From left, Trevor Thorne, Graham Hoy, Mike Jukes and Carl Houghton.
ISLAND firms are being urged to take advantage of government-funded training, to help staff improve their leadership and management skills.
One business to benefit from the scheme and secure £500 of funding is Hillbans (Vectis) Ltd, a Lake-based firm specialising in building repair and preservation.
Managing director Trevor Thorne and managers Carl Houghton and Graham Hoy have just completed the eight-week programme of leadership and management training, after spending half a day each week studying subjects such as motivation and communication, time management, financial analysis and business planning.
The course was delivered by Mike Jukes, of Forelands Business Consultancy, who encouraged other Island firms to sign up.
"Many people running small to medium-sized businesses have never had any formal training and this is a great opportunity for them to gain reassurance they are doing a good job and enable them to develop new skills," he said.
Reporter: emilyp@iwcpmail.co.uk