Vodafone Business is expanding its business.connected programme to help small businesses with their technology skills and digital transformation.

The telco said that more than 230,000 SMEs have taken part in the scheme to date, with ambitions to expand this to 800,000 by 2025.

The programme, launched during the Covid-19 pandemic, provides training courses, workshops and mentoring to startups and small businesses. Subjects include how to mitigate cyber-attacks, online collaboration and connectivity.

A variety of banking and technology companies are backing the programme including JPMorgan Chase and Sage. The programme is delivered by small business support platform Enterprise Nation.

Commenting on the news Andrew Stevens, Vodafone’s head of UK small and medium business, said: “We launched the business.connected initiative during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic to better support those small businesses who had very little experience in using digital tools to stay connected to their customers and improve their confidence in adopting new technologies.

“It’s great to see that so many businesses have benefited from this and that we are well on our way to meeting our commitment to help 800,000 SMEs gain digital skills so that they are able to reap the full benefits of the digital economy.”

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