Our History
GEL was created by our Chairman, Kevin Holt back in 2001.
Initially delivering an open-programme of short-courses, it soon became clear that learners and employers valued qualifications. This led to the early development of our professional managers’ programme with a range of ILM qualifications from level 2 to level 5.
But Gloucestershire needed more, it needed a wider talent management pathway and in 2007, GEL introduced 1-year degree pathway in partnership with Edinburgh Napier who flew their tutors to GEL to deliver monthly training sessions. Over 150 leaders and managers succeeded in achieving a BA in Business & Enterprise and many progressed onto the MSc in Entrepreneurial Leadership.
In 2017, the government reformed apprenticeships and implemented the new apprenticeship levy and standards that applied to learners of all ages and from level 2 to level 7 putting control back into the hands of employers. GEL seized this opportunity and is approved to deliver these modern apprenticeships and is listed on APAR (UKPRN 10001041).
Fast-forward to 2024 and GEL have developed over 400 leaders and managers via the apprenticeship route and have added new apprenticeship standards available to organisations.
Today, GEL continues to widen qualifications available to reflect demand and needs of the modern manager and now offers more choice and delivery mechanisms than simply in-person training.
Supporting learners to achieve their full potential is within our DNA. We celebrate their success and are proud to be part of their career progression.
Our Vision
Our vision is simple: we want our services to be accessible by businesses of all sizes, types and sectors, and appropriate to their needs. This includes widening our delivery mechanism, extending our range of skills development and watching our pricing points.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide high quality, accessible and affordable training to support individuals and organisations to perform well in their current and future roles. We specialise in business, leadership and management skills and offer a wide range of delivery solutions and styles to suit our customers’ preferences.
Our Values
Our values are key. We take great pride in the way we conduct ourselves with our customers, suppliers, external stakeholders and each other. We are helpful and take a ‘can do and will do’ approach at all times. We are reliable, doing what we say we will do and do it well. We are professional, people-centric and ensure we make the right call, even when that is not necessarily the best call for GEL.
Future Plans
Continuous improvement is key and employee/learner wellbeing at the heart of our delivery, and we pride ourselves in having well-trained colleagues to support our learners at all stages of their career.
Our delegates are adults (over 19-years old) yet we all move in and out of vulnerabilities throughout our career. Jobs are no longer cradle to the grave and that means up-skilling and lifelong learning is relevant to everyone. We adapt our delivery to suit all learning styles and adapt to neurodiversity needs making reasonable adjustments permitted by our awarding bodies.