Manchester’s libraries are taking part in a new initiative to help local small businesses to get online.

The project – run by the Tinder Foundation as part of Google’s Digital Garage programme – will provide digital skills support to small businesses, sole traders and people setting up new businesses, helping them to make the most of Google’s Digital Garage resources.

Modules include advice on how to:

• Expand internationally

• Build your web presence

• Get noticed with social media

A study released in 2015 revealed that more than one million businesses in the UK were still lacking basic digital skills, with a quarter believing digital is ‘irrelevant’ to them.

This project is part of the wider Google Digital Garage programme, which aims to support 250,000 people up and down the country to improve their digital skills. For more information, click here.

Executive Member for Culture and Leisure, Councillor Luthfur Rahman, said:

 “This project will deliver more than 30 free workshops across the city’s network of libraries between August this year and next March.  It will help people who want to find a new job, set up a new business, or make their existing business more efficient and profitable.”