A new training schedule offering more than 20 online courses to Stirling’s business community has been launched by Go Forth Stirling.
The programme is particularly aimed at the city’s hard-hit hospitality sector and includes the Alcohol Licensing Awareness (Scotland) training course which is mandatory for all staff involved in alcohol sales. Go Forth, which runs Stirling’s Business Improvement District (BID), is the first Scottish BID to provide this vital Licensing training free to hospitality businesses in its area.
The training programme is an extension of the successful online platform launched by the BID at the start of the pandemic. From April to September, two courses were released each month and there were a total of 926 enrolments during the six month period.
Go Forth is also launching a voluntary levy scheme to allow more Stirling businesses to join the BID and benefit from its services. Any business outwith the current BID zone, but within the Stirling Council area, can now become a member by paying a yearly levy linked to their rateable value. Meanwhile, smaller city centre businesses – who have a rateable value of less than £10,000 and are therefore not automatically members of the BID – have the option to join and pay a flat £250 annual fee.
Go Forth Stirling Project Director Danielle McRorie-Smith said: “The online training platform was one of the most successful of the initiatives we launched in response to the pandemic. It gave business owners the chance to keep themselves and their staff busy learning new skills when they were on furlough or unable to open their premises.
As a result, we’ve extended it and now have a training programme where all courses are available immediately rather than two courses being released each month. We’re also expanding the variety and number of courses offered and wanted to include the Licensing course because the hospitality industry has been so hard hit.
This is a course which is a real cost to these businesses and which staff must complete before their first shift, so it was a good opportunity to support hospitality businesses which need help now more than ever.”
Ms McRorie-Smith added: “Many businesses are having to make cutbacks and we want to ensure they can still deliver staff training. If we provide this, it leads to a better trained workforce which is good for Stirling as a whole and results in our businesses having higher standards of service and compliance.
We are also opening up our business support initiatives, which can be worth thousands of pounds per year, to more business owners if they wish to join the BID through the voluntary levy scheme.”
More details on the training courses can be found on our website.
A variety of free online courses are available including Alcohol Licensing Awareness (Scotland), Food Safety Awareness, GDPR, Covid-19 Crisis Training, Safeguarding Children and Fire Safety.
And any business owners who are interested in joining the BID but are outwith the zone or are a city business with a rateable value of less than £10,000 should email admin@goforthstirling.co.uk for more information about the new levy scheme.
Go Forth Stirling Business Improvement District (BID) represents close to 400 local businesses with a key objective of delivering projects and services which improve the area’s trading environment to benefit businesses, shoppers and visitors.
