Hundreds of businesses across the North East came to Newcastle today to learn how to sell online, boost their productivity and export to customers around the world.
In the morning, local businesses heard from Simon Donegan, Head of Seller Services at Amazon; Emma Jones MBE, the founder of Enterprise Nation; and John Mahon, Director General of Exports at the Department for International Trade who talked about how digital can create great opportunities for SMEs looking to go global.
“Businesses from across the North-East employ over 2,000 people in the UK and last year exported products worth more than £67m by selling on Amazon – it shows just how much growth potential there is for the North East,” said Simon Donegan. “What brings you all together is the belief and understanding that we are living in Day One of the digital revolution which is democratising the ability to start and run your own business. It’s an exciting time and it’s my hope that Amazon plays a supportive role in you fulfil that potential.”
Businesses also heard from three entrepreneurs who sell on Amazon - Cheeky Panda, Torro Cases and Coco Rose - as well as experts on finance, accounting, exporting, productivity and intellectual property, to gain in-depth advice on issues and challenges they may have faced when setting up and growing their businesses.
In the afternoon, local businesses also took part in practical workshops on how to sell globally, how to market their products on Amazon and how to sell products business-to-business, whilst our partners the Department for International Trade, Be the Business and Enterprise Nation ran specialist business support workshops on access to finance, productivity and exporting.
In the afternoon, local businesses also took part in practical workshops on how to sell globally, how to market their products on Amazon and how to sell products business-to-business, whilst our partners the Department for International Trade, Be the Business and Enterprise Nation ran specialist business support workshops on access to finance, productivity and exporting.
Since launching in 2016, the Amazon Academy programme has helped over 2,000 SMEs and individuals in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester learn how to grow their businesses through greater digital adoption, and forms parts of our ongoing efforts to help SMEs from across the UK grow their businesses, in particular by boosting their e-commerce and export sales.
