A UNIQUE partnership has been formed between a Chipping Sodbury based company and a global franchise headquartered in California.


Professional services trainer Your Impact, based at 3 Brook Street in Chipping Sodbury, specialises in performance training for the IT sector with a client list which includes Microsoft and construction and engineering firm Sir Robert McAlpine.


The company is working with IT training company New Horizons, which has several operations set up around the UK, to provide IT departments in organisations across the country with a broad range of services.


The partnership will see Your Impact provide the soft skills training to complement the technical know-how of New Horizons.


Sue Gilkes, managing director of Your Impact, said: “This new relationship between is the perfect partnership, as both companies can add a completely new stream to their offering which complements perfectly what they already do.


“So for example New Horizons trains a lot of IT apprentices and there is now exciting potential to provide them with customer service, helpdesk and troubleshooting skills – everything else that an IT apprentice would need outside of the technical side of their training.


“It’s a really exciting time for us. We now have a completely new outlet, which is bound to help us raise our turnover. I expect that we will more than double our virtual delivery, which makes up 80 per cent of our sales, so turnover will nearly double too.”


The company’s deal with Your Impact has been struck by Highbury College in Portsmouth, which owns the New Horizons franchise in Portsmouth and Birmingham.


Paul Rolfe, IT director for Highbury College and managing director for the New Horizons UK franchise, said: “Many IT departments let themselves down with their lack of softer skills like customer service and it’s now time for these companies to address these issues.


“IT systems will never work perfectly all the time, but from my experience people are sympathetic to that if you give them great service and if you keep them informed.


"Your Impact has an impressive track record of working with big companies like Microsoft and we are excited to now be able to help offer those same services to smaller businesses.”


The courses will be delivered mainly through online channels, meaning businesses can develop their staff with Your Impact and New Horizons courses in their own offices.