LOCAL manufacturers are to get help with boosting profits and reducing costs thanks to an innovative upskilling programme funded by Belfast City Council.
The Manufacturing Efficiency Programme is open to small and medium-sized companies in the city from the manufacturing sub sectors.
The programme is funded by Belfast City Council and Lisburn City Council in partnership with Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund and will be delivered by Business Development Agency, Ortus. The free programme will include one to one mentoring from leading industry experts, tailored workshops and a baseline assessment of each business.
The workshops will cover areas such as marketing your business; product development, innovation and CE marking; process and product costing; work space layout and value stream analysis and health and safety in the work place.
To apply or find out more about the Manufacturing Efficiency Programme, you should email kellands@belfastcity.gov.uk or call 028 9091 8771.
The programme will run until March 2014, with applications clos-ing on November 1.
And it is open to 12 businesses in total — six from the Belfast City Council area and six from the Lisburn City Council area.
For more details on the council’s support for local business, you can visit www.belfastcity.gov.uk/business or go to the council’s Belfast Business Facebook page at www.facebook.com/belfastbusinessinfo
Meanwhile, in a move to boost competitiveness and increase the bottom line, a local company has joined forces with a nearby further education college offering business training courses to ensure they have the skills and technical know how to compete in the modern day, digital marketplace.
Thanks to the InnovateUs Employer Support Programme, The Health and Wellbeing Company; a business specialising in all aspects of stress management, has benefited from one to one mentoring from South Eastern Regional College (SERC), which has helped to enhance its knowledge base and also shown them how to better engage with their customers.