A TWO-day event aimed at supporting the development of local businesses took place at Slaley Hall last week.

Launched by the Hexham Courant and parent company CN Group, the Business Accelerator programme was created to help better identify the needs and wishes of customers, allowing the Courant to offer the best solutions to maximise growth and brand awareness.

Over 75 local businesses attended to speak with the newspaper’s commercial team.

Award-winning speaker Paul Stannard shared insightful advice on marketing and advertising principles, based on 30 years in the industry, during which he has consulted on projects with numerous local and national media organisations, as well as Google and Apple.

“We have had extremely positive response to our Business Accelerator seminars,” said Business Accelerator manager Emily Wood.

“Information on CN’s rapidly-growing audience, and how to maximise and measure response from marketing across print, digital and social media was central to CN’s new approach to offering multimedia consultation, supported by award-winning creativity and digital marketing specialists.

“We have been overwhelmed by the demand for Business Accelerator memberships and are looking forward to working more closely with local businesses to ensure they thrive, and our local economy stays buoyant and ahead of the national trend,” she added.

For more information, please contact Emily Wood on (01228) 612304 or emily.wood@cnmedia.co.uk