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Innovate Tees Valley support is helping company market new product online

A Middlesbrough company is being helped to market its new product thanks to the assistance of the Innovate Tees Valley programme.

A Middlesbrough company is being helped to market its new product thanks to the assistance of the Innovate Tees Valley programme. Procenergy has developed an online training marketplace for companies and individuals to compare and book different types of training programmes, as well as offering training record management.

Innovate Tees Valley has helped the company with the recruitment and part-funding of a graduate, Rebecca Baker, who is working at the company to develop a marketing strategy that incorporates digital and social media to promote the product as well as leading the rebranding programme the company is currently undertaking.

Innovate Tees Valley helps SMEs to do new things in their business and create and improve services, products and processes.

It is formed from a partnership of º£½ÇÖ±²¥, DigitalCity, Nepic and MPI with funding from the European Regional Development Fund.

Prior to recruiting Rebecca, Procenergy did not have any specialist marketing expertise in-house and, by helping to provide this extra capacity to the business, Innovate Tees Valley is aiding the company’s growth.

Co-founder Mike Styan said: 'We’re very excited about this product as we know first-hand there’s a real need in the industry for a trusted service online that provides a ‘one-stop-shop’ for training management, including the convenience of buying online.

'Rebecca is doing a fantastic job with some really targeted marketing. She’s also working closely with our suppliers, Techquity and Better Brand Agency, to manage our current rebranding activities, ensuring the transition is smooth whilst also making sure we keep the existing look and feel of the current site.' Procenergy will be evolving to CourseBox in the coming month which was brought about by the overwhelming response of training providers wanting to be a part of the site.

'We felt the name ‘Procenergy’ didn’t represent the spectrum of providers now selling courses through the site and long term we needed a name that appealed to all sectors,' added Mike.

'Thanks to the grant from Innovate Tees Valley, we’ve been able to use Rebecca’s services much sooner than we would have ordinarily been able to, which has been extremely valuable during this period.

'We’ve had some excellent support from Innovate Tees Valley and it’s been an extremely straightforward process working with them. I would definitely recommend companies in a similar position to ours to make the most of the support Innovate Tees Valley offer.'

Innovate Tees Valley Project Manager Suhail Aslam said: 'Innovation is a key tool in regenerating the region’s economy and it is vital that we give companies like Procenergy all the support they need to meet new challenges.

'It is fantastic to see the impact that Rebecca is already having on the business and we’re looking forward to seeing Procenergy continue its success.'

Joanne Rout, Nepic Project Manager for Innovate Tees Valley, added: 'Supporting the supply chain of companies in the Tees Valley makes us much stronger as a region.

'It’s great to be able to give this help to companies like Procenergy who have spotted a gap in the market, and help them with the commercialisation of their product.'

• Business
• Innovate Tees Valley