IT is normally staff, not clients, who get training.

But Barclays Bank and Darlington chartered accountants Clive Owen and Co has turned the tables and treated clients to a seminar on marketing.

Geoff Ramm, owner of Mercury Marketing and winner of the Shell Livewire South Tyneside Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003, accompanied by a 6ft skeleton, revealed his top 30 marketing tips to improve owner-managed businesses.

Ross Hume, area director of Barclays Bank, said: "His ideas are appealing yet practical, and we hope our clients and those of Clive Owen and Co will resolve to put some of them into practice in their own businesses."

Nearly 70 people went along to listen to advice on which sales and marketing techniques would keep profits healthy and which usually end up being ineffective.

Clive Owen, senior partner at Clive Owen and Co, said: "Making the decision to establish a marketing department within our firm was difficult but, since its introduction, it has clearly demonstrated how effective certain marketing activities can be. We have never looked back."