GET up to speed with Hampshire County Council's free Broadband and Business Support Workshops.

The first starts on Tuesday, January 28 at Basingstoke and Deane's Civic Offices in London Street.

The workshops have been developed to help SMEs embrace the use of a superfast broadband connection through technology to reduce costs, increase revenue and improve customer satisfaction.

Superfast Broadband is not just about faster internet connection – it is about giving opportunities to improve the way businesses operate.

It will boost productivity and streamline firms connect with customers, staff and suppliers.

Hampshire County Council says it aims to ensure businesses are ready for the next revolution in connectivity.

Around £13.8 million is being invested by the county council, its partners, the Government and BT on the expansion of the county's digital infrastructure.

Hampshire County Council say that broadband is an important component of the economic and social wellbeing of the county and is a vital tool for businesses large and small.

Glenn Peacey will be outlining the county councils programme to extend coverage of superfast broadband for 80 per cent to 90 per cent of premises across the county by the end of 2015.

Joining Hampshire County Council’s Broadband and Economic Development teams will be Mark Tillison from Tillison Consulting and Miranda Morgan from Growth Accelerator.

Mark will be presenting the bitesize interactive session ‘Achieving 12x Sales through Effective Digital Marketing.’ Businesses will explore and establish which digital strategies are effective for different types of businesses and most importantly, how those strategies can complement one another to achieve a 12-fold increase in sales.

Miranda will be presenting an ‘Achieve: Faster Growth’ workshop. The session is designed to help decision makers and owner-managers to step back and identify the specific obstacles that are holding back their own businesses – so that they can tackle these directly and formulate more effective strategies for sustainable growth.

Other workshops are set to take place in other parts of the county in February and March:

4 Feb The Old Thorns, Liphook

5 Feb 1000 Lakeside, Portsmouth

12 Feb Careys Manor, Brockenhurst

18 Feb Winchester Guildhall, Winchester

28 Feb Upper Guildhall, Andover

5 Mar Tech Hub, Wessex House, Eastleigh

To find out more, contact Michelle McClean at the Economic Development Office by calling 01962 845745 or email michelle.mcclean@hants.gov.uk.