CERTAINLY not selling themselves short!

That's Bury College which has been added to the list of centres accredited to offer students the opportunity to study for professional qualifcations in sales.

The courses have been designed by the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management and are fully approved by the Department for Education and Employment.

Patrick Joiner, chief executive of the Institute, said: "I am very pleased that students at Bury College will be able to study for these new qualifications.

"And I am most confident that they will find them of enormous benefit to their future careers." He went on: "Sales is the single most important activity that any company undertakes and yet too often sales people are sent out with minimal training and very little understanding of how to sell professionally."

The Institute of Sales and Marketing Management's professional education programme has been developed in response to industry demands for more highly qualified and better trained sales professionals.

Already, a number of major employers including British Airways, Shell, Consignia and npower have adopted the qualifications as part of their internal staff development programmes.

These relatively new qualifications have already become the UK benchmark against which all sales training programmes are measured.

Roger North, course co-ordinator for the sales and marketing management programmes at Bury College, commented: "Sales people are important to every business.

"We aim to help local companies develop their sales team so that staff can represent the company even more effectively."

The new courses include a Foundation Award in sales and marketing and a certificate in operational sales and marketing.

For more information on the courses, ring Mr North via the information, advice and guidance centre at Bury College on 0800 0925 900 or the Institute on 01727 812500.