Vodafone partners with Udemy for SME digital training programme Vodafone’s V-hub training programme will offer over 150,000 training courses to help small business owners develop their digital skills Written by Ross Darragh Published on 13 September 2021 About us Startups was founded over 20 years ago by a serial entrepreneur. Today, our expert team of writers, researchers, and editors work to provide our 4 million readers with useful tips and information, as well as running award-winning campaigns. Written and reviewed by: Ross Darragh Writer Vodafone has partnered with Udemy, the world’s largest marketplace for online learning resources, to launch a new training programme for small businesses.The V-hub training programme has been designed to help SMEs thrive in an increasingly digital, remote-working world. With training courses covering coding, data science, and Amazon Web Service Certifications, all of which are becoming crucial skills for SMEs.The partnership with Udemy aims to provide a well-rounded training programme that all small businesses can utilise. Several courses are free to access while others have received significant discounts in order to make them more accessible. Andrew Stevens, Director of UK Small & Medium Business for Vodafone UK, on the importance of the V-hub platform: “The shift to digital during the pandemic has created huge new opportunities for small businesses, but it has also introduced new demands on business owners when it comes to building up the digital capabilities they need to succeed. It’s clear that a lot of business owners just don’t feel they have the experience to navigate today’s increasingly connected business environment. That’s why Vodafone has set up the V-Hub, launched the business connected initiative and announced this new partnership with Udemy.”“We know from our ongoing conversations with the small business community that staying connected and protected online are both consistently high on the agenda. Across more than 130,000 businesses who accessed V-Hub support over the past 12 months, cybersecurity skills and remote working connectivity ranked as the top two topics respectively. A big part of staying safe and staying connected is of course having the right tools in place. But it’s also down to having the skills and experience to know when something’s not right and fix things when they go wrong, and that’s what platforms like V-Hub seek to achieve.” How does it work?Using Vodafone’s V-Hub digital support platform, small businesses can access Udemy and hone important online skills for running their daily operations. There are no sign-up fees or complicated downloads, users simply log in and have access to over 150,000 free and premium self-paced courses.These include web development, photoshop design, software tutorials and programming courses, to help your small business and its employees develop their professional and digital skills.The courses can be filtered using keywords and by category, to suit your training needs. So, whether you’re looking to understand your audience better, discover the best ways to expand your customer base, or simply refresh your Excel skills, you’ll be able to find a suitable course.Each course has a different level of difficulty, ranging from beginner to advanced depending on your experience as a business owner and your digital skillset. All V-hub users also have free access to a V-hub adviser, in case they need further guidance on any of the training courses provided, such as setting up your online business strategy.You can check out the full library of courses on the Udemy website. Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Written by: Ross Darragh Writer Ross has been writing for Startups since 2021, specialising in telephone systems, digital marketing, payroll, and sustainable business. He also runs the successful entrepreneur section of the website. Having graduated with a Masters in Journalism, Ross went on to write for Condé Nast Traveller and the NME, before moving in to the world of business journalism. Ross has been involved in startups from a young age, and has a keen eye for exciting, innovative new businesses. Follow him on his Twitter - @startupsross for helpful business tips.