· Name of Business – Asset Training Academy
· Who are you? – We are a provider of training solutions and skills development offering our services to businesses and individual learners. We offer 1 and 2 day courses or full training programmes specialising in Leadership & Management, Business Skills & Personal Development, Sales Training & Mental Health and Resilience. We deliver our services nationally throughout the UK and locally in Warrington. We are able to train just 1 or 2 members of your team or we can deliver our courses In-House for 4 members of staff or more.
· What sets you apart from the competition? – We are a small family run business and are able to offer our customers flexible solutions and customised training designed to meet the specific needs of your company. We have training facilities at our offices located in Station House, Warrington (next door to Central Station) and run regular training courses covering a range of subjects. We offer competitive prices and are able to offer a discounted rate for multiple bookings.
· How did the business come about? – The company was set up by Tom Courtney in 2006 where he worked as a sole trader for a number of years. Tom had previously worked as a trainer for over 25 years delivering training for other providers specialising in Leadership, Management and “Soft Skills” training both nationally and internationally. Denise came on board in 2014 after working for over 20 years in a business capacity in both the public sector and corporate industry. Tom and Denise are a husband and wife team and have a 14 year old daughter.
· What are your main target markets? – We work with any business in any sector that has staff that need training in specific areas. Our clients include the Public Sector (NHS, Universities, Local Authorities, Government Agencies), Corporate Organisations (Law firms, Accountants and more) and SME’s.
· How long has your business been in existence? – We set up Courtney Associates in 2006 and have recently rebranded to Asset Training Academy.
· How many staff do you employ? – 3. Tom is the MD, Denise is the Operations Director and our colleague Sarah is the Office Manager. We also have a team of independent Training Consultants who work with us delivering courses in their specialist subject areas.
· What job or achievement makes you most proud? - What makes us really proud as a business is unlocking the potential of people attending our courses, making a real difference and having a positive impact on their work based performance. We continually receive 5 star reviews for the quality of training and much of our business is from returning customers who have had a really positive experience by using our services and have experienced a real return on their investment.
· Where do you see the business being in five years? We are looking to grow the business by delivering more training courses in different subject areas, and also growing the team of trainers and administrative staff.
· Tell us one interesting thing about the business that might surprise us? – Denise landing a 4 month contract with Liverpool Football Academy delivering an IT programme (Word/Excel/Powerpoint/Outlook) to their Football Coaches. Denise delivered the training despite never having delivered a training course previously. It was a fantastic experience and they booked further sessions on a “one to one” basis with one of their managers after the main programme came to a close. It was a great opportunity to feature the famous LFC Logo on our website!
· Tell us one interesting thing about you that people might not know? (ie, hobbies, amusing fact, etc) – music, sport,
Tom is Scottish but is a big fan of Wigan Athletic Football Club (second to his beloved home town team of Ayr Utd).
We also have a very cute “office mascot” by the name of Penny. She is an 8 year old Maltese Terrier who is loved by everyone who meets her (with the exception of Tom as you can see on the Christmas photo below 😊).
