FutureLearn and Digital Boost partner to upskill small businesses and charities, and to boost the UK’s economic recovery.

“It is great to see Digital Boost joining forces with FutureLearn to help charities and small businesses develop the skills they need to drive growth and seize the benefits of our digital economy,” said Digital Minister Caroline Dinenage, “We are investing in programmes like this to develop people’s digital skills and help them access new jobs and opportunities up and down the country to make sure no one is left behind.”

“We were inspired by the number of volunteers who joined the NHS as the Covid-19 crisis started to unfold. We realised; however, that the millions of people who lead and work for small businesses, charities and social enterprises – also needed their own army of volunteers:  This is what led us to create Digital Boost.” said Sherry Coutu, Chairman of Digital Boost. We are thrilled to embed FutureLearn’s online courses into our user’s journeys because these resources beautifully supplement the 1-2-1 mentoring and workshops we are so well known for.

Digital Boost UK’s partnership with Futurelearn aims to upskill employees with high-demand skills like Digital Marketing Implementation, Data Analytics, Business Strategy and Product Development courses on Digital Boost’s resource library, Boost Skills. These subjects are particularly sought after according to the most commonly registered needs amongst the small organisations already registered as users on Digital Boost.

There are currently six million organisations in the small business community in the UK and 180,000 charities. According to research, the combined productivity gap caused by low digitisation means a loss of £100 billion to GDP in Great Britain. Helping small businesses and charities become more digital can help them survive in the face of the economic downturn as a result of COVID-19.  

“The pandemic has changed everything, from the nation’s economy, to the way we work, to the way we learn,” said Justin Cooke, Chief Content and Partnerships Officer at FutureLearn. “Our mission at FutureLearn is to transform access to education, and we believe this is a moment for edtech and online learning to make a hugely positive impact on society. With unemployment figures predicted to reach over 4 million UK adults by Christmas, we hope that by making vital digital skills training opportunities more widely available to SMEs, our partnership with Digital Boost will provide a lifeline for small business owners and their employees during this challenging time.”

The partnership between FutureLearn and Digital Boost will continue to grant a flow of course content, both in the form of course content exclusively available to those registered on Digital Boost’s platform, and in the form of short courses made available to the public on Digital Boost’s website.