With around half of small businesses poised to expand over the next 12 months* Barclays is offering an additional 26 free business seminars around the country to support the renewed interest in business growth. Barclays business seminars, with backing from ACCA and Business Link, are presented by a range of business gurus including Rene Carayol.
The ‘Let’s Talk Preparing for Growth’ is a series of nine new seminars from Barclays focusing on business growth. In addition, Barclays is offering 17 ‘Let’s Talk Bright Marketing and More Profit seminars during the second half of the year. Businesses interested in attending the growth seminars should call 0208 334 1655 or visit http://www.preparingforgrowth.co.uk/ and the marketing and profit seminars on 0845 300 2098 or visit http://www.barclays.co.uk/seminars.
“The focus for many companies has shifted towards growth,” said Steve Cooper, Managing Director for Barclays Local Business, “Expansion can be a positive move for a company, and there are always opportunities for growth, but the reality is that it’s also difficult. This is a chance for businesses to hear experts speak about growing successfully, and also to ask the questions they need to ask.”
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said:
This is an important initiative by Barclays which I hope helps small businesses get the support they need to grow.
Small firms depend on bank lending to fulfil their potential and any move like this by lenders to help businesses deal with new challenges is encouraging.
There is plenty of free advice available for small firms to help them succeed, including from Business Link, and it is important that they take advantage of the full range of support on offer.
The Let’s Talk seminar programme is developed by Barclays and delivered by leading business gurus who have worked with organisations across diverse sectors and size, helping companies face the challenges of business by implementing strategies and processes that focus on customers and profitability.
- Let’s Talk Preparing for Growth will help companies to think about whether their business is in the right shape to look at expanding and how to go about it.
- Let’s Talk Bright Marketing makes businesses re-think how they get and keep customers, helping them focus their marketing activities more effectively and profitably, see their business and products through their customers’ eyes, to take control of their sales and marketing activity.
- Let’s Talk More Profit makes businesses re-think how they make their money giving them tools and techniques to improve profits in their business, improve cashflow and how to make it all happen by getting more customers, more sales, more profits and more cash.
About the seminars :
Barclays is running over 600 events to support over 12,000 individuals throughout the UK in 2009 under the ‘Let’s Talk’ banner, which are free of charge, open to all individuals thinking about starting a business and also to existing small business owners.
Let’s Talk Preparing for Growth seminars being run from 7th October to 3rd December 2009.
Seminar Dates and Venues Listings
The Let’s Talk Preparing for Growth is a series of nine new seminars from Barclays focusing on business growth. In addition, Barclays is offering 17 Let’s Talk Bright Marketing and More Profit seminars during the second half of the year.
Businesses interested in attending the growth seminars should call 0208 334 1655
The dates and locations are listed below:
| Date (2009 ) | Seminar | UK Town |
| 7 October | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Luton |
| 8 October | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Cambridge |
| 8 October | Let’s Talk Preparing for Growth | The Brit, Oval London |
| 13 October | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Crewe |
| 14 October | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Sheffield |
| 15 October | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Glasgow |
| 20 October | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Marble Arch London |
| 21 October | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Newbury |
| 22 October | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Middlesbrough |
| 22 October | Let’s Talk Preparing for Growth | Southampton |
| 2 November | Let’s Talk Preparing for Growth | Shrewsbury |
| 3 November | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Wakefield |
| 4 November | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Croydon |
| 5 November | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | London |
| 11 November | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Plymouth |
| 12 November | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Newport |
| 12 November | Let’s Talk Preparing for Growth | Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire |
| 17 November | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Norwich |
| 17 November | Let’s Talk Preparing for Growth | Newcastle Upon Tyne |
| 18 November | Let’s Talk Preparing for Growth | Manchester United FC |
| 19 November | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Wolverhampton |
| 24 November | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Bracknell |
| 25 November | Let’s Talk Profit / Marketing | Ashford |
| 26 November | Let’s Talk Preparing for Growth | Exeter |
| 1 December | Let’s Talk Preparing for Growth | Milton Keynes |
| 3 December | Let’s Talk Preparing for Growth | The Emirates, London |
Also check StartInBusiness Event Listings for other events.
* About the research:
* Recent Barclays research found that 49 per cent of small businesses are planning to expand in the next 12 months, according to research from the Barclays Have Your Say survey. In addition, around 34 per cent are looking to stay the same or consolidate. Over three thousand small businesses took part in the survey commissioned by Barclays using Freshminds between May 15th and June 29th 2009, making it one of the biggest of its type conducted during the recession.
About Barclays
Barclays recently won three awards for its commitment to the SME sector:
- Moneyfacts Awards 2009 ‘Best Innovation in the SME sector for the programme of Let’s Talk activity’ - see other winners
- Moneyfacts ‘Best Commercial Lender’.
- SFEDI award 2009 winners of ‘the Financial Services Start-up Product or Programme’.
SFEDI is the UK government recognised standard setting body for enterprise support.
Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services, with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs over 140,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for over 49 million customers and clients worldwide.
For further information about Barclays, please visit their website www.barclays.com.
Partners
ACCA are national partners on all events.
Business Link are a national partner on Preparing For Growth events and support the Bright Marketing and More Profit seminars on a local basis.
