BBC Apprentice contestant delivers a talk to local businesses at the Management School

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The University of Liverpool Management School hosted a networking event in partnership with digital which welcomed The Apprentice contestant, Rebecca Jeffery to campus.

The breakfast briefing event, organised by BA Marketing Director of Studies, Paul Matthews and Managing Director of Elephant Digital, Phil Birss, welcomed local businesses to the Management School’s new Grove building to hear from a number of speakers including former contestant on The Apprentice, Rebecca Jeffery.

Rebecca shared her own business journey; from starting up an agency with her sister (Fi and Bec’s Design and Marketing) to her time on BBC’s The Apprentice in 2016, discussing how the show impacted her business thereafter. After starting her business venture in 2013, Rebecca was met with success, making in to the finals of the National Mumpreneur Boost Awards and The Enterprise Vision Awards in 2015 as well as securing a number high profile clients. This success has only increased since Rebecca’s profile and exposure to the business community was boosted by the TV programme.

Her business advice to the audience was to remain authentic, react quickly to news and social media trends in order to gain maximum publicity and share your story with clients for a more personable approach to business.

Representatives from Merseyside’s SMEs and start-up businesses were able to benefit from valuable advice and information presented by other speakers at the session.

Chief Executive of Liverpool Science Park, Chris Musson, also spoke about sales, branding and marketing of the city centre office space. Liverpool Science Park, which is home to Elephant Digital along with a number of other companies, offers a “unique and flexible space, designed to support and nurture the business needs of any company who could fit into their scientific community”. Chris spoke of the importance of being able to live up to your claims and create an authentic brand which is truly reflective of your product.

Managing Director of Elephant Digital, Phil Birss, closed the session, discussing the evolution and importance of SEO. Phil emphasised the importance of quality content to drive SEO and shared some key tips and tools to help businesses to climb the search rankings. Alongside quality content, this included the importance of internal linking and click-through rates as well as utilising social signals to gain maximum exposure off the back of a national or global news trend.

Director of Studies for the BA Marketing programme at the Management School, Paul Matthews, commented: “Working closely with local SMEs is important to both the University and the wider business community. We welcome every opportunity to exchange and share knowledge and experiences which will support and enhance business in the Merseyside region and beyond. I would like to thank all of the speakers involved for delivering an educating and engaging session at the Management School today.”