A YORK-based e-learning and website design firm, has just won a contract with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) to build a marketing skills analysis system called Marketing Doctor.

The system will enable clients of CIM to give their marketing teams a "health check".

It works by benchmarking individuals' marketing skills against professional marketing standards and then directing the user to the relevant learning, training and qualifications.

The contract is the latest in a long list of successes for MyKnowledgeMap, which was started by managing director Rob Arnsten four years ago. With a turnover of nearly £1 million, its 20 staff deal with clients like The British Council, EdExcel, and the Engineering Employers Federation.

Dennis James, director MyKnowledgeMap, said: "We were absolutely delighted to win this contract, The Chartered Institute of Marketing is probably the world's most renowned organisation in its field, with blue chip customers around the globe.

The system devised for CIM also slots in nicely with the findings of a report commissioned by Science City York and the Learning and Skills Council published earlier this year.

It identified skills gaps as a significant barrier to growth, needing to be accurately identified within companies, and corrective action taken to enable future prosperity for individual companies and the region as a whole.

Anna Rooke, manager of Science City York, said: "MyKnowledgeMap is a fantastic example of the kind of dynamic, knowledge-based IT company we have in the city. Its skills gap work is particularly relevant, as it can create excellent easy-to-use systems that help companies to analyse their skills and learning requirements.

"This is a real issue in York. As the science and technology based economy expands, all kinds of new, specialised skills are required and companies need to identify them so that they can develop and thrive."

Updated: 10:31 Wednesday, October 13, 2004