Powering up the providers of digital skills training and support in Glasgow

BIPC Glasgow’s Information Officers Power Up their skills, knowledge, and confidence in digital to help provide information and support to small businesses.

Information Officers Kavan Stafford and Alistair McCafferty-Bain at Business and Information Property Centre (BIPC) Glasgow support customers to make the best use of the centre’s information and advice to help businesses get off the ground and grow. Each week they answer a wide range of business enquiries, from prestart research, to protecting intellectual property. They also deliver business information and IP workshops and one-to-one advice sessions.

Alistair tells us, “Power Up has opened up a brand new strand for BIPC Glasgow, we have been able to research an area of support that we previously didn’t have time to. We are now armed with the right digital knowledge to answer customer’s business enquiries.”

Kavan and Alistair had a hands-on role in the development and delivery of Glasgow Life’s Power Up project. The two completed an audit of the digital technology and skills landscape in Glasgow, which resulted in an expansion of the number of delivery partners in the city, and increased awareness of the Power Up initiative within Glasgow’s digital technology and skills network.

Kavan tells us how he found participating in the audit, “It was a good learning experience. Having grown up with computers, I had taken basic digital skills for granted and had not really considered how a lack of basic skills could have an impact on business. Having access to support could really change the way businesses operate.”

Alistair was able to use his knowledge of digital to quickly assist local business Granny Beaton’s from the outset of Covid-19. Granny Beaton’s sell homemade food and bakery products, but due to the impact of Covid-19 they suspended food production and focused on developing a local home delivery service offering a scaled-down version of the goods sold at the farmers market.

Facing problems when setting up Facebook Ads to promote the new offer, the owner of Granny Beaton’s turned to BIPC Glasgow for support. Alistair used the online directory to find the correct guidance to resolve their issue and save her money on Facebook advertising. The owner says, “I have now cancelled one advert and on the other one I have spent less than £20, so I’m happy with that!”

Together, Kavan and Alistair produced information guides to help business customers find useful sources of information on the four core digital activities for business – maintaining a web presence, selling online, using the cloud, and digitisation of back office functions such as administration. Kavan completed an online course on cloud computing and now feels well-equipped to talk to customers about this type of technology: “I have learned about other services and online learning opportunities and feel confident about talking to customers.”