Member Article

Salford Professional Development sees 18% revenue increase following relocation of HQ

Salford Professional Development is on track to report record revenues of £2.6m for the year ending 31 July 2015, an increase of £400k on last year.

The training provider organised 11 conferences in June on topics ranging from the future of higher education and safer communities to cyber security and wound management, attracting more than 1,000 delegates from across the UK and abroad and generating income of £350k.

SPD, which was established in 2012 as a subsidiary of the University of Salford, organises conferences and training courses for public, private and not-for-profit sector professionals on health and social care, media, business and law, leadership, the built environment, energy and public services.

The firm, based in Adelphi House at the university, employs 30 staff. SPD’s workforce has risen from 13 a year ago in line with the firm’s growth.

SPD’s conference division has seen the biggest growth and now accounts for 30 per cent of overall turnover.

Conferences are held at its headquarters and venues such as Hotel Football at Old Trafford, Manchester Central, MediaCity UK and the People’s History Museum.

SPD’s chief executive Marc Davis said July’s revenues look set to surpass June’s total, with highlights including conferences on digital health, youth justice and infection control: “We have been able to broaden our offering since moving into Adelphi House in May last year, and we can now hold multiple conferences and training course on the same day.

“On one day last month, we had five separate events running, attended by 350 delegates.

“We pride ourselves on the fact that we are tapping into the vast knowledge bank at the University of Salford, and passing this on to those who work in key roles in the public and private sectors.

“It is immensely rewarding to see our company contributing to the development of professionals which will ultimately be passed on through improvements to the well-being and care of service users in the public sector.

“Similarly, with our leadership courses, we are helping entrepreneurs and executives to grow and shape their businesses for the future, which in turn will benefit the regional and national economies.

“As the economy grows, so does the need for a highly-skilled and well-trained workforce. This has created burgeoning demand for our industry-focused conferences and high-quality continuing professional development and training programmes.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .