Greenwich Community College

The Business Development Unit has been established for over 12 years. It delivers workforce development training and consultancy services for individuals as well as the private, public and voluntary sector organisations.

However, the focus of our activities is providing the training and skills development support to local small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We offer high quality, customised and flexible training services to our clients, by applying industry knowledge and up-to-date business information to assist businesses and individuals at all levels.

All our SME training programmes are offered on a one-to-one and on-site basis to meet the specific needs of the SMEs. The BDU seeks to engage the appropriate trainers/assessors for each SME client and ensures that the individuals engaged are appropriate both in terms of active industry experience and business skills, and have empathy for, as well as an understanding of the SME sector. We are continuously seeking Government funding to subsidise training and customised business services for the employers and employees of local SMEs.

More than 90% of our local businesses are micro or small enterprises. We work in partnerships with these employers in identifying their training and development needs and providing appropriate and effective training and business support. Support provided for these businesses ranges from general business advice, training needs analysis and training. We also offer a range of short training programmes, examples include:

We have undertaken over 100 Training & Development Needs Analysis for local SMEs in the last two years to provide us with accurate and pertinent information that provide a tailored offer that meets the specific needs of the SMEs. This also enables us to properly assess what can be achieved.

DeepKleen

This is a well established small business, employing approximately 80 staff. This is an organisation committed to business growth by delivering an excellent service. They are aware of the various legislation and regulations that have recently come into force but are struggling to cope with the administrative demands that these place upon them. The business has recently committed to obtaining ISO 9002, recognising that the lack of a quality accreditation does hinder their chances of success with larger tenders.

As a result of the identified training needs, we are currently providing training in Excel, Payroll – legislation (pay & tax), Basic accounting and QuickBooks 2002 for their General manager. We are also developing the Business Development Manager’s skills in Marketing and Sales especially in approaches to telesales & making appointments.

We will also be measuring the impact the training has had on the business after 3 months of completion of the training programmes.