Press Release

13 August 2001
EXPORT TRAINING SEMINARS FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED COMPANIES

Companies from across Yorkshire and the Humber are being given the opportunity to attend a comprehensive series of Export Training Seminars at no cost, which will run for three weeks at Bradford University School of Management.

The fourteen seminars, which are a continuation of the Overseas Trade Support for SMEs (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) Programme (OTSS), will be delivered between Monday, September 17, 2001 and Thursday, October 4, 2001, inclusively.

They will be presented by the School of Management, in tandem with regional support agencies, to bring a more co-ordinated approach in delivering relevant high quality export training.

Overseas Trade Support for SMEs Project Officer, Ahsan Malik, said: "The OTSS programme is an international project that aims to help SMEs in Yorkshire and the Humber to internationalise their business activities. Bradford University School of Management has been delivering OTSS services to the Yorkshire and the Humber's SMEs for the last two years. This series of seminars will help to improve their competitiveness at an international level by delivering innovative services and training specifically designed for today's fast-moving companies."

SME colleagues may choose to attend all or some of the fourteen seminars.

They include:

• Introduction To Exporting
• Freight Forwarding And Distribution
• Exporting - a Financial Risk?
• Introduction to Export Documentation
• Advice on Freight Forwarding
• Export Case Studies in Yorkshire/Legal Aspects to Exporting into Europe
• 'Passport to Exports' Initiative
• How to Use the EX-Plan CD-ROM
• Sources of External Funding, Grants & Support for Exporters
• Marketing Overseas with Digital Media
• Electronic Commerce & International Trade
• Country Targeting - Doing Business in China
• How to Research for Quality Business Information
• Legal Aspects to Exports.

The seminars have been part-funded by the European Social Fund, allowing the School of Management to provide them at no cost to the SME or individual attending.

They will be held at Heaton Mount, Bradford University School of Management, Keighley Road, Bradford.

For a brochure and application form to attend the seminars, or for further details, please contact Ahsan Malik on (01274) 234435 or email: A.Malik1@bradford.ac.uk Alternatively, application forms, dates, map of the venue and contents of the seminars, can be obtained on www.bradford.ac.uk/otss/training

Notes to Editors
The Overseas Trade Support for SMEs (OTSS) project is funded by the European Social Fund and aims to improve the competitiveness of regional companies by the development and delivery of distance learning export training materials, Personalised International Marketing Mentoring Programmes, Export Training Seminars, Export Information Services, Foreign Business Language Courses, on-line export business information via Internet, and other support services. These include presenting the Personalised Mentoring Programme to SMEs where MBA students design export strategies in individual companies, and delivering distance learning export training material through our website and 'EX-Plan' CD-ROM (Interactive Export Plan Generator), currently available free to SMEs.

For further information contact Rachael Ellis in Corporate Communications on (01274) 233084/0787 9437986 or Lynda Isaac/Lucy Baruch on (01274) 233089. Alternatively, e-mail r.ellis1@bradford.ac.uk or fax on (01274) 235460.