IF you run a small business it can be hard to find time to train your staff. Even if you have made it a top priority, the flow of work at your company may be so unpredictable that it is impossible to set aside time each week for your workers to attend training courses.

One solution that has worked well for many small businesses is online training provided by Learn Direct, a government-backed service. Its courses are available on computers connected to the internet, so workers can learn wherever and whenever it suits them and you. They can study at work, at home or at a local Learn Direct centre.

Face-to-face training has to take place at a set time. Online training can be made to fit the needs of your company, with workers logging on at times that suit them as well as the needs of the business.

More than a million employees from 100,000 small and medium-sized companies have taken Learn Direct courses since the service was set up in 2000.

The organisation has opened a chain of Premier Business Centres to support small firms. They have advisers who can help your company reach its full potential by setting business objectives, identifying what training your employees need, and guide you towards suitable courses.

There are plans to raise the number of Premier Business Centres from 50 to 70 over the next 12 months.

Sarah Turpin is head of workforce development and policy at Ufi (University for Industry), the government-funded body that provides Learn Direct with funding. She said: “We are building our capacity to deliver to small businesses more effectively and are looking to recruit new centres. Learn Direct offers learning at any time, any place, anywhere, so employees can access bite-sized chunks of learning. These can be anything from a 15-minute taster right through to 150 to 200 hours of a leadership and management course.

“If a member of your staff suddenly needs to know how to do an Excel spreadsheet to produce a cashflow forecast, for example, he or she can do that through Learn Direct and obtain that skill there and then.”

Employees who attend a Premier Business Centre to take their courses online there will be assigned a personal tutor who will visit them at work to give support and keep them motivated. Employees who train from home will have access to a personal online tutor.

Learn Direct runs 400 courses online. Some are specifically designed to help small firms. These include courses on how to improve sales and marketing, management, financial controls and make better use of IT and the workforce.

In the management section, for example, there are courses on effective decision making, creating and managing teams and handling conflict. In the sales and marketing section, there are courses on customer-service skills and putting your business on the web.

Some of the courses, such as Skills for Life, which help people to brush up their numeracy and literacy skills, are subsidised by the government and can cost as little as £10.

Two months ago, Learn Direct was transferred from the control of the Department for Education and Skills to the Learning and Skills Council. This makes Ufi directly responsible for its funding, a move that Turpin hopes will lead to greater efficiency.

The scheme covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but not Scotland.

For further information visit www.learndirect-business.co.uk or phone 08000 150750.