The business found out about the Skills Support for the Workforce programme through the Devon and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce.

Morris Engineering was put in touch with CMN, one of the expert training providers who carry out the Skills Support for the Workforce programme. Lisa Hutchings, Skills Broker at CMN, met with Chris Patton at Morris Engineering to complete the training needs analysis.

It was identified that the Level 2 Marketing Your Business, followed by the Level 3 Effective Marketing Strategies and Content & Visibility training would give the staff the skills and knowledge to be able to develop a marketing strategy, create engaging content and grow the visibility of the business. This would support the business’ goal of increasing its customer base.

As the Skills Support for the Workforce programme is co-financed by the European Social Fund and the Education and Skills Funding Agency, the training was accessed at no cost to the business.

Two employees completed the courses across 2 months via Zoom. The courses covered:

• A review of Morris Engineering’s existing marketing
• How to determine the marketing plan, including planning campaigns and activities
• Content planning and scheduling
• How to review and understand customers and their journey.
• How data can be used to inform campaigns.
• How marketing has changed especially in the light of the pandemic, how to be agile, flexible, and adaptable with campaigns, including the overall structure needed
• The importance of the marketing mix

As a result of the training the employees have taken on the additional responsibility of managing the marketing for the business as they now have the knowledge and skills to be able to do this.

Sophie, one of the employees who undertook the training, says:

“With the other skills and knowledge gained, I have already started to create marketing campaigns and engaging content that will improve the visibility of the business.”

Chris adds:

“I have gained the necessary skills and knowledge to support the marketing of Morris Engineering. We already have content ideas that we can plan and schedule for the future. We will raise the profile of the business, which in turn will support the business' aim of increasing our customer base.”