As part of its Enterprise Week activities Bank of Ireland invited two Ulster Business School Professors to deliver workshops to their small business clients across the region.

Mark Durkin, Professor of Marketing and Pauric McGowan, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development delivered the workshops to almost 100 small business practitioners across Northern Ireland.

Professor McGowan said, “The theme of the workshop, developed specifically for Enterprise Week, was ‘Marketing Matters in Difficult Times’.  It was designed to identify and celebrate marketing practices in SMEs that are working in the current climate and also to give guidance on the ways in which marketing can further contribute real benefits to SMEs in times of economic downturn."

Joe Crowe, Bank of Ireland’s Head of Branches for the West of Northern Ireland said: "Tthe collaboration between the School of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Strategy and the Bank has significantly added value to small businesses across Northern Ireland during Enterprise Week and the knowledge shared, and the manner in which it was shared, has been first class”.

The sixty minute breakfast workshops were delivered in a highly interactive manner, according to Professor Durkin.

“SME owner managers from across the region were ‘talked with’ rather than being ‘talked to’. The idea was to have Powerpoint absent and practitioner perspectives present. Peer learning, shared validation and a renewed sense of possibility were key outcomes of the workshop sessions for those attending.”

The companies attending were invited to participate in a longitudinal research study in keeping with the workshop theme.

ENDS