for a successful bid with many types of public bodies can be the firm’s apparent lack of a sustainable, environmental approach to doing business.
The second new workshop, which is being held on May 15th, is being run in partnership with the Department for International Trade (DIT) and the online retailer Amazon. This all-day event will look at how local companies can utilise the power of a global platform like Amazon Marketplace to sell more products internationally.
In addition to presentations from Amazon experts, companies attending will get the opportunity to meet DIT International Growth Advisers, and other specialist trade experts, to discuss how they can help companies increase sales worldwide.
Both programmes have been facilitated by The Growth Company, the not-for-profit agency for Greater Manchester, which is dedicated to economic development, inward investment, skills, employment and enterprise.
Earlier this year The Growth Company published new research about how Greater Manchester SMEs approach business growth, and what barriers they thought existed going forward.
It revealed 23% of local companies believed that access to new markets would be a major barrier to their growth in the future, and that only 16% were actively engaged in any type of international trade.
These two workshops will look to help address some of these issues by actively supporting companies looking to grow their businesses through more effective tendering for public sector contracts, or by selling more products and services globally.
