Business and commercial

Commercial skills

Contribute to business profitability by understanding and applying basic commercial principles.

2 days

Next available:

Members: £1,095 + VAT
Non-members: £1,350 + VAT
Bring a colleague for free

Bring a colleague for FREE

Course Location & Date
Commercial skills
10% early bird discount applied
Hurry! 34 days left
Members:
£1,095.00 £985.50 Plus vat
Non Members:
£1,350.00 £1,215.00 Plus vat

Summary

Contribute to business profitability by understanding and applying basic commercial principles.

George Clemenceau once famously said that “War is too important to be left to the generals”. Yet too often as engineers we leave revenue and profit to the accountants. In today’s business environment this no longer works. All parts of the business, especially engineers, need to see the bigger picture and understand the levers they can pull which can have a dramatic effect on their company’s profitability. 

This course gives you an appreciation of the commercial world and how to deal with real issues including handling suppliers, demanding customers, as well as exploring opportunities to increase value and gain competitive advantage. 

Practical and jargon-free, it delivers the essential skills and knowledge to enable engineers to do this much more effectively. And at the same time, improve their career prospects by becoming more commercially aware.

Verified Logo
Verified by an engineer, Caitlin Gent
"I now have a much firmer grip on the commercial side of my work. It has given me a useful insight into how projects originally started here and how they’ve developed to where they are now."
Read more

Who should attend?

Engineers at all levels. Those new to industry including commercial graduates will gain a valuable overview whilst more senior engineers can learn and apply the knowledge needed for personal and career development. 

How will I benefit?

  • Manage customers better (internally and externally) by understanding their needs, identifying what comprises “value” for them, and by being able to deal with them more assertively
  •  Make a greater contribution to the profitability of your projects and contracts and better manage issues that affect business profitability and commerciality
  • “Hold your own” in meetings with commercial colleagues
  • Understand your own and others’ business strategy and align your actions accordingly
  • Identify, anticipate, and manage risks effectively
  • See your role in a broader, more commercial context
  • Explain the main ways in which engineers can significantly impact a company’s profitability
  • Manage and prioritise stakeholders more effectively
Contributes 14 CPD hours

“The course has exceeded my expectations and has a much wider application than I envisaged. Genuinely one of the best short courses I have attended.” Richard Innes – Total E&P UK “One of the IMechE courses well worth attending. I have learnt new stuff and also refreshed my memory on what I already knew, but was forgotten.”

Vaidas Bagurskas -Greater Anglia Course tutor

Key topics

  • What is commerciality
  • Dealing with challenging customers or suppliers
  • Developing yourself into a commercially aware engineer
  • Commercially sound - the risks, challenges & opportunities
  • What is ‘business strategy’
  • Personal prioritisation
  • Action mapping

Mapped against UK- SPEC competencies: C, D and E

  1. Responsibility, management or leadership - For Incorporated and Chartered Engineers: 'Provide Technical and commercial leadership’
  2. Communication and inter-personal skills - For Incorporated and Chartered Engineers: 'Demonstrate effective interpersonal skills’
  3. Professional commitment - For Incorporated and Chartered Engineers: ‘Demonstrate a personal commitment to professional standards, recognising obligations to society, the profession and the environment’

Meet our trainers

These trainers regularly teach Commercial skills.

  • John Hattam

    John Hattam

    John has built a successful consulting business in both the private and public sectors, specialising in sales and marketing, product and customer development, and business planning.

In-house and bespoke training

Tell us your team's CPD needs and we'll come to you with a specialised training programme, customised for your engineering sector.
Contact our advisors if you need help finding the most appropriate training for your team.

Share:

At a glance

  • Duration:
    2 days
  • Location:
    London, Virtual classroom, Manchester
  • CPD Hours:
    14
  • UK-Spec:
    C, D, E

Need some help?

Contact us if you have any questions about our training courses.

Terms & conditions of booking IMechE training

Train your team

Offers and bundles

A range of options to help you maximise your training budget.

More about offers and bundles

Available dates for Commercial skills

2 day course

London
20-21 Feb 2025 Bring a colleague for free
10% discount available until 20 December
Virtual classroom
12-13 May 2025 Bring a colleague for free
10% discount available until 12 March
Manchester
8-9 Jul 2025 Bring a colleague for free
10% discount available until 8 May
London
10-11 Nov 2025 Bring a colleague for free
10% discount available until 10 September

Require a different date or location? Or want to train a group in house?

We can customise any of our courses and deliver them in-house, for your entire team. It could also save you money, especially as you would save travel time.

More about In-house and bespoke training

Register your interest

Members: £1,095 + VAT

Non-members: £1,350 +VAT

Bring a colleague for free

Enquire now

Train a group in-house and save

Related courses

  • 2 day course

    Project success through understanding contracts

    Focusing on collaboration, this 2-day course will help you to understand risk management through practical remedies. It will support you in developing solution-based engineering contracts which protect the interests of both parties.

  • Qualification

    Financial management

    A practical approach to support you in developing the skills to understand financial and management accounting.

  • 2 day course

    Negotiation skills

    Successfully develop your skills as a negotiator with internal and external stakeholders using a wide range of tools and techniques, whilst remaining focused on mutually beneficial outcomes.

Train your team

Tell us your team’s development needs and we’ll come to you with a specialised training programme, customised for your organisation.

What options are available?

  • Off the shelf – we can deliver any of our training courses at your chosen location, providing you with a cost-effective and efficient solution
  • Tailored courses– our personalised programmes can help you work through issues specific to your team or sector and equip you with the practical tools you need to move forward
  • Blended programmes – we use a range of delivery methods, development subjects and performance resources to ensure your team have the knowledge and skills they need to help your business thrive

More about in-house and tailored training.

Request a Training catalogue

Discover the most extensive series of professional development courses for engineers who are committed to shaping the future of our sector.

Some of the companies we've worked with

  • Alten
  • AMH Material Handling
  • Avara Foods
  • bmt
  • Bombardier
  • Bombardier
  • Frazer Nash
  • Gas Networks Ireland
  • International Nuclear Services
  • JCB
  • Martin Baker
  • National Composited Centre
  • Network Rail
  • Smurfit Kappa
  • sse

Our training acumen

  • Over 30 years of experience delivering training
  • More than 200 courses designed for engineers
  • Over 10,000 engineers trained each year
  • Trusted by over 800 companies
  • Business solutions delivered in 48 countries

Average customer rating: 4.75 out of 5


Get in touch

Get in touch if you need help finding the right course, or qualification, for you or your team.

Terms & conditions of booking IMechE training