The sessions are part of BT’s Skills for Tomorrow initiative – a major new programme designed to empower 10 million people by giving them the skills they need to flourish for the digital future.

BT has collaborated with leading digital skills organisations to collate the best courses and information, in one easy to navigate place, with these free resources available to anyone. Everyone is included – from school children to older people; from young adults looking for employment; to SMEs looking for growth.

At BT’s first Scottish Skills for Tomorrow training event for SMEs held at Glasgow Science Centre on the 9th of December, hundreds of businesses received expert advice on how to build a digital marketing plan; how to use data analytics to find new insights; and how to ensure greater visibility online.

Event leaders also covered areas such as growing a business internationally and utilising social media to reach new customers.

This comes off the back of BT’s latest research tapping into SME opportunities and challenges, heading into the New Year. Almost 30% of SMEs agree that acquiring the right digital skills in business and enhancing online presence is a key challenge in the next 12 months. And, almost 40% of Scottish SMEs believe that BT should play a role in providing digital skills training.

Scotland faces a digital skills gap, which is having a profound impact on the country. The rapid pace of change is leaving people behind – as many as 11.3m UK adults and 10% of the UK workforce lack basic digital skills.

Akash Chopra, co-founder of Vuabl, who attended the event, said: “Today’s event provided a useful taster of the digital skills any business needs and it’s great that BT is helping businesses take advantage of the latest technology. Our virtual reality property company, Vuabl, brings a fully immersive 3D experience to property hunters and our growth depends on us reaching our target markets around the world.”

Another attendee, Pamela Kennedy, owner of Adore Baby who design and make Christening wear for babies all over the world, added: “Being a small e-commerce business, keeping up-to-date with current digital marketing trends is vital to the continuing success of our company. The speakers were great and had a wealth of knowledge, leaving me excited to implement some of the many ideas.”