Joanne Roche and Beverley Platt met while lecturing in travel and tourism and agreed there was a gap in the market for quality training. Eleven years later they have filled that niche, creating 64 rewarding jobs in the process. Training For Travel, based in Bury, Lancashire, provides specialist courses for people working in the travel industry, and also excels at training its own staff. It has a top 20 score for a variety of questions on Personal Growth, with an 82% positive result. Employees say their jobs are never boring (82%) and that training is a great personal benefit (79%). External courses and qualifications are funded by the organisation and staff agree their jobs are good for personal development (86%) and there are no limits to how much they can learn (79%). The two founders own 70% of the firm, and a venture capital company owns the rest. Most of its income comes from government funding. People are happy with their pay and benefits (76%). Training staff are paid a typical salary of almost £23,000 a year, and everyone has the option to buy private healthcare at reduced rates. All staff qualify for childcare vouchers and can opt to take extra holidays, and most have a car allowance. The working week is 35 hours and people can work from home. Most employees haven't suffered work-related stress in the past year (82%). Staff feel a strong sense of family in their teams (84%) and get a real buzz from the job (79%). They believe that senior managers truly live the firm's values (85%) and that the future is exciting (89%). They also believe that Training For Travel makes a positive difference to the world (70%). Managers are supportive and share information with staff (83%), while there is a policy of looking to promote internally and this includes offering opportunities to women on maternity leave. Staff love working at the firm (86%) and are proud to do so (89%).
