Pitman Training London

What The Papers Say.

Pitman Training Centres

Northumberland House
303-306 High Holborn
London
WC1V 7JZ

United House
9 Pembridge Road
London
W11 3JY

09/03/06 Executive PA's

Practice is perfect for moving on up

09/02/06 © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006.

Now the phones never stop ringing Buying the flagship Pitman franchise has ended the cold-calling days for the Wymers, writes Andrew Cave

MY BEST DEAL Buying the flagship Pitman franchise has ended the cold-calling days for the Wymers, writes Andrew Cave Sometimes people build careers in sales, yet their best deal involves something they buy. Shilpa Wymer is a case in point. Mrs Wymer, 36, has worked in training and sales since graduating from the University of Central England, Birmingham. At Fidelity Investments, she worked as an assistant training manager, responsible for co-ordinating training efforts across three European call centres. Then she expanded her expertise in call centres by joining Hotlines Call Centre Group in 1998 as sales and training director, becoming managing director three years later. However, her best deal came in 2003, after she and her husband Keith, who owned Hotlines and a sister telemarketing company, sold the two businesses and started looking for something else to do. "We'd probably had enough of the call centre industry," she recalls. "Something about it did not fit comfortably with either of us. It started to become something that was based solely on price. You had to churn people and clients were pushing you on price all the time. "We got a good price and sold to a management buyout team. Then we had a year going off on holiday and looking for something else. "We looked at a whole range of things, from a dry cleaning chain to a delicatessen and other consumer-focused businesses where we thought we could use our marketing and sales backgrounds. "Then we happened to come across Pitman Training, which seemed to combine our careers in sales and training." Mr and Mrs Wymer met Pitman, which had expanded from its roots as a shorthand training provider to a franchised operator of more than 80 centres offering training in skills including word processing, book-keeping and web design. "We were talking about taking a franchise," says Mrs Wymer, "and then we came up with the idea to chance our arm and ask if we could buy their flagship franchise in High Holborn, London.		"Pitman owned the flagship at that time because a previous franchisee had sold it back. For us it was the only way we thought we could go into something big. We did not have enough experience to do something big with a start-up. We loved the fact that Pitman was such a well-known brand." As luck would have it, Pitman wanted to sell so a deal was reached. Immediately Mrs Wymer noticed a change in culture from her previous role. "At the call centres," she says, "I was used to doing a lot of calling up people to sell products to them. Here, people were phoning us. The phones were red hot, ringing off the hook. "We made a number of process management changes to deal with all the calls that were coming in. Because of our sales backgrounds, we understood that every call that came in was future business. "It helped that we advertised and that a lot of people associate Pitman Training with Holborn because the original shorthand business was closely associated with a building in Southampton Row. "A lot of mothers tell their daughters about Pitman in Holborn so they look up the number and call us. We didn't do any cold-calling or any persuading. It was absolutely wonderful." Mrs Wymer, principal of the High Holborn Pitman Training franchise, adds: "We are not the cheapest on the market. People will spend up to £4,000 with us and the average spend is about £1,000. It's a significant amount of money. But we are finding that the quality of the Pitman name brings people in. "Buying the Holborn franchise was my best deal. We got such a good price that I think the head office is a bit aggrieved. We doubled turnover in the first year and we're looking for a 50 per cent increase in year two. Student enrolment is up by 21 per cent and we made a profit in the first year." Mr and Mrs Wymer bought a second Pitman Training franchise in Notting Hill at the end of last year and are planning to buy a third in west London next year. After that, however, it might be time to return to their roots in sales. "I think a third franchise would probably give us the optimum size," says Mrs Wymer. "Then we might look to sell and do something else."

27/10/05 WIN! One of 5 European computer licences!

Kensington & Chelsea News.

20/10/05 Secretaries Undervalued

Secretaries Are Feeling Undervalued

Most secretaries believe they are stereotyped in their roles and many are so embarrassed they frequently lie when asked what job they do.

Research by Pitman Training in High Holborn shows that 25 per cent of secretaries claim their friends think they only answer the phones or photocopy and 15 per cent thought people viewed them as glorified tea ladies.

Many secretaries think training and qualifications are vital in order to make them more confident about the importance of their roles. For more information call Pitman Training on 020 7025 4700.

30/08/05 OFFICE SKILLS

Shilpa Wymer, 36, lives with her husband in Hammersmith. For the past year she has been principal of the Pitman Office Skills Training Centre in Holborn. She says: Although the company, which today is run as a franchise, was historically famous for its secretarial training and shorthand system, we are now into all-round office skills which are totally computer-based.

Most students come to us to do one of the Microsoft Word-based courses, which are pitched at various levels. While many come here under their own steam to further their own careers, about a fifth are sent here by their companies. Some of these are very senior - we have a lot of executives from property and law firms, who come not only to learn about how to use the latest software packages but also how to touch-type.

Many in lesser administration positions read the job ads, see what legal secretaries and PAs earn and realise that if they want to double their salaries they will have to improve their skills.

A trainer's day is made when he or she has problems to solve. When a student has a problem and the trainer sits down and works them through it, there is real satisfaction.

Many of our students are from Eastern Europe and think they are fluent in English - but during the course they realise they are not, and are often shy and embarrassed about their failing. It's up to the trainer to come to talk about their difficulties.

Trainers have to like people and want to help.

A lot of people have, in one way or another, been failed by schools.

They haven't learned the basic skills. By giving people these skills, we not only allow them to get better jobs but also give them the confidence to have a new attitude to life.

I am not saying we are miracle workers, but sometimes the results are dramatic.

It's great when a student tells a trainer how much the course has changed their life and improved their job prospects. Good teaching always gives a buzz because the feedback is almost immediate.

One student we had recently gave us a lot of satisfaction. Rachael had been a dancer for 13 years and was looking for a new career but had never even touched a computer mouse before she came to us. After her artistic life she found office life hard at first, but she managed to pass our Excel Expert course. She now works as a well-paid PA earning as much as she did as a dancer.

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Read All About It!

Shilpa Wymer, Principal of our High Holborn and Notting Hill training centres is always in the news.

She's recently been featured in the Evening Standard - twice in fact, while she has just been interviewed by a leading business magazine about the secrets of her success.

In her previous career, Shilpa was a popular speaker at international conferences and contributor to industry magazine articles, so we knew it wouldn't take her long to make her mark at Pitman Training!

Shilpa intends for this web site to become a valuable source of information for office-based staff and has asked us to continue to build our links pages as a valuable resource for secretaries, administrators and bookkeepers, as well as IT staff.

Keep your eye on our links pages as well calling us from time to time for the latest news on the jobs market.

You can reach us at
020 7025 4700
for High Holborn,
020 7792 5214
for Notting Hill,
for Paddington
or contact us by email.