Business Growth Archives - The Progress Group

Business Growth · The Progress Group

Progress People: Rachel Tully, our talented Head of People

Leading the charge as Head of People for The Progress Group is Rachel Tully, a passionate and driven professional who is as dedicated to supporting our colleagues as she is her family. From her full-time role as People lead to completing a level 5 Chartered Institute of Personnel Development apprenticeship, there’s no stopping this modern-day superhero.

Outside of work, Rachel has her twin, 4-year-old boys to keep her on her toes, as well as her two French bulldogs, who she says were “my babies before my babies”. With a jampacked household, Rachel and her wife, Katie, often joke “our house is like Noah’s ark, there’s two of everything”.

When we sat down with Rachel, she discussed how she ended up at The Progress Group, saying “As I’ve gotten older, my career has evolved with my family. I’ve chosen to take roles that have allowed me to balance my life outside of work with my work, which is exactly what The Progress Group allows.”

With a strong background in retail that spans 21 years, Rachel has developed a solid understanding of HR and honed her people skills. Through working a variety of roles, from Checkout Operator to Administrative roles, to People and Operations, she solidified her skills and gained a multitude of experiences that she draws on in her current role. This breadth of knowledge has given Rachel the ability to see a different or unique perspective than most would have, “I think and react to things in a different way, which is great, diversity gives us strength.”

Rachel made the decision to leave retail as she wanted a role that would allow for her to have more time to spend with her family. Her wife, Katie, who worked at Progress Schools at the time, recommended a role within The Progress Group, which aligned with work she had previously done. The role also offered more flexibility and weekends off to spend time with her boys, making it, as Rachel put, “the right fit”.

Currently, Rachel is the Head of People, responsible for developing the People Strategy for the Group and its subsidiaries, she works closely with colleagues to create an environment where we can champion better working lives for all. This means looking after the entire colleague life cycle from attraction to exit, alongside her team, which includes recruitment, payroll, assets, and more. She also ensures that we have policies and processes in place that support our colleague to be able to do their best work.

Rachel really champions the work she does for the Group and discussed how she feels supported by her manager and colleagues, a must for her optimal working environment. Rachel gushed about those around her, saying “our colleagues are sensational, they work hard to ensure that our customers, students, and learners get the best possible service and experience from us daily, in what can be challenging circumstances, and they are all really nice people too, which helps”.

A big advocate for working at The Progress Group, Rachel says she “would and I have” recommended roles to others. She describes the work as “so rewarding”, even though originally this wasn’t a motivating factor for why she applied for the role. However, since working at The Progress Group, she says this is an added bonus to the role, saying, “it is really inspiring what our collective achieves”. And being the Head of People, she had to discuss our colleagues, stating “because of the people who work here” as her main reason for recommending the business to others, describing them as hardworking and genuine.

One for living in the moment, Rachel said she’s “never had a 5-year plan”, but her goals for the next year are to complete her level 5 apprenticeship. Afterwards, she wants to use the skills and knowledge gained to make The Progress Group an even better place to work for everyone. Her motto from day one has always been, “do a great day’s work today” and she lives by this, evident from the admiration of her colleagues and recognition received from external awarding bodies who recently awarded her with The Sue Thompson Level 5 CIPD Award.

When we quizzed her on how she felt when she found out that she had swooped the award, she said:

“I was astonished when I heard that I had been nominated for the award, I was and still am genuinely honoured that time was taken to consider me. When I won, I was elated! It’s a testament to everyone around me that’s enabled me to do great work; from my family who support me unconditionally, to my colleagues, who make it a great place to be, to my line manager, who understands what I need and supports me to be my best, but also to me, who works full time, who has a wife, 2 little boys and 2 dogs to keep me busy outside of work. I work hard to balance all of that, and the award just cements that I’m doing an OK job of it.”

And what’s next for this talented individual? Well, she’s already set her sights on going on to complete her Level 7 CIPD in Strategic People Management at some point in the future. Rachel is an asset to The Progress Group, a true leader who optimises our values in abundance, and we are so proud that she has received the recognition she truly deserves.

The Progress Group welcomes new Financial Controller

Business Growth · The Progress Group

The Progress Group generates over thirty-eight million pounds of social value

Leading education and training specialists, The Progress Group, are on a mission to change lives through the power of education and training. Underpinning this mission is understanding the value of the outcomes and impacts they have, and the extent to which they have transformed lives.

For the past three years The Progress Group have commissioned the services of The Connectives, to independently audit and analyse the interventions and outcomes of the organisation’s combined activities and quantifying these using the Social Return on Investment methodology. This gives an independent evaluation into each of the Group’s businesses and how they are achieving their purpose.

The results are nothing short of incredible.

Between April 2021 – March 2022, The Progress Group generated £38,102,368 of social value across all business units. They saved the public purse over £16,052,932 via their support helping to prevent young people from becoming NEET, getting individuals back into work and working with offenders to help rehabilitate them via their prison education programme to name just a few. Perhaps the most incredible value is the £4.09 of social value generated for every £1 spent across the organisation, meaning that for every £1 invested in one of their services, The Progress Group are collectively producing £4.09 in value.

The Progress Group CEO, Jayne Worthington said:

“We have always known that we make a significant difference to people’s lives through each of our education and training businesses, but each year when we received our social accounts, I was blown away. Not only are we transforming the lives of the people we work with, but we are also supporting communities and generating significant savings for the public purse.

“I am passionate about our purpose; it’s why we exist and ingrained in our DNA. But seeing incredible impacts like these in black and white is totally game changing. It reminds me of the importance of what we do, from supporting some of the most vulnerable young people who simply cannot thrive in mainstream schooling at Progress Schools, to supporting businesses to recruit, train and retain their best talent; each of our businesses play a vital role in servicing their respective sectors and for that, I am immensely proud.”

The Progress Group is made up of five businesses who work across multiple sectors to support those aged 11+. From impartial careers education, information, advice, and guidance via Progress Careers, to supporting those who are out of work or on a reduced income to get a job or climb the career ladder via Complete Skills Solutions, The Progress Group offer a comprehensive education and training offer to tens of thousands of individuals and thousands of businesses each year. In recent years, they have acquired multi-award-winning eLearning training provider Grey Matter Learning and more recently specialist training provider for education and children’s services AC Education who are leading the way in delivering high-quality, agile, and accessible training solutions for the social care and education sectors.

To read the full social impact report, click here.

Business Growth · The Progress Group

The Progress Group swoops second acquisition of the year

Award-winning education and training provider, The Progress Group, are ending the year on a high, announcing their second acquisition within seven months.

The acquisition of MyWorkMode, an innovative digital marketplace that connects care providers with qualified care workers in their area, will further strengthen the Group’s scaling digital division.

The deal comes two years after The Progress Group acquired market-leading eLearning training provider, Grey Matter Learning, and just seven months after they added AC Education to their growing portfolio. This latest acquisition is a further step towards vastly enhancing the market offer for the social care sector.

Chief executive of The Progress Group, Jayne Worthington said:

“The addition of MyWorkMode to our digital division comes at a time when we know there is a crisis within the care sector. With scaling costs, a lack of available workers and an aging population, the care sector is under immense pressure. MyWorkMode offers an affordable, accessible, and reliable solution for care providers seeking to source care professionals at short notice, without significant overhead costs.

“With a tried and tested model that instantaneously allows a prospective care provider to find a care worker with the skills and qualifications they need, MyWorkMode can save the care provider up to 30% on fees compared to other recruitment methods. And what’s more, the care worker then often receives a higher rate of pay because the provider can afford to offer this, driving the levels of quality and competitiveness in the market.”

Founder and Operations Director for MyWorkMode, Tatjana Golubovic added: “After growing MyWorkMode through mostly organic activity for the past few years, I am excited to see what the next chapter holds as we join The Progress Group and invest in our platform, systems, and brand recognition.

“Having been in the healthcare sector since 2000, I have first-hand experience of the challenges facing those operating and working within the sector. There are days when providers simply do not have adequate numbers of colleagues available to meet their demands, and that’s why I created MyWorkMode. I wanted to give the sector an intuitive and accessible solution to their staffing challenges, at an affordable cost to the provider.

“We operate in a fair and transparent way and are truly committed to helping to resolve a problem faced by tens of thousands of providers each and every day. I think our company ethos is perfectly harmonised with that of The Progress Group, who pride themselves on changing lives through the power of education and training. I am delighted to be joining forces with them to accelerate the next stage of our evolution and cannot wait to see what the coming months and years brings.”

Awards · Business Growth · The Progress Group

The Progress Group Secure £200k Innovation Funding to Develop EdTech AI Platform

National education and training specialists, The Progress Group, have successfully secured £200k investment from InnovateUK to develop pioneering digital technology that will use artificial intelligence (AI) to shape a student’s learning and development in alternative provision.

Working with Edge Hill University, Progress Schools, a subsidiary of The Progress Group will build on research and edtech already in development, moving to a new phase of innovation that will create individualised learning for students unlike anything yet created for the sector.

Progress Schools is a nationally based organisation operating 13 independent secondary schools across England, from Tees Valley to High Wycombe. They provide supportive and inspirational teaching to 13-16 year olds at Key Stages 3 and 4 which is appropriate to their individual needs, with the aim of helping to ensure a positive progression post 16 or reintegration back into mainstream education. The organisation specialises in offering alternative provision to students, many of whom have been diagnosed SEND/SEMH (or are awaiting diagnosis), and/or have been excluded from at least one mainstream school.

The Progress Group entered the Innovation Sprint Programme with Edge Hill in November 2021 as part of the ERDF funded LCR High Growth Programme, with the aim of designing and building a commercialisation strategy for Progress Schools, which encompassed an increase in the number of physical schools as well as an introduction of a Virtual Learning Environment for students. This sprint programme was as a direct result of the increased demand for alternative education provision following the Covid-19 pandemic which saw.

a surge in demand for specialist services where the individual needs of students are increasingly complex. Progress Schools are hoping to harness new technologies to not just cope with demand but improve the student experience and ambition.

Desktop research conducted while working with Edge Hill found an increase of 12% in the number of young people being home schooled following the pandemic. Market analysis has also shown a high number of fixed and permanent exclusions, especially in the Northwest and Northeast of England. The Northeast for example had a Permanent Exclusion Rate of 0.08 of all students on roll, and a suspension rate of 6.97. Further data shows that there were 473,300 children and young people with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans as of January 2022, an increase of 10% from January 2021.

As part of their partnership work with Edge Hill, The Progress Group developed a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for Progress Schools, enabling them to meet the demands of the sector whilst raising aspirations of young people. The VLE uses data from BKSB and Britannia, along with speech recognition and SSO technology to offer students an immersive and engaging virtual learning solution. Now in the second phase of development thanks to the Knowledge Transfer Partnership funding, the product will use artificial intelligence to help shape personalised learning and delivery, giving the business the opportunity to scale and provide a greater educational experience for students.

Transformation and Innovation Director of The Progress Group, Sumita Chopra, said of the investment.

“Our students are diverse in their needs and learning styles, and a native digital generation. Therefore, we need to use technology to create innovative education solutions that will appeal to generation alpha and enable those young people to build ambition and achieve their potential.

“Artificial intelligence can help us to advance our technical capabilities much faster, and we are excited for the next phase of development for our virtual learning environment.

“Already we’ve been able to improve the quality of education provided to our students by connecting them with subject experts digitally. Our new technology will allow us to advance and personalise their learning experience, inevitably supporting them to be more engaged with their education and take charge of their future.”

Through digitising their offering Progress Schools will be able to work with students beyond the physical classroom, to support those being home-schooled and even in time, those in the likes of youth offending settings.

Awards · Business Growth · The Progress Group

The Progress Group’s Transformation and Innovation Director Crowned “Most Innovative Leader 2023 – UK (Education & Training)”

The Progress Group, an award winning national provider of education and training are celebrating a further success in EdTech having learned that their Transformation and Innovation Director, Sumita Chopra, has been announced as the Most Innovative Leader 2023 in UK Education and Training as part of the Most Innovative Leader Awards.

The Most Innovative Leader Awards 2023 have been launched by Innovation in Business to shine a spotlight on individuals who are pushing the boundaries, surpassing expectations and thinking beyond the status quo across their respective fields.

Responding to the changing educational needs of students through the COVID 19 pandemic and beyond, Sumita Chopra has led the organisation’s edtech innovation, with a particular focus on specialist Alternative Provision provider, Progress Schools. Here she has led on the creation and implementation of a digital platform that is enhancing the educational experience of some of the most vulnerable young people in society.

The Progress Group entered the Innovation Sprint Programme with Edge Hill University in 2021 with a focus to meet the increasing demand within alternative education provision through exploring digitisation.

Research at the time reported there to be 473,300 children and young people with Education, Health & Care (EHC) plans in January 2022, a 10% increase from January 2021, and market insight showed a high number of fixed and permanent exclusions, especially in Northwest and Northeast England. The Northeast for example had a Permanent Exclusion Rate of 0.8% of all students, and a suspension rate of 6.97%. Due to the increased complexities of the young people being referred to Progress Schools, it was felt that a more agile and immersive virtual learning platform was required, in order to best meet the needs of generation Alpha.

Sumita said “The integrated technology platform that we have developed, enabled Progress Schools to enrol and educate “non-attender” learners, who for various reasons cannot attend a physical school site. It also facilitates more specialised subject learning, delivered by subject specialists, something that we have not been able to achieve previously due to the volume of learners being much lower than mainstream settings.

“The innovative platform uses multi-disciplinary software ecosystems. We have carefully selected educational technology & resources to provide an immersive and engaging journey for learners. The school structure, timetable, and discipline are seamlessly applied as per DfE guidelines both in a virtual and hybrid environment. This is underpinned by a sound pedagogical learner centric approach, which ensures high standards of education delivery and subject specialisation.

“The new service idea and focus was skilfully nurtured and tactfully challenged by the ‘Innovation Sprint programme’ with market insight data, operational probability and financial robustness resulting in a sound business case for additional growth investment from the Progress Schools board with a viable Target Operating Model (TOM).”

Following the successful partnership with Edge Hill to develop phase one of the programme, Progress Schools have now secured £200k of funding from InnovateUK to develop a new student assessment tool which utilises Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide individualised learning journey’s for each student.

Sumita continued “

It is heartening that, off the back of this hard work and the brilliant innovation developed by our team, we have received such recognition by Innovation in Business.

“It is truly an honour to be awarded Most Innovative Leader 2023 – UK (Education & Training). Across The Progress Group, we are passionate about supporting the aspirations of our learners, and we will continue to explore new and innovative ways to achieve that.”

Business Growth · The Progress Group

The Progress Group acquires leading e-learning provider AC Education to bolster their digital learning division

Award-winning education and training business, The Progress Group, has today announced their acquisition of AC Education, a leading provider of eLearning for children’s services and the education sector.

The acquisition, which comes just two years after the acquisition of award-winning eLearning provider Grey Matter Learning, will be a significant enhancement to the company’s digital learning provision which already supports over 66,500 individuals every year.

AC Education offers a suite of over 150 specialist courses for the children’s services and education sectors. Since being founded in 2007, the company has had year-on-year growth, and this acquisition by The Progress Group will be a catalyst for significant growth over the next 3 years.

Jayne Worthington, The Progress Group CEO said;

“This strategic acquisition will significantly strengthen and enhance our eLearning offer, facilitating our expansion into new markets whilst also enabling us to increase our offer to our existing customers. The labour market demand for online learning, particularly in the education industry, has continued to rise significantly with research reporting a 900% growth rate globally since the year 2000. Therefore, it is vital that businesses such as ours invest in capabilities in this area in order to best serve the sectors in which we work.

“AC Education compliments our Group-wide purpose of changing lives through the power of education and training, and their team embodies our values perfectly. We are delighted to welcome them, their expertise, and their passion to our Group.”

The addition of their staff base will bring the total number of individuals employed across The Progress Group and its subsidiaries to circa 175.

Managing Director of AC Education, Rachel Houlden said;

“This acquisition marks an exciting new chapter for AC Education, enabling us to significantly expand our geographical footprint whilst enhancing our offer for our existing customers.

“There is a natural synergy between AC Education and Grey Matter Learning and, by working closely together, we will be able to share technological developments to provide an immersive, fully accessible eLearning solution, whilst also being able to significantly increase the training solution available to our existing providers and local authorities.”

The acquisition comes at a time when The Progress Group are already heavily investing in their online learning provision within Progress Schools through their partnership work with Edge Hill’s SME Productivity & Innovation Centre (PIC). Having recently secured £200k of funding from Innovate UK to develop and embed Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities within their alternative education provision, The Progress Group are committed to delivering cutting-edge eLearning solutions for individuals.

Business Growth · Employee appointment · The Progress Group

Progress People: Jasmine Mulligan

In 2022, The Progress Group welcomed a new shining star into its ranks, Jasmine Mulligan. Jasmine joined the organisation as Curriculum Manager, a role that saw her lead curriculum development across The Progress Group.

Before joining The Progress Group, Jasmine spent 10 years working in mainstream education. After completing her English Literature degree, she began working with charitable organisations that supported young people with their English skills through creative writing. Her work with those organisations paved the way for her career in teaching. “Before starting with TPG, I was working as Head of English and Professional Tutor – which meant I was looking after the training of teachers, new starters, and early career teachers (ECTs) in my school. During this time, I developed a deep interest in pedagogy, designed to support the most vulnerable learners,” Jasmine said.

In such a short space of time, Jasmine has had a huge impact across the Group. Her previous experience, thirst to develop, and ambitious mindset have been recognised by senior colleagues, including The Progress Group CEO, Jayne Worthington. Jasmine expressed that she always had an interest in Alternative Provision as a sector and admitted this element attracted her to TPG. She said: “I was teaching in a school where the number of students with SEND needs was extremely high, and the pupil premium proportion was even higher.

“Several of my students had moved onto Alternative Provisions and I had working relationships with the staff in those provisions – I was really interested in the sector.

“The idea of working across a whole organisation and the ability to support vulnerable young people all over the country was a real appeal for me.”

For Jasmine, the most exciting part of the role at TPG was the chance to develop an online learning platform designed to bring education to those who otherwise would not have access. Coming into the organisation, Jasmine was keen to immerse herself in the ‘business aspect’ of the Group. She was confident that her wealth of experience in teaching would be a truly valuable addition to the team makeup. Given her previous experience, it’s no surprise that Jasmine understands the importance of education and training. She said: “For me, education offers all children the chance to see that they have choices in their life, beyond those they may have been previously exposed to.

“I am a passionate believer in teaching young people to advocate for themselves and others around them so they enter the world with an understanding of the service they can provide to those they interact with.

“I hope that every student we work with realises their worth and talents and finds a way to channel that into our society.”

When asked how she would sum up her time at The Progress Group so far, Jasmine said: “The Progress Group is a place full of energy and so far, every day has been an adventure.”

Reflecting on her role so far, Jasmine admitted that her favourite part of the job was interacting with staff and students.

“The young people I have met have been full of energy, talent, and humour, and I feel very blessed to have been welcomed into classrooms by so many of them in such a short space of time.

“A real passion of mine is working collaboratively with others to discuss learning and teaching practices and understand how we can improve them. My role has allowed me to explore and learn more about teaching than I could have ever imagined. I have had some really passionate values and research-driven conversations with colleagues across the organisation.”

Jasmine wants to see her role evolve in the coming months and years.

“My ambition for the future is that I can work with staff to build their confidence in, and hunger for, teaching and learning creatively in a way that continually improves education. I’m a great believer in the organisational power of ‘lifting-up’ staff so they can be their best selves. So, I hope to be a part of that in some way – however big or small!” Jasmine said.

Business Growth · Employee appointment · The Progress Group

The Progress Group Announce Two Senior Appointments to Accelerate Business Growth

Liverpool-headquartered training and education specialists, The Progress Group, have announced two senior appointments to accelerate business growth.

The Progress Group comprises six subsidiaries, each serving different industries and demographics. Collectively the Group supports individuals aged 11 to 65 to access high-quality training and education.

Among the six subsidiaries are Progress Schools and Progress Careers which work within the 11 – 16 age bracket.

Progress Schools is a national alternative education provider with 14 independent secondary schools throughout England. Progress Careers operates a national Careers Education, Information, Advice, and Guidance (CEIAG) service to schools and educational institutions.

Earlier this week, the Group announced the appointment of Charlotte Barton as Managing Director of Progress Schools and Paula Thompson as Managing Director of Progress Careers.

Both Charlotte and Paula previously held the role of ‘Interim Managing Director’ before the announcement. Each comes with a wealth of experience in their respective areas and is well-equipped to support the Group’s impressive expansion plans and ensure high quality service.

The strategic move comes as the Group begin to double down on its ambitious growth plans. Due to demand, the plans see Progress Schools grow its national footprint in the sector and open several new alternative provision schools. Significant investment has been made to ensure the success of the plans.

Group CEO, Jayne Worthington, explained how training and education are integral to the UK economy. She said: “The current climate has highlighted the vital role training and education play in our society’s social and economic stability. Skills development, an agile behaviour set and critical thinking underpins the country’s economy and is a determining factor for the UK’s workforce resilience.

“As a group of training and education specialists, we are wholeheartedly committed to providing our learners with opportunities that enhance their life trajectories and ultimately enable them to make their own life choices.”

Charlotte and Paula’s appointments come during a pivotal transitional period for the Group as they begin to explore new markets and make moves to become a household name in the training and education sector.

Jayne said: “We have huge plans at the Group, but at the forefront of those plans is our people. Our colleagues are the driving force behind our success, and I am confident that Charlotte and Paula will excel in their roles and support us in levelling-up our services to those who need them most.”

Charlotte and Paula’s appointments now bring the Group’s total of women in senior leadership positions to five.

Notes to editors:

The Progress Group comprises six subsidiaries operating across the UK, including Complete Skills Solutions, Complete Training Solutions, Progress Schools, Progress Careers, Grey Matter Learning, and Prepare to Achieve. Each business serves a different industry and demographic and supports individuals aged 11 to 65 to access high-quality training and education.