Organisation development and training company, Smart Development, which puts around 2,000 people across the UK through targeted training programmes each year, has expanded its operations at the Langstone Business Village in Newport.
Smart Development, the training division of leading recruitment specialists Smart Solutions, was previously based at the company’s headquarters in Raleigh House, but has now taken a lease on the adjacent Livingstone House to cater for its growing team of 19 staff.
The expansion into the 6,100 sq ft, two story space is part of a long-term growth plan that has seen Smart Development triple its work force over the last year, and increase its turnover to around £2m this year.
The new premise was officially opened by the Secretary of State for Wales, David Jones MP, who made a special trip to visit Smart ahead of the announcement of the 2013 Fast Growth 50 list on Friday (4 October).
Smart Solutions, the parent company of Smart Development, has appeared on the Fast Growth 50 for four years, and has been highlighted as an example of a business which has made an important contribution to the Welsh economy.
Mr Jones said: “I have been tremendously impressed with the growth Smart Solutions has shown so far.
“It’s a tribute to Nathan Bowles and the other directors that they have shown so much commitment to the business, in such difficult economic times.
“It just goes to prove that, with the right attitude, companies can achieve great success in Wales.”
Jon Hayward, managing director at Smart Development, said: “We were honoured that the Secretary of State for Wales was able to take time out from his busy schedule to officially open our brand new office.
“Smart Development has come a long way since it was formed in 2011. We more than doubled our turnover between 2011 and 2012, and expect to triple this again by the end of 2013. More than 2,000 people now pass through our training academies every year and we are working with some of the biggest names in the business across the UK and Europe.
“We have had to grow our workforce significantly to cater for the increased demand for our targeted training services, and decided that the time is right to expand into new premises that will give us more room for growth, and improve our training and development offering even further.”
Smart Development provides highly personalised training solutions to organisations and candidates across a range of sectors, and works with clients such as Biffa, Lloyds TSB and Go Compare to realise their training requirements.
It has recently launched a two week pre-employment training programme that incorporates business-specific training, together with general skill development, to help bring candidates up to the levels required by a majority of employers.
Nathan Bowles, chief executive of Smart Solutions, said: “We launched Smart Development after acquiring Midas People Management in 2011, recognising a lack of certain basic skills in many applicants, and a need for businesses to recruit ‘job ready’ staff.
“Since then it has gone from strength-to-strength, and the fact that we have now had to expand demonstrates the real need throughout the business community in Wales for targeted training services.
“We are now looking forward to developing our training portfolio even further over the next year.”
The Fast Growth 50 awards were created by Professor Dylan Jones-Evans in 1999. Since they began, 470 firms have featured on the fifteen Fast Growth 50 lists, creating over 25,000 jobs and generating £14 billion of turnover for the Welsh economy every year.
Professor Jones-Evans said: “Over the last fifteen years, the Fast Growth 50 project has championed the cause of Welsh firms by profiling those that have expanded their businesses successfully and have been tested in the most important crucible of all, the marketplace.”