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The
Beginning...
It
all started almost 10 years ago when our CEO Sohail Khan
became fascinated about the World Wide Web (WWW) and its
massive potential. This was a time when companies saw the
internet as a fad and the general public viewed the internet
as the domain of the computer geek!
Sohail,
as with may others, realised the vast commercial
opportunties offered by this new phenomenon called the world
wide web. While studying for his Master's thesis armed with
his new found wealth of knowledge he began to piece together
an idea that would soon become AffordableTraining.co.uk
Affordable
Training was born...
In
1999 AffordableTraining was originally started as a showcase
to show other companies how to use the internet to sell.
With Sohail's background in consulting and his new
partnership with Conrad Wilson (who is today Affordable
Training's Marketing Director) they both set out to help
other .com companies realise the full potential under their
new company AIM New Media.
However,
within the first few months the website was generating over
60 enquiries a week. Sohail and Conrad were taking over 60
orders a month over the telephone through the website's
freephone number (one of the first training companies to
offer a freephone number).
£50,000
in It's First Year!
By
early 2000 the .com bubble burst and many companies that
Sohail and Conrad were consulting for went bust! This was
the turning point for Affordable Training and they decided
to concentrate on a business that was generating some good
money. In it's first year of business Affordable Training
generated over £50,000 and was still being operated from a
bedroom!
With
additional funding they decided to move to a larger office
and registered the company in April 2000. In order for the
business to succeed in the competitive world of computer
training both Sohail and Conrad decided to refocus
AffordableTraining.co.uk as the leading self-development
training portal for the IT Professional and IT User.
Award
Winning Business
Within
the next year Affordable Training had won best UK training website
and also came runners up in the UK Ecommerce Awards 2001. The CEO
Sohail Khan was also recognised for his achievements in helping
people better their lives through training and was included in the
Who's Who of Young Entreprenuers 2002.
The
business continued to grow rapidly with a 500% increase in sales.
This was when Val Edgar joined the business as Operations Manager
to ease the administration burden. Affordable Training was now the
No.1 provider of affordable self-study training solutions in the
UK!
Unique
Self-Study Training Courses
The
courses that Affordable Training were providing were unique to the
UK. Forming a partnership with a development house in Thailand who
produced multimedia training for companies such as United Nations
and BMW, Sohail launched a new style of simulation based training
into the UK.
The
unique system behind the courses was called e-campus™ - a
virtual university environment that linked to the courses both on
CD and online. Affordable Training were very early adopters of an
LMS (Learning Management System) which is now a buzzword in
e-learning!
Similar To
an Expensive Aircraft Simulator
Working
closely with this development team in Thailand Affordable
Training's courses were an instant success. Courses were being
compared to an expensive aircraft simulator - which taught you how
to handle expensive systems without causing real damage. There was
nothing like it in the UK, "we were ahead of our time"
said Sohail
Increasing
Demand for Affordable Training Courses
With
the increase in certifications ranging from Microsoft to Cisco
demand for Affordable Training to provide a wider range of course
titles was astounding. It was costing $10,000 to develop an hour
of multimedia training and Affordable Training had to move very
quickly if they wanted to stay ahead of the competition.
Demand
was greater from the corporate sector and this was an opportunity
not to be missed. However, it was a co-incidence when Sohail
received a call from Kevan Baker who was managing a small
instructor-led training company in Brighton.
The Phone
Call That Made an Impact
Kevan's
first words over the phone were, "I've seen your MCSE course
and man is it amazing!, I have a business proposition for
you". And with that a meeting was set up between the
directors of Affordable Training and an excited Kevan Baker. The
meeting proved very successful and led the company to make a
serious impact in the corporate e-learning market. Kevan who today
is the appointed Sales Director of Affordable Training brought
great wealth and knowledge of the corporate market and starting
working on a new sales strategy and increasing our in-house
training advisors skills.
A New
Breakthrough Partnership
To
stay ahead of the competition Affordable Training had to move
quickly and develop new course titles however, these proved to be
very expensive. Kevan stumbled across a small but fast growing
training developer in Florida who had the perfect credentials as a
new partner. They were entrepreneurial led by a very charming and
successful female CEO and registered as a Microsoft Gold Partner and
CompTia Learning Partner. They created an amazing instructor-led
based training system that we now call, 'The Power Learning
System™'.
'Power Learning System™'
used by World Class Clients
The
Power Learning System™ represented the big breakthrough in using
virtual Instructor-led training through CBT (Computer Based
Training), hence the term 'Instructor-led CBT' or interactive
training seminars on demand! Affordable Training took the world's best IT Trainers filmed them, digitised their
master training seminars, added 'virtual lab' hands-on simulation
exercises, real-life exam tests, study guides and comprehensive
virtual support.
This
system of learning was already being used successfully by world
class companies such as AT&T, Boeing, Canon, Microsoft, Toshiba,
Fujitsu and Sharp!
The
Birth of Affordable Training USA
The
UK's market welcomed Affordable Training's improved learning system
and interest grew as far as the US. To maintain their position as
the most affordable and cost-effective provider of computer based
training solutions Affordable Training joined forces with an IT
services company based in Atlanta to give birth to Affordable
Training USA their US arm. Other developments include Affordable
Training Ghana as the search goes on for more synergistic
partnerships!
Skills4Life™
- The Future of IT Skills Training
Now
armed with the backing of a multi million powerhouse and one of the best learning systems in the world Affordable
Training continues to play a leading role in developing and
delivering only the best and affordable Instructor-led CBT courses
in the UK today.
Also
with the introduction of our new online training portal
AffordableTrainingOnline.com and the
increased uptake of broadband in the UK, Affordable Training have
now introduced their 'Skills4Life™'
development programme. Customers now require more than just a
training course, they want to see real results with a complete
development package - from a training needs analysis to tracking
results and helping locate work experience!
Our
new subscription based online certified training now allows
'everybody' to afford high quality certification training on a
regular basis.
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