Profit boost is a question of skill; advice Tees Valley Engineering Partnership.

-advice on how to drive down costs, increase productivity, reduce absenteeism and improve staff morale will be available at a series of business seminars being staged next month.

Organised by Learning and Skills Council (LSC) North East, in partnership with Business Link and Investors in People, the Profit Through Skills events are designed to demonstrate the bottom-line benefits of the Train to Gain service and signing up to the Skills Pledge.

Business experts, drawn from around the region, will lead a series of workshops at each of the events, covering topics such as profit through people, the art of being a good leader, marketing in a virtual world, top teams and the employment law maze. There are up to 18 workshops at the Middlesbrough Football Club event on March 11, beginning at 10am and running until 4pm.

In addition, delegates can have a one-to-one with Business Link and Investors in People representatives and undertake an online diagnostic check on their business.

Train to Gain is a service jointly funded in the North-east by the LSC and regional development agency One NorthEast and is designed to help businesses get the training they need to succeed.

A key part of the scheme is a skills brokerage service, which includes free impartial advice and help in finding the best training to meet business needs and improve skills. The Skills Pledge is a national initiative that aims to encourage businesses and organisations of all sizes and in all sectors to demonstrate a commitment to staff training and development.

So far, almost 80 North-east businesses and organisations of all sizes and types, employing thousands of people, have signed up to the Skills Pledge.

To find out more about the Middlesbrough event or to book places, call 0808 131 0086 or visit www.traintogain.gov.uk/region/northeast/events