Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing

12/03/2026

Customer service inspiration from across Northern Ireland and beyond

On her travels Chartered Marketer and Licensed WorldHost Customer Service Trainer Christine collects examples of customer service excellence in practice to display on her training deliveries - Trainees often ask ‘What’s with the ducks?’

Is there anything impressive that you have come across that you would recommend we add to this table of insight or anything that you think your organisation does especially well?

The next fully funded opportunity to gain an industry recognised WorldHost certification with comes courtesy of Labour Market Partnership - the 2 day WorldHost supervising customer service workshop will be delivered by Christine in Lisburn Civic Centre on 13 & 16 April. Places limited. Apply before 31 March.

📸 thanks to one of our very latest WorldHost graduates Darren for snapping the pic

06/03/2026

Get Support to Develop a Marketing Plan

Social Enterprise Northern Ireland has recently secured funding with the Halifax Foundation to help up to 12 charities and social enterprises on their marketing and strategic direction.

Delivered by Chartered Marketer and SOSTAC®️Certified Planner, Christine Watson, Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing your organisation will be taken through the excellent SOSTAC®️ process with the intention of making your marketing efforts more efficient and effective.

If you are not already signed up to receive the SENI enews - get subscribed so you don’t miss out on the many signposts and opportunities curated by the team at Social Enterprise NI

https://mailchi.mp/socialenterpriseni/marchopportunities

>>

SENI March Opportunities - https://mailchi.mp/socialenterpriseni/marchopportunities
So many chances to take part in free training, or subsidised support. So much on in March. Read, register and get stuck right in this March!

03/03/2026

Another day and yet another signpost that we hope helps someone and if you are not in Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area do remember our previous advice and make sure to follow on social media and sign up for the email newsletters from your local council

“📚 Individual Learning Accounts 📚

Upskill or Reskill with support towards accredited or industry recognised training

👉🏻 Take Your Next Step
🔗 Contact the team to register your interest 📧: [email protected] or
☎️ 028 2563 3345

⚠️ Registration for funding closes 13 March 2026.
⚠️ All training must be completed by 30 June 2026.

Mid & East Antrim Labour Market Partnership works to improve employability and support residents into meaningful employment across the borough.

If you’re currently looking for work or hoping to move into a better job, the Mid & East Antrim Labour Market Partnership Individual Learning Account (ILA) can help you gain the skills and qualifications employers are looking for.

How the ILA Can Help You
• Gain qualifications that employer’s value
• Build skills needed for specific industries
• Improve your CV and job prospects
• Remove financial barriers to training
• Access fully funded courses with no cost to you

The ILA provides up to £500 in fully funded training for eligible residents, covering accredited or industry recognised courses that support you in getting job ready or progressing toward a new career path.

* Requests over £500 may also be considered by the Labour Market Partnership Funding Committee.”

We have added a graphic highlighting the accredited and industry recognised training that Lead Trainer Christine can provide but if you do live/work/seek work within Mid and East Antrim Borough and would like to upskill or reskill to find a job or get promoted and seek specialist training in tactical marketing - AI, social media - Facebook, Instagram, threads by Instagram,LinkedIn, content marketing, blogging, Canva, giphy, keyword analysis, digital optimisation, storytelling… do get in touch and we will see what learning plan we can come up with together to support you - noting 13 March deadline!

02/03/2026

Where to find Chartered Marketer, SOSTAC®️ Certified Planner and Licensed People 1st International WorldHost Customer Service Trainer Christine Watson, delivering training this month and next…

In person and online >>

March 11: WorldHost Principles of Customer Service Training for Employability - Derry & Strabane District Council area, delivered by
*places available for eligible individuals - contact Glenn McGarrigle, People 1st NI for details

March 13: on itself and just a few days ahead of - WorldHost NI Destination Ambassador workshop for Employability - Derry-Londonderry in Derry City & Strabane District Council area for .group

March 18: WorldHost Principles of Customer Service Training for Employability - funded by

March 19: Social Media Marketing that Works online webinar for Antrim Chamber of Commerce

March 23: Create, Plan and Schedule Social Media with Confidence Using Canva and Meta Business Suite for health, wellbeing and beauty professionals in Mossley Mill, Newtownabbey for

March 31: Advanced Canva in for network

April 13 & 16: WorldHost Supervising Customer Service in Lisburn Civic Centre - fully funded for businesses and individuals seeking upskilling opportunities across - Lisburn and Castlereagh

As well as training we are also delivering strategic and practical marketing plans for social enterprises across the province for funded by , marketing mentoring, in house training and supporting marketing trainees as well as our valued retainer clients.

24/02/2026

Upcoming learning opportunities with Chartered Marketer, SOSTAC Certified Planner and Licensed WorldHost Customer Service Trainer Christine Watson -

February 26: ‘Marketing that Works’
Annual Conference

March 11: WorldHost Principles of Customer Service Training for Employability - Derry-Londonderry *funded places available for eligible individuals in area

March 13: WorldHost Northern Ireland Ambassador Training for Employability - Derry-Londonderry

March 18: WorldHost Principles of Customer Service Training for Employability - funded by

March 19: Social Media Marketing that Works online webinar for Antrim Chamber

March 23: Create, Plan and Schedule Social Media with Confidence Using Canva and Meta Business Suite for health, wellbeing and beauty professionals in Mossley Mill, Newtownabbey for

March 31: Advanced Canva in for network

April 13 & 16: WorldHost Supervising Customer Service in Lisburn Civic Centre - fully funded for businesses across - Lisburn and Castlereagh

20/02/2026

Fully funded opportunity for employees across Lisburn and Castlereagh Borough council area to gain the industry recognised WorldHost Supervising Customer Service certification with licensed Trainer Christine Watson

👇🏻

Ready to strengthen your customer service leadership skills? Join our upcoming 2-day training workshop for team leaders!📈

Applications are now open!

Go to https://www.lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk/w/upskilling-academy-world-host-supervising-customer-service

20/02/2026

Big numbers registered for Chartered Marketer Christine’s Go Succeed in Marketing your Start Up Business webinar at 12.30 today (Friday 20 February) for , organised and facilitated by

We’ve lost count now of just how many of these webinars we have delivered and to how many hundred too but it is fully funded so free to attend if you fancy some lunchtime learning

And if you would like to book to deliver an online webinar in our specialisms of marketing or customer service for you, your audiences or programmes do get in touch

17/02/2026

Find funding for employee training from local councils for a range of industry recognised courses, including a number that lead Trainer - Chartered Marketer Christine Watson is licensed and qualified to offer including the popular WorldHost principles of customer service, supervising customer service and conflict resolution workshops as well as mentoring with confidence and digital marketing

For Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council -
Labour Market Partnership grants of up to £10,000 to help local micro, small, and medium‑sized businesses upskill existing employees and address skills shortages do note that applications close on Monday 23 February!

20/01/2026

Kudos to for their campaign - the third Monday in January annually which moved the conversation from a marketers ‘Blue Monday’ 2004 campaign, reportedly coined but later disavowed by a regretful psychologist Cliff Arnall, given that feeling blue isn’t something that happens on Mondays and a random day in January.

The inspirational marketing effort of the Samaritans team is worthy of a shout out to all who aspire to think up and execute effective marketing campaigns - their bank of downloadable resources to encourage influencer and user generated content marketing holds inspirational lessons for all

At we did, of course, send the direct link to these preprepared resources to a range of our active clients - there are various times when your brand can cleverly ‘curate’ instead of having to keep creating engaging content from scratch

In the words of -

“Why Brew Monday?

At Samaritans we know there’s no such thing as ‘Blue Monday’ and that feeling low isn’t just something that happens on Mondays or a random day in January. ​So we say out with the blue and in with the brew! ​

There’s always time for a cuppa and a catch-up. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Monday morning or Saturday night, or if you’re drinking green tea or black coffee. If you’re sharing a cuppa, talking and listening, you’re doing it right.”

Don’t forget to donate what you can if you did partake in Brew Monday or indeed if you simply wish to support this charity - link in comments (given this post we have made a wee contribution online too)

What key dates in the annual calendar does your brand plan to leverage this year? According to Christine’s diary - an academic 18 month one - kindly gifted to her by the lovely Siofra, a fellow WorldHost licensed Trainer, tells us that 2026 is a ‘year to bloom’ 🌺

📸 no electric or internet in Christine’s home office today but her hybrid car battery was booked in for a health check so she is making the most of the complimentary hospitality and working away in Toyota, Portadown

15/01/2026

Licensed WorldHost principles of customer service Trainer Christine Watson is delighted to be working with Carrickfergus Enterprise again this year to roll out this globally recognised programme to residents of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council

If you know someone who would benefit from this offering do take the time to spread the word

👇🏻

𝐌𝐢𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐦 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐦𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞.

Carrickfergus Enterprise are delighted to manage this programme on the funder's behalf and add this to the delivery of two Tourism Academies in 2024 and 2025.

Tourism is growing year on year and once our visitors are here, we need to provide them with fabulous hospitality. This sector provides some of the most exciting and varied careers imaginable!

𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭
• Best practice visits to local Hospitality Champions to inspire and ignite your interest in the sector.
• An opportunity to develop your skills and knowledge to gain employment or self-employment within the hospitality sector
• Training will be interactive and bespoke to participants with role model speakers who have real life experience and knowledge of the sector.
• Core training will include WorldHost Principles of Customer Care, Level 3 Emergency First Aid at Work and Level 2 Food Safety.
• Individual pathways for sector specific training that can help you towards your employment/self-employment journey including taster Barista and Bar Tending training.
• Fully funded course, no cost to you other than your time and commitment.
• One to one mentoring throughout the programme to develop your confidence and provide flexible support at every stage
of your journey to employment/self employment.
•Development of Enterprise Action Plan, Business Plan or Personal Development Plan to help you pinpoint your next steps and goals

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲?
Mid & East Antrim residents aged 17 years and over who are economically inactive, long-term unemployed, under-employed (typically working less than 30 hours) or those wishing to upskill.
Candidates do not require any qualifications to be eligible for a place on this course; however, candidates must show commitment to take part in all relevant opportunities the programme provides.

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 & 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞
February 2026 workshops will be held in venues throughout Mid and East Antrim and will be confirmed depending on where participants are mostly based. Attendance is fully flexible, but you must take part in at least two of the training days to gain your qualifications.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭
This is an exciting time to be in hospitality! For more information or to register please contact: E: [email protected], T: 028 9336 9528 or E: [email protected]
Places are limited so please register by Friday 30th January to secure your spot on this fabulous programme.

05/01/2026

Start as you mean to go on…

What are your most important calls to action - the requests you make of your customers, advocates or prospects?

From asking for Google reviews, follows to your social media channels, check ins on Facebook, sign ups to email news, user generated content - whereby paying customers kindly generate and share content about you for you and, of course, encouraging customers to buy more through upselling and cross selling tactics - there are a multitude of things you can ask for.

Take a moment to review your customer journeys and your communications at the pre visit, during visit and post visit stages both online and offline and see what improvements can be made to your marketing this year.

As for clients - January will see us auditing against targets set and making plans for further stretching goals throughout the year ahead.

📸 pictures of just a few examples of calls to action in practice on our Chartered Marketer Christine’s latest trip to London

If you’d like the support of a Chartered Marketer, SOSTAC©️Certified Planner and Licensed WorldHost™️ Customer Service Trainer this year then do get in touch

24/12/2025

Sending Christmas wishes to one and all

Watson & Co. Chartered Marketing have trained, mentored & delivered actionable insights from audits, trouble shooting services, consultancy, impactful marketing implementation and customer service excellence assistance to many individuals and organisations this year. We are grateful to all who choose to work with us and place their trust in us to do a good job.

Christmas isn’t likely to be Merry for everyone this year so if you do find yourself or someone you know struggling always remember that you are not alone - there are wonderful social enterprises, charities and good people that you can reach out to for help

NI Direct provides useful signposts online including a link to curated resource: HelplinesNI

Stuck for what to say or what to do for those grieving - have useful and insightful content to help

And also bear in mind that if you are spending time scrolling social media you are likely looking at highly curated content - not exactly real life!

🤖 graphic - version 3 - courtesy of a time saving prompt using AI - namely the paid version of ChatGpt in this instance

📝 Do note AI is not always accurate - our Christine does tell it off when she spots things that are not quite correct - this time it delivered the old Instagram post size - Instagram posts on the grid are regretfully no longer square format - the changes, they keep coming now don’t they!