It was the epicentre of the famous Dudley earthquake in 2002 and now Gornal may be able to lay claim to yet another global phenomenon – as the launchpad for social media in the Black Country.

At a  recent workshop held for manufacturers in the Black Country, it was revealed that six of the 12 delegates in attendance were either born in the village or are currently living there.

The seminars, hosted by Danks Cockburn Public Relations – a company founded by former Ellowes Hall pupils Mat Danks and Russ Cockburn – was giving local companies an insight into the world of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ in a bid to help them win new contracts and create jobs.

During the presentation, funded by MAS Auto, the word ‘Gornal’ cropped up in conversation and it soon became clear that nearly half of the audience had some association with the area.

Trico Tooling’s Mark Poutney and Adam Calloway of Benton Manufacturing were both born in the village, while Jonathan Hickman (Cab Auto) listed Straits Primary as his first school and Andy Essom (HT Brigham) has swapped plush Sutton Coldfield for the friendly enclave of the Black Country.

Russ Cockburn, director at DCPR, says: “We’ve always said Gornal is at the cutting edge of technology and this surely proves it beyond any reasonable doubt.

“This was a social media workshop open to every manufacturer in the West Midlands and we ended up with six ‘Gornolians’ as delegates. While we tried to keep on topic as much as possible, it wasn’t long before we started sharing tales of pubs we frequent and our universal love of real ale – well, that’s two topics we’re certainly cutting-edge in!”

Visit the DCPR website to learn more about how this local company is engaging others in the business opportunities presented by social media.