Turnover at Glasgow-based Elite Training and Consultancy has increased by 50% to £3.6m for the year to 31 March 2019, up from £2.4m in the previous year.
According to Elite’s managing director, Stephen Docherty, the uplift has arisen not so much from winning new customers, as from securing more training and consultancy projects from existing customers seeking to improve their skills and productivity.
“The training we have undertaken for our clients has been effective in addressing skills and productivity issues and our existing clients have decided to draw down more from our extensive bank of training and development modules”, he said.
Elite was founded in 2006 by Stephen who has a track record in IT development with companies including JP Morgan Chase. The company specialises in understanding its clients’ needs and creating bespoke solutions rather than offering off the shelf courses. It employs a mix of full time and associate staff who provide training to a range of high-profile private and public sector businesses.
He said: “We deliver project management, IT (technical and end user) and soft skills training across the UK but predominantly in Scotland. In recent years we have moved into consultancy so that, for instance, if a client is rolling out a new IT system, we would develop materials, training and a project plan as well as providing administrative support. We deal with projects of all sizes.
“Our main business is conducted with mid-to-large companies and organisations, which are more inclined to invest in training and tend to have cohesive learning development plans. In terms of contracts, we have more with public than private organisations but, as regards turnover, it’s about 50-50.
“There is widespread concern throughout the economy about disappointing rates of productivity, skill gaps and skill shortages, but like others in the training sector, our role is to help address these issues and to propose, then deliver, approaches leading to tangible productivity and skills improvements.
“Our turnover increase indicates that, when training is made available from the right provider, companies and organisations are willing to pay a sensible price to secure the productivity improvements that follow.”
