Webinar breaks fresh ground

A RESOUNDING success . . . that was the verdict following the groundbreaking webinar sponsored by Chronicle Business and organised by The Oldham Partnership.

Hosted by Web Applications Ltd at its superb new offices in Gravel Walks, Mumps, the event was a triumph for ingenuity and technology.

A panel of experts answered questions sent by email from business people around Oldham who logged on to the inaugural event.

There were two sessions — lunchtime and early evening — and each went smoothly from a technological standpoint, said Craig Dean, chief executive of Web Applications Ltd who made available his company’s boardroom and technical staff to support what will be the first in a series.

Oldham Council regeneration officer Jonathan Phillips said: “Oldham’s first business webinar went really well, and it was, hopefully, the first of many.

“Thanks to the technical expertise, the support and the hospitality from Web Applications UK, the support of the panel and the Oldham Chronicle, which made a significant contribution to ensure this webinar became a success.

“The webinar produced some excellent content for businesses, including advice on the importance of marketing, top tips on how to save money and extensive knowledge out there on where to go for advice and support.

“Twenty businesses logged on and they asked many questions of the panel, which stimulated interesting debates on issues such as interest rates and how long the the recession will last — so thanks to those businesses that contributed.

“We hope to engage more businesses with the content through the recorded versions, which will be available to see and hear on the internet very soon.”

Details will be published in this column.

The event, hosted by myself, opened with a presentation from Tim Smith, of the Winning Pitch Academy, on tips to beat the recession.

Tim has a refreshing approach to his job and brought enthusiasm and belief to this internet debate. His ideas well well thought out and well constructed and he was able to back up his suggestions when loggers sent in their questions.

The rest of the panel, Alison Hornsby, manager of the Enterprise Centre in Oldham, Andrew Bridge and Yusuf Pate representing BusinessLink Northwest, and Lee Crook, director of commercial business banking at NatWest in Oldham, supported Tim’s core ideas of cutting back on waste, being proactive in search of new business and being innovative in finding new ways to fund essential marketing.

With Lee Crook at the table, many of the questions from loggers were on finance. Speaking on behalf of the banking industry as a whole, Mr Crook disputed that banks were not releasing cash to small businesses in the forms of loans and overdrafts.

He argued: “Banks are funding around 80 per cent of the applications they receive . . . they are just being far more selective in what they back, trying to ensure that the people receiving money can repay this cash.

“After all, by not being selective is what got us into this mess in the first place.”

His sentiments were shared by many, those who logged on and the experts around the table.

From a personal perspective, the webinar was a huge success and I am sure that, once the Chronicle and Oldham Partnership has developed a long-term strategy and timetable, the webinars will become even more successful.