THE business and commercial development unit at Weymouth College has taken over the management of the Granby and Lynch Lane Business Forum.

The forum was established in 2006 to promote and help develop businesses on the two estates at Chickerell, near Weymouth.

Head of business and commercial development at Weymouth College Louise Avery-Holder said: "We welcome the opportunity to progress with the forum under the management of the commercial training department Enterprise Training Ltd in partnership with Enterprise Connection, Weymouth.

"While we know there is a considerable investment in time and resources in managing the business forum, we feel that this closely meets with the strategic imperatives of our business in regard to employer engagement in our local area and therefore feel that this can be adequately incorporated into our core business activities.

"We see the development of the business forum as an opportunity to forge beneficial strategic alliances and partnerships with the occupants of the estates to promote collaborative opportunities and new initiatives that will support their business needs."

The college wholly owns Enterprise Training Ltd and the Enterprise Connection. Enterprise Training Ltd is the college's commercial training arm.

The Enterprise Connection business hubs are at Poundbury and on the Granby Industrial Estate.

The Granby and Lynch Lane forum was formally run from an office at the Thomson Engineering Skills Centre on the Granby Industrial Estate with funding from councils and the Rural Renaissance project.

Ms Avery-Holder added: "The forum offers an ideal opportunity for businesses networking to tackle local issues and we intend to expand our range of services and develop new training opportunities to meet with business requirements and assist with the economic development of the region.

"This will include employer forums on a quarterly basis as well as training workshops on the Granby estate."

Training will cover such areas as: Selling skills and negotiation; finance for non-financial managers; marketing for non-marketeers; the value of effective communication; health and safety.

A variety of staff from the college will be involved in the forum. They include forum project manager Nicola Hill and Rebecca Moate and Stephen Wentworth, who are customer relationship managers for Enterprise Training Ltd as well as Ms Avery-Holder.

The forum is based on Granby Industrial Estate at Enterprise Connection Weymouth.

Membership to the forum is free and in general employer events will be free although training workshops may be chargeable at discount rates for members of the forum.

As recently appointed Premier Partners of Dorset Business, the college aims to become more involved with the business community.

Areas where there are greater links expected with businesses and the community include travel and accessibility, Rural Enterprise Gateway grants, supply chain partnerships, bulk procurement opportunities and a discount scheme.

The forum also expects to urge businesses on the estates to become involved in the Open4Business festival.

q The forum number is 01305 208899.