Case study
Supporting long-term growth for Now Training
Now Training needed systems that could support a growing, complex training business. AlphaFirst helped them move from manual processes to a structured system that improved efficiency, reduced admin and supported long-term growth.
Now Training
- Pioneers in managed training services
- Serve organisations with 500–10,000 employees
- Work with thousands of training providers
- ISO 9001 accredited
- Based in Hertfordshire, UK
AlphaFirst involvement
- Worked with Now Training since 2003
- IT support and infrastructure
- Development of Now-BRAINS system
- Ongoing software and support partnership
“I was most impressed that Jeremy understood business as well as IT.”
Tony Meyer, Managing Director, Now Training
Background
Now Training was created in 1997 when Tony Meyer identified the problem that large companies were facing in sourcing and organising high-quality training for their staff.
“It was very difficult and time-consuming to find training providers – and then figure out if they were any good.”
The business set out to provide a better way to source and manage training.
The problem
“We were handling data from thousands of training providers through an Access database.
“Although we were doing a good job we had to be extremely accurate. Taking new people on was next to impossible because of the complexity of the operation.
“For some reason I’d never found an IT provider that fitted with us.”
Why AlphaFirst
“I heard that AlphaFirst had pulled out all the stops with their level of support, and that sounded just like what we needed for our IT.
“They don’t like letting anyone down and clearly really care about our business.”
What changed
AlphaFirst helped Now Training move from manual processes and limited tools to a more structured system that could handle scale and complexity.
The Now-BRAINS system became central to the business, supporting the full lifecycle from enquiry through to booking, invoicing and evaluation.
“Had we continued on with our previous processes we would have doubled our admin overhead, so this is a significant saving.”
Approach
“Despite it being 15 years old, the functionality underpinning Now-BRAINS is still as useful and as relevant as it ever was.
“Sometimes the 80/20 rule applies and it’s good to work with a pragmatic partner who’s not afraid to say when things are not worth doing.”
Impact
The system improved efficiency, reduced admin overhead and enabled Now Training to grow without needing to double their operational team.
It also created new commercial opportunities through licensing the platform to other organisations.
Recommendation
“I’m not going anywhere else and I am very happy to recommend AlphaFirst’s bespoke software solutions and IT support capability.”
Tony Meyer, Now Training
What AlphaFirst say
“It has been a privilege to work with Tony over many years and support the growth of Now Training.
“We look forward to continuing that relationship into the future.”