NEW Excellence Academy: Creating lasting value for exporters
27 February 2023
Chamber International’s flagship Excellence Academy is a nationally-accredited international trade qualification with an intense curriculum, that can be achieved in 6 weeks. The Award is providing UK businesses with a unique opportunity to develop their export staff to the very highest level and reap the benefits, both financial and operational, that the programme is designed to uncover.
Recent Academy graduate, warehousing and logistics manager Darren Sinfield, has worked at Aerovac Keighley Ltd for about 35 years. Why would someone already so experienced choose to enrol?
“Britain left the European Union, and so much has changed around imports and exports. I needed to understand the new regulations”, he tells us, standing in his warehouse alongside towering racks full of the materials which Aerovac exports from Keighley to overseas composites manufacturers in the aerospace and wind energy sectors. He had other, more personal, reasons for signing up too: “It’s allowed me to grow in confidence, to understand the terminology when talking with freight forwarders”, says Darren.
Delivered by a team of industry experts and comprising six half-day online workshops and 1:1 coaching, each cohort is limited to ten participants in keeping with the hands-on, bespoke nature of the training. Darren says that the Academy’s dedicated WhatsApp group was a useful touch, as participants shared ideas and questions outside of training hours. “Online training – this is key for me. It allowed me to do the training in my own office without any travelling, and then to sit back, digest it, and put into practice what I’d learnt the same day. There was the additional benefit of a nationally-recognised qualification at the end of it.”
It's not just about his own personal professional development: since graduating, Darren has used what he learned to develop standard operating procedures for his team, and new resources to train future Aerovac employees. “It’s allowed us to save time, money and improve the way we ship imports and exports”, he smiles.
“The Excellence Academy has been developed in partnership with Fidelitas Training in Germany and aims to create an elite community of export professionals, passionate about creating value for their employers” says Tim Bailey, trade director at Chamber International.
Enrolment is now open for the autumn Academy beginning on 6 September 2023.
Visit: www.chamber-international.com for further information.
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