Durham education firm set for growth after acquisition

England’s largest education subcontractor partner has positioned itself for significant growth by acquiring the country’s fastest growing specialist education publisher.

Learning Curve, based in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, which already delivers £20m of Adult Skills Budget provision to 50,000 learners via 39 college partnerships, will also now provide learning materials to more than 100 colleges and private training providers after acquiring Learning at Work (LaW).

Such has been Leeds-based LaW’s success since it was founded just six years ago that its innovative paper-based and online learning materials are currently used by around 90,000 learners – and rising.

That figure has almost doubled in a year – along with turnover, which jumped from £2m in 2011 to £3.265m in 2012 - and both companies believe learner numbers can be significantly increased further.

Learning Curve, a market leader in providing high quality training programmes for 16 to 18-year-olds and adult learners, has used LaW’s materials for two years and credits them with helping to achieve a staggering 93 per cent overall course success rate – well above the national average.

As well as delivering education for colleges, Learning Curve, which was established in 2004, also works with employers to provide high-quality provision to staff aiming to gain qualifications.

Its programmes include apprenticeships delivered to more than 1,800 employers, NVQs, literacy and numeracy, certificates and short courses, some delivered through flexible distance learning.

Vocational training, largely construction-based but also including health and social care and car maintenance, is done at five Learning Curve Skills Centres, two of which offer an introduction to military training.

Its skills centres, which train about 2,000 people a year, are at Bishop Auckland, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, with military preparation in Leeds and Wakefield.

In the past year Learning Curve has almost doubled its turnover, increased the number of colleges it works with, and more than doubled its number of learners.

The new integrated business, known as the Learning Curve Group, will consist of LaW, Learning Curve, and Learning Curve Skills Centres, with each retaining its established branding, web presence and management structures.

The Learning Curve Group also plans to invest in LaW’s Learning@College online platform, which hosts programmes to support key objectives around its study programmes and traineeships, as well as its e-Assessor software, which allows learners to complete their unit assessments and submit them for marking online.

Its learner/employer engagement team will also be extended.

Learning Curve founder Judith Moran, Chair and Chief Executive of the Learning Curve Group, believes the acquisition will allow for both Learning Curve and LaW to enhance their range of products and services.

She said: “There is a great deal of synergy between the two companies that will be beneficial to our delivery partners and learners.

“There is a strong strategic fit between delivery and publishing, so this exciting development is a great opportunity to create a new integrated, high quality further education sector business.”

And Brenda McLeish, Learning Curve’s Managing Director, added: “By investing in the publishing business we believe that there will be exciting opportunities to develop innovative paper-based and online learning resources that will greatly benefit the learners and employers we work with in the future.”

LaW, whose learning materials are approved by major awarding organisations, was established by Jon Cummins, 37, in 2007.

It has since established strong links with employers to train their staff, advise on available funding, and provide more general support. Employers it has worked with to meet their training requirements include Ford, Rentokil Initial, BUPA, and National Grid.

Since 2011, it has provided materials to more than 180,000 learners and has seen staff numbers soar from four a year ago to a current high of 30 through investment in its telesales team, which has been responsible for attracting learners, employers and colleges to its resources.

Jon will continue to run LaW as Managing Director but will also enjoy a wider brief with a Board role as Commercial Director of the Learning Curve Group. He will be particularly involved in leading on product development and sales to colleges and other training providers.

He said: “I believe this move is a fantastic opportunity for LaW and I am delighted to be joining Learning Curve, which is one of the most successful training providers in the country.

“LaW has worked closely with Learning Curve for a number of years and we have enjoyed a very constructive, valuable and rewarding relationship.

“I’m extremely confident that the new group will have a very strong presence in the further education market given the breadth of high quality products and services it offers.”

To assist Jon, Heather Turner will move from Finance Director with Learning Curve to join LaW in Leeds as Operations Director. She will be replaced by Julie Gilhespie, who recently became a Learning Curve Director in a management buy-out in August of this year.

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