Part of the lead up to this summer’s International Festival for Business, the half-day workshop, from 9am-1pm on Wednesday, February 26, will provide SME owners and managers with an overview of the key elements of developing a trans-national marketing strategy.

Essential factors that will be covered include creating value and brand awareness specific to different cultures and audiences, solution selling and building relationships with partner businesses in other countries.

The fully-funded ‘Developing a Trans-national Marketing Strategy’ workshop, which is being delivered through the Karim project and Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, will be led by Lancaster University Management School’s Dr Alan Gilchrist. Dr Gilchrist’s background includes a ten-year career in business to business sales, marketing and change management.

Sheila Kelly, Lancaster University Management School project manager of the Karim Project, said: “This year’s International Festival for Business will present excellent opportunities for the region’s SMEs to connect with new markets, new suppliers, new partners and to expand business networks.

“We are putting on this workshop to equip SMEs with knowledge to help them make the most out of these opportunities, which could lead to growth in their business, the regional economy and potentially lead to the creation of jobs.”

Attracting delegates from around the world, the International Festival for Business will be held in Liverpool throughout June and July and aims to be a catalyst to double UK exports by 2020.

The Developing a Trans-national Marketing Strategy workshop is available to SMEs with less than 250 employees with an annual turnover of less than £45 million.

The Karim project is funded by the European Union through Interreg.

For more information, and to register for details, businesses should contact Joe Round on 01524 510730 or email ieed@lancaster.ac.uk

More information about the Karim Project is available at http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/departments/Entrep/Projects/KARIM/