TRAINING course innovation HelpTrainingCourses.com has boosted its balance with a £55,000 investment, which it will use to swell its growing roster of course providers.
The company, based in Shildon, County Durham, already offers over 10,000 courses from more than 400 training providers countrywide, but says the money from the NEL Fund Managers Finance for Business North East Growth Fund will be used to firm up marketing, add new website features and fund trips to trade shows to spread the word further.
HelpTrainingCourses.com launched 18 months ago to enable companies to grab leftover places on training courses at a discount, and is currently staffed by six people.
Co-founders Craig Fantarrow and John Patrick are keen to see this workforce expand organically over time. The pair set up the business based on the last-minute discounting model more often seen in the travel and leisure sectors, allowing organisers to get the most out of the fixed costs for venue hire and catering by putting as many people in the room as possible.
Fantarrow said: “We already actively sell the courses through social media, SEO and other online activities, but felt there’d be more opportunities for us if we could enhance both the content we have available on the site and the scope of our marketing work.”
Jane Siddle, investment executive at NEL Fund Managers, said: “Help has combined detailed knowledge of a niche market with an innovative use of proven technology to build a successful business in a very short time, and the continuing monthly increase in the portal’s user numbers indicates a strong ongoing demand.”
