College News

Digital Marketing

BUSINESS students became digital marketers for a first-hand insight into the importance of online trading to today’s businesses. In conjunction with Foundation for Jobs, Darlington based Curo Marketing ran the day-long session for business students at QE.

Working in teams, the A Level Business students were given the task of briefing a client on the overhauling of their traditional small business so that it could become a completely online operation over the next 12 months. It required them to think about everything from premises and letting people know they had moved online, to regulations imposed by internet firms such as Google on the sale of certain products and which website platform to host their venture on.

The sessions were headed up by Curo’s Managing Director Mark Blacklee and Technical Director Jonathan Cook, who founded their business in Grange Road six years ago and have developed websites and ecommerce platforms for a wide range of clients from clothes shops to architects. UKTI North East (UK Trade and Investment) recently released research showing 900 million people will shop online by 2020 and the students were able to demonstrate how the growth in ecommerce could give a small shop based in a town centre a national and even international customer base.

Mr Blacklee said:

“As a company it is always good to give back and help the next generation. When we were younger we benefitted from others passing on their expertise and it is important to pay that forward. We were really impressed by the students’ enthusiasm and the quality of their work, especially the thought that went into it. We have really enjoyed it and would be keen to participate again in the future.”

Now a national award-winning project, Foundation for Jobs is a joint initiative to tackle youth unemployment involving The Northern Echo, Darlington Borough Council and the Darlington Partnership of private firms and public sector organisations, which has also enjoyed support from businesses and industrialists across the whole North-East region.

It has worked with around 6,000 young people since it was launched in January 2012.

For details on Foundation for Jobs contact programme co-ordinator Owen McAteer at owen.mcateer@darlington.gov.uk or visit www.foundationforjobs.co.uk