Pitman Training Group, the UK’s leading franchised training provider has launched an ‘owned centre’ in the city of Leeds to use as a test base to trial new business ideas, operations and developments, and in turn maximise the success and business growth of the existing franchise network, by making more informed decision for the business.

Officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, on Thursday, 16^th April, Pitman Training Leeds, based at Number 1 City Square, resides in a prime central location opposite the city railway station and offers over 200 vocational courses in numerous areas of industry. 

Claire Lister, Managing Director at Pitman Training Group said: “The centre will be a great base for A/B testing everything from new course material to marketing initiatives, and enable us, as the franchisor to gain a clearer vision of the day to day life of a Pitman Training Franchise partner, and the operations at ground level. With this deeper insight, PTG will be better placed to implement effective business strategies to further enhance the growth of the business across the network. This is an initiative which is being highly supported by our existing network of franchise partners.”

With the advantage of Yorkshire being highlighted as one of the UK’s next pilot sharing economy hubs, along with the focus on business growth in the midst of initiatives such as Le Tour and pitching Leeds as the Capital of Culture, the owned centre has been launched at an opportune time to facilitate and spur economic growth for local businesses, and provide skills for employment across the Leeds and West Yorkshire County.

Claire continued; “As a Yorkshire Lass, this centre is very close to my heart, and we are extremely excited about the launch of the new training centre in Leeds, not only as an owned centre, but also because Leeds is a thriving commercial centre and an ideal location for a Pitman Training centre - it has a flourishing business landscape, which is really starting to build momentum and becoming recognised on a wider scale. There is a great network of dedicated professionals in all sectors of industry, who are determined and passionate to not only push themselves to the heights of career success, but they also take pride in the success and evolvement of the companies they work for and the city of Leeds as a whole.  Leeds really is an ideal location for a Pitman Training centre, to test out new business ideas and roll-out what works on a wider scale, and go back to the drawing board to continue innovating on what maybe doesn’t work so well.”

“Over the 17 years I have been at Pitman Training, I worked out that we have delivered nearly 1 million training courses, with an impressive 98% successful completion rate for our students. Also, our students in the consumer market achieve nearly 80% positive job outcome, which I think pays testament to our supported learning environment and also the quality of our training materials, and confirms the fact that we do really deliver the aspirations for our students. For me, and the rest of team within pitman it is great for us to actually be involved in something that helps to change people’s lives in such a massive and positive way, and we are passionate about seeking innovative ways for the business to continue evolving and remain profitable for our franchise partners.”

Ceri Harper, Centre Manager at Pitman Training Leeds, said: “Our focus is to assist the city’s professionals with their career progression, and also enhance the skills which they contribute to the success of local businesses, and the commercial triumph of the region as a whole. We are very much looking forward to trialling and integrating new initiatives and business strategies to trial what works at the centre, to enable the Pitman brand to continue innovating.”

Pitman Training have also been announced as a finalist in the ‘bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year Awards 2015’ in the ‘Award for Innovation’ category, which pays testament to its constant strive for innovation, and its passion to remain forward thinking.

Alongside their new owned Centre in Leeds, Pitman Training has so far welcomed new partners from Northampton, Newcastle and the Cayman Islands, to its franchise network this year. There are many exciting franchise opportunities available in several areas throughout the UK, including Chester, Sheffield Leicester as well as opportunities overseas.