Bristol business shorts

A FREE roadshow for 'Olderpreneurs' – over-50s thinking of setting up in business or as self-employed – is being held this month. Attendees will hear from local 'Olderpreneurs' and speaker and author of Age is No Barrier, Tom Edge.

There will be sessions on marketing, tax and VAT and meetings with business support bodies including organisers PRIME as well as local support bodies Business Link and BRAVE, to learn about what they have to offer.

It will be held on Wednesday, September 23, at the Pavilion, 1 Hanover Quay on Harbourside.

For more details, visit www.primeinitative.co.uk.

Training for technicians

A BRISTOL-based academy that specialises in training people for the motor industry has developed an innovative new way to help people stay in work during the recession.

S & B Automotive Academy, of Princess Street, Bedminster, has been awarded a Learning Innovation Grant for the development of an online method of assessing the skills of technicians.

The Skills For Work Training Needs Assessment software has been developed in conjunction with Stagecoach Bus UK, who have ensured the complete electrical system of a bus is replicated in the tests.

Jon Winter, Chief Executive of S & B Automotive Academy, explained: "With so many redundancies and cut-backs in the motor industry it is important for both employers and employees that the right skills are retained.

"The system we have developed enables the knowledge of a technician to be tested so that their training needs can be assessed. This can help people who are under threat of redundancy to gain the skills they need to stay in work.

The Skills For Work project has specially developed software linked to a bus and coach training panel so that the employer can analyse the technicians ability to fix the electronic systems of a vehicle.

The trainees then get a full assessment of where they need to improve their skills and which training would be relevant for them.