News: Skills Bank fuels business growth for Leighton Vans

South Yorkshire Skills Bank continues to support business development across the region, with the recent approval of funding for Rotherham-based Leighton Vans, the UK’s premier retailer of bespoke VW sports vans.

This funding was earmarked for a comprehensive sales training programme, sourced by Leighton Vans, aimed at enhancing the sales team’s performance and driving revenue growth.

From their headquarters at Templeborough, Leighton Vans is renowned for its craftsmanship in converting standard VW transporter vehicles into unique Leighton-branded vans, complete with exclusive external styling packs, wheels, and internal conversions.

The company prides itself on designing and manufacturing elements that set their conversions apart from any other in the market. With a global reach, including a recent business expansion in Australia, Leighton Vans has positioned itself as a leader in the niche market of high-quality, customised sports vans.

In a strategic move to further leverage their market position, Leighton Vans chose to invest in the development of their sales team. The company has collaborated with Kennedy Ross, a specialist training provider, to deliver a tailored sales training programme. This initiative was designed to equip the sales force with proven methods and bespoke sales strategies, ultimately aiming to elevate sales performance and increase revenue.

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Leighton Vans offers not only the sale of fully converted vehicles but also provides a range of services, including the sale of individual parts through their website. Their trade business extends to serving camper converters globally, enhancing their vehicles with unique Leighton styling. Additionally, the company operates Leighton Drive, a sister business offering both long-term and flexible rentals of their vehicles. The used stock from Leighton Drive becomes an additional stream of inventory for Leighton Vans.

Robert Pick, Finance Director at Leighton Vans, stated: “We identified a key opportunity to boost sales by investing in the training and development of our sales team. Due to the way the business has grown, this is the first time we’ve had the chance to scrutinise our sales process comprehensively, and it’s evident that working with a leading sales training company to align our team’s experience, styles, and attitude will drive a more cohesive and successful sales strategy.”

The funding provided by South Yorkshire Skills Bank underscores the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority’s commitment to fostering business growth in the region. Skills Bank supports businesses like Leighton Vans to invest in essential training programmes that contribute to the overall economic development of South Yorkshire.

Leighton Vans website
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News: Huthwaite highlights heroes of business

Huthwaite International, the market leading behaviour change consultancy based in Rotherham, has found that sales skills are overlooked and undervalued in all industries except retail.

Based at Wentworth and specialising in consulting and training on all aspects of sales, the company works with major blue chip companies across the world including Rezidor, Dell, Motorola, UPS and Zurich Insurance.

The company was founded in 1974 by Neil Rackham and researchers Linda Marsh and Simon Bailey, who set out to discover what verbal behaviours were most commonly used by people to achieve the greatest degree of success when selling and negotiating, compared with those who were only average performers.

A recent study by YouGov with Huthwaite International sought to find out what decision makers from a range of sectors thought of their departments and which departments were considered "the heroes" of the business.

While sales came out top for those in retail on 34%, across all industries surveyed sales slipped to third place (24%), behind research and development on 32% and production and manufacturing on 26%.

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Tony Hughes, CEO at Huthwaite International (pictured), said: "Businesses operating in the retail sector understand that sales are crucial, but other industries still don't seem to give credit where credit is due. Possibly they believe that services and products just sell themselves, which is certainly not the case.

"Skilled salespeople build value for the product or service they sell, working with customers to understand their needs and how these needs can best be served. It's not a one-size-fits-all approach, but a tailored and consultative effort that is essential to success in all industries."

At the other end of the scale, procurement and HR came joint last, each being named as heroes of businesses by only 9% of respondents.

Hughes added: "Procurement continues to suffer from a serious reputation problem when it comes to how it's viewed by the rest of the business. Research we conducted in 2013 showed that procurement's image within the business is negative overall and it seems not much has improved over the last few years.

"Sales can make their own lives easier – and also help to make procurement look good to their colleagues – by ensuring that they clearly articulate the customer benefits of what they are selling and ensure at least some of these benefits are expressed in terms that enhance the value to procurement.

"Also, by involving procurement earlier in the process, salespeople can help them communicate the value of what is being sold to the wider business. The closer salespeople can get to the procurement department the better, both for salespeople to do their job and for procurement to improve their image in the business."

Huthwaite International currently delivers sales and negotiation skills training across all six continents and in 35 languages. It trains some 14,000 people each year. The company reported a turnover of £8m for 2015 and 75% of sales are from overseas.

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News: Darren's journey from Rotherham salesman to MD at Perrys

Perrys Motor Sales has announced the appointment of Darren Ardron as managing director, 25 years after he began working in the sales department at the Rotherham showroom.

The Northampton based business, which has 46 franchised dealerships nationwide, employs 1,500 people with an annual turnover close to £500m. Perrys is the largest independent Peugeot dealer in the country and have one of the largest network of Vauxhall dealers.

Ardron is an internal appointment and his association with Perrys began at Rotherham in 1987, and he has since held numerous senior positions within the group including general manager at a number of key dealerships, culminating in his appointment as regional director North in 2013.

The company said that Ardron's remit will include the continued development of the business through organic growth and acquisitions. A keen focus will also be to maintain and "nurture Perrys' reputation for excellent customer care."

Darren Ardron, managing director at Perrys Motor Sales (pictured), said: "I'm delighted to have been given this challenge and I look forward to helping develop the Perrys business in the future. Perrys is a brand I am proud to have worked for 25 years.

"Its ongoing success can be accredited to its commitment to the core values of customer care, quality vehicles and staff retention that combine to make it a competitive, successful and progressive business."

A former pupil at Oakwood Comprehensive, Darren trained as an apprentice technician and worked for British Steel before he joined Perrys as a sales executive in 1987. After two years, at the age of 21, he became the youngest ever sales manager in the company.

Current managing director Ray Sommerville, who has chosen to retire on June 30, has moved into the chief executive role alongside chairman Ken Savage.

Ken Savage, chairman at Perrys Motor Sales, said: "Darren has been a great asset to the company over many years and I am confident he will build on the work Ray has put in over the last 14 years.

"His grassroots understanding of the business means he is ideally placed to identify the business’s strength, taking it into a new chapter of growth."

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News: Huthwaite research is up for negotiation

Rotherham's Huthwaite International is continuing to develop its renowned innovative behavioural approach to sales and negotiation skills in its 40th anniversary year.


The market leading behaviour change consultancy is based at Wentworth and specialises in consulting and training on all aspects of sales. It works with major blue chip companies across the world including Rezidor, Dell, Motorola, UPS and Zurich Insurance. One client, IBM, has been on Huthwaite's books continuously for 34 years, and many others are not far behind.

The company was founded in 1974 by Neil Rackham and researchers Linda Marsh and Simon Bailey, who set out to discover what verbal behaviours were most commonly used by people to achieve the greatest degree of success when selling and negotiating, compared with those who were only average performers.

The firm's latest survey has identified that even if you think you're not a negotiator in business, you probably are.

In fact, 36 per cent of business people who took part in a skills survey didn't have traditional negotiation roles, such as sales or buying, but were found to carry out large, complex negotiations on a regular basis. In addition, 67% of respondents said they got involved on a regular basis with internal negotiations with colleagues.

Huthwaite International revealed these early findings from an international survey that has already attracted over 800 respondents in 18 countries, as part of the company's ongoing development of its renowned VBA (Verbal Behaviour Analysis) Negotiation Skills training suite.

46% of respondents were regularly involved in large, complex negotiations, but even more (59%) said that they were frequently involved in short, commercial negotiations and 64% said that they regularly took part in non-commercial negotiations with colleagues, suppliers or customers.

The fact remains that these negotiations, although on a smaller scale, could have a significant impact on the business, as well as the performance of the individual within the organisation.

Dr Janet Curran, head of Thought Leadership at Huthwaite International (pictured, below), said: "There's a common misconception that there are only a small number of people within an organisation who are required to negotiate – usually buyers or sales people.

"Our latest survey has gone a long way towards demonstrating that negotiation is a skill that the majority of business people require in their everyday working lives with internal negotiation often proving more difficult than external.

"Having good negotiation skills can therefore make a huge difference to their productivity and the performance of the whole organisation.

"Our experience over the past 40 years shows that companies that invest in enhancing the negotiation skills of their employees across the business leads to improved productivity and long term performance of the business."

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News: Huthwaite hosts international business school

Rotherham's Huthwaite International, the world's leading company in behaviour change for salespeople and negotiators, recently welcomed delegates from across the globe for its International Business School event.

Held at its Wentworth HQ as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations, the event was attended by employees and some colleagues from Huthwaite's global network including Portugal, Poland, German, Israel, Switzerland, Greece, Denmark and the Netherlands.

The market leading behaviour change consultancy specialises in consulting and training on all aspects of sales. It works with major blue chip companies across the world including Rezidor, Dell, Motorola, UPS and Zurich Insurance. One client, IBM, has been on Huthwaite's books continuously for 34 years, and many others are not far behind.

At the International Business School, chief executive of Huthwaite International Tony Hughes gave a corporate update on the latest research on negotiation skills, plus information on new products and technology updates that the company will shortly be introducing to its client base.

Tony Hughes, chief executive of Huthwaite International, said: "It was fantastic to see representatives from our global network attending our 40th anniversary event. This is an exciting time for our business as we are developing a number of new products based on our innovative behavioural approach to sales and negotiation skills. The event was great opportunity to be able to update our partners, celebrate our anniversary and look to the future at the same time."

After the business school, delegates enjoyed a dinner and corporate entertainment in a marquee in the garden at Hoober House, Wentworth. To mark its anniversary, Huthwaite International designed a beautifully illustrated timeline, which runs the length of one of its entrance corridors and tells the story of Huthwaite over the years. The company also created a map of the world from thumbnail photographs of the firm's UK and international employees.

The company was founded in 1974 by Neil Rackham and researchers Linda Marsh and Simon Bailey, who attended Huthwaite's 40th anniversary celebration. They set out to discover what verbal behaviours were most commonly used by people to achieve the greatest degree of success when selling and negotiating, compared with those who were only average performers.

The company was originally based at Huthwaite Hall in Thurgoland near Barnsley and relocated to its current address in Wentworth in 1989. Huthwaite International currently delivers sales and negotiation skills training across all six continents and in 33 languages. With two prestigious Queen's Awards for International Trade, Huthwaite's revenue from non-UK business grew from £3.8m in 2010/11 to £5.7m in 2012/13 and exports are now 76.6% of turnover.

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News: Huthwaite International celebrates 40 years at the top

Rotherham's Huthwaite International, the world's leading company in behaviour change for salespeople and negotiators, celebrates its 40th anniversary this week.

Perhaps better known around the world than in the borough, the Wentworth company is a market leading behaviour change consultancy and specialises in consulting and training on all aspects of sales. It works with major blue chip companies across the world including Rezidor, Dell, Motorola, UPS and Zurich Insurance. One client, IBM, has been on Huthwaite's books continuously for 34 years, and many others are not far behind.

The company was founded by a group of researchers at Sheffield University who met in the late 1960s, led by founder Neil Rackham. They sought to discover what verbal behaviours were most commonly used by people with the greatest degree of success when selling and negotiating – compared with people who were only average performers. And in the early 1970s, companies such as BOAC (now part of BA), Kodak and Xerox asked them to come and share the learning with their sales teams. Hence the foundation of the company – originally at Huthwaite Hall in Thurgoland, in 1974.

At a luncheon for the 70 staff based at Hoober House, the company's home since 1989, Huthwaite unveiled a timeline charting the firm's successful journey and a map superimposed with the faces of the Huthwaite staff. A growing number of trainers (currently 280) deliver across six continents and in 33 languages and the company has won two prestigious Queen's Awards for International Trade. Huthwaite International's revenue from non-UK business grew from £3.8m in 2010/11 to £5.7m in 2012/13 and exports are now 76.6% of turnover.

Tony Hughes, CEO at Huthwaite (pictured), said: "Our continued success is a result of the talents and skills of our people, whatever their role, and of the continued faith that our clients across the globe place in our ability to deliver the results they are looking for. Here's to the next 40 years."

In a message sent from America where he now lives, founder Neil Rackham, added: "Less than one company in 100 makes it to 40 years. It's testimony to the hard work and dedication of many people and it makes me proud that the organization I started all those years ago should be so successful today and still making such an important and useful contribution. My thanks to all of you."

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News: Huthwaite International continues to grow abroad

Rotherham's Huthwaite International, the world's leading company in behaviour change for salespeople and negotiators, is living up to its name and exporting to more countries than ever before.

The Wentworth company is a market leading behaviour change consultancy and specialises in consulting and training on all aspects of sales. It works with major blue chip companies across the world including Rezidor, Dell, Motorola, UPS and Zurich Insurance.

Huthwaite International's revenue from non-UK business grew from £3.8m in 2010/11 to £5.7m in 2012/13 and exports are now 76.6% of Huthwaite's turnover.

In the past year, the company has delivered training programmes to over 14,500 delegates in 65 countries, including events in some countries where it has never operated before, such as Bangladesh, Ghana, Panama, Serbia, Tanzania and Venezuela.

Also in 2013, Huthwaite has extended its licensee and distributor operations with new offices in Bulgaria, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Romania, Shanghai, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey.

Another innovative service is the Virtual Training Campus, where Huthwaite can recreate the live classroom learning experience for delegates in up to nine different locations and time zones simultaneously. It has been a significant attraction for international clients such as INVISTA, sellers of LYCRA fibre and other speciality apparel lines, as a way to unite sales teams from across the globe without the cost and time of long distance travel.

Huthwaite's training is based on years of negotiation research, analysing everything that the most respected operators in the business do and don't do during their meetings. It has built a database of over 40,000 separate interactions, observational data that has been applied to dispel many of the widely received myths about what makes for good sales and negotiation skills. Since 1974, thousands of companies and hundreds of thousands of people all over the world have applied the Huthwaite verbal behaviour models in their business lives, with great success.

One recent example is the work with Siemens, the German multinational engineering and electronics company in Greece.

The Greek market was one of the toughest sales environments in the world for Siemens, even before the economic crisis, so they appointed Huthwaite to deliver its SPIN® Selling, a consultative and listening model which helps sales people to sell to the specific needs of the buyer. The 72 days of intensive training with 165 Siemens sales people is paying off for the company and has been recognised with an industry award.

Irene Karamani, human resources manager for Siemens Hellas, said: "Huthwaite's training programme was exactly what they needed to keep them alert and motivated in the current difficult period for the business. And most importantly, they finished the programme full of enthusiasm, passion and strong belief that if they use the knowledge they can change their results immediately."

Huthwaite International website

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News: Smart talk success at Huthwaite

Local school pupils got the chance to put their skills into action alongside the real experts - consultants at Huthwaite International in Rotherham.

The Wentworth company is a market leading behaviour change consultancy and specialises in consulting and training on all aspects of sales. It works with major blue chip companies across the world including Rezidor, Dell, Motorola, UPS and Zurich Insurance.

The two-time Queen's Award winning company gave its offices and its consulting staff over to Year 6 students from Grenoside Primary School who have been taking part in a unique project since 2012 to apply the communication skills that Huthwaite International uses to train its business clients around the world, to their school and social lives.

Huthwaite has built a database of over 40,000 separate interactions, observational data that has been applied to dispel many of the widely received myths about what makes for good sales and negotiation skills. Since 1974, thousands of companies and hundreds of thousands of people all over the world have applied the Huthwaite verbal behaviour models in their business lives, with great success.

This Verbal Behaviour Analysis (VBA) has now been used by experts at Sheffield Hallam University's (SHU) Centre for Science Education in a study that begun in 2010 on the development of children's communication skills.

Grenoside teacher, Jenni Monach, has been working with Dr Lynne Bianchi, the principal research fellow at the centre to introduce these skills to the pupils for a couple of years in a project to study the impact they can make in a wide range of areas such as the ability to learn through group work – especially in science, transfer from primary to secondary education, selfawareness and future employability.

Researchers found that it produced interesting results for their confidence and achievement in and out of the classroom. Jenni Monach said the project was "certain to make all the children involved better equipped for senior school and later life."

11 year-old Alice Marsden (pictured above, left) summed up the day at Huthwaite's Wentworth headquarters, saying: "It was amazing. It really taught me stuff I hadn't thought about before and I feel much more confident now about the way I persuade others, talk to people and listen properly to what they have to say."

Tony Hughes, CEO of Huthwaite International and a former teacher in a local school (pictured above, right), said: "Throughout an exhausting day they've been trying their hand at the kind of effective persuasion exercises, sales simulations and negotiations that we usually run with senior executives at multinational companies – and they've done very well at it.

"Better verbal communication, persuasiveness, confidence and listening are all going to become very important skills as these children progress through senior school and out into the adult world.

"I've been very impressed by what they can do."

The winner of the Smart Talk Behaviours contest was Jessica Bailey, 11, who said: "It's not as easy as it looks, but we've learned a lot, and have really enjoyed the new experience of going into a business office for the first time and seeing what goes on there."

Huthwaite International website

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News: Smart talking pupils learn Huthwaite's techniques

Can techniques used by great salespeople also be used by great students? Unique research by Huthwaite International in Rotherham is being used to find out.

The Wentworth company is a market leading behaviour change consultancy and specialises in consulting and training on all aspects of sales. It works with major blue chip companies across the world including Rezidor, Dell, Motorola, UPS and Zurich Insurance.

The training is based on years of negotiation research, analysing everything that the most respected operators in the business do and don't do during their meetings. For example, Huthwaite found that skilled negotiators seek significantly more information during negotiation than their average counterparts. They frequently test their opposite number's understanding of the discussions and verbally summarise progress throughout the meeting. Average negotiators, on the other hand, often deliberately avoid clarifying ambiguous points for fear of disagreement from the other party.

Huthwaite has built a database of over 40,000 separate interactions, observational data that has been applied to dispel many of the widely received myths about what makes for good sales and negotiation skills. Since 1974, thousands of companies and hundreds of thousands of people all over the world have applied the Huthwaite verbal behaviour models in their business lives, with great success.

This Verbal Behaviour Analysis (VBA) has now been used by experts at Sheffield Hallam University's (SHU) Centre for Science Education in a study that begun in 2010 on the development of children's communication skills. The study will help support initiatives that help children to express themselves verbally and listen to others, which can have powerful implications for crucial aspects of their immediate development such as the ability to learn through group work – especially in science, their transfer from primary to secondary education, their self-awareness and future employability.

The study worked with over 70 children in South Yorkshire to address these issues, with researchers saying that it produced interesting results for their confidence and achievement in and out of the classroom.

Later this month, year 6 pupils from Grenoside Primary School in Sheffield, who took part in the VBA project during 2012/13, will put their new-found communication skills to the test in a variety of business based exercises, during which they will take on the role of Huthwaite Apprentices.

Using verbal subtlety and behavioural skill gained from the intensive teaching and learning approaches developed by their teacher, Jenni Monach in association with the SHU project team, pupils will try their hand at effective persuasion exercises, sales simulations and group presentations. It will be a test of their adeptness in applying 11 very specific verbal behavioural categories appropriately, to achieve the best outcomes for all parties.

Tony Hughes, CEO of Huthwaite International and a former teacher in a local school, said: "We see this forthcoming event as a great opportunity to showcase a very positive and collaborative effort, involving many disparate experts, to measurably and immediately improve the life chances of young people at a critical stage in their social and educational development."

Huthwaite International website

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News: Berry Cab aim to revolutionise taxi industry

The Berry Group, the enterprising Rotherham-based diverse range of companies, has launched a new sales and marketing company that specialises in supplying the private hire and taxi industry with innovative products.

Berry Cab will be looking to impress the market at the Private Hire and Taxi Exhibition, organised by industry magazine, Private Hire and Taxi Monthly, later this month.

The Templeborough firm has developed an innovative freephone product, Taxi Free Call, a portable unit that enables customers to connect to a private hire service at the push of a button.

Brian McGeachie, marketing director at The Berry Group, said: "We're excited to showcase Taxi Free Call at this huge exhibition, it's a great opportunity to get our name out there and introduce our revolutionary product to the private hire industry."

"We're in a prominent position and have some great promotions for the delegates, such as a lease offer for £8 per week and a ten per cent discount when five units are purchased. There's even a competition to win a free unit."

"We're pleased to be representing Rotherham at the exhibition – there's a huge sense of entrepreneurship in Rotherham and we're proud to be a part of it."

Berry Cab provide other innovative products including systems for in-cab payments using credit or debit cards and low-cost text messages from taxi firms to their customers.

With over 100 members of staff, the Berry Group uses their sales and marketing experience to operate companies in the telecommunications, renewable energies and retail industries.

Berry Cab website

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News: Huthwaite International named amongst the UK's best businesses

Huthwaite International in Rotherham has been named as a finalist in this year's National Business Awards.

In partnership with Orange, the prestigious awards recognise Britain's most innovative and sustainable public and private sector businesses.

The Wentworth company is a market leading behaviour change consultancy and specialises in consulting and training on all aspects of sales. They are one of ten companies shortlisted in the BlackBerry Business Enabler of the Year category.

The combined turnover of all finalists this year was £96bn, - if the National Business Awards finalist organisations were a country they would be a top 50 country in the world just behind Romania and ahead of New Zealand. Almost three times the size of Luxembourg.

Other organisations shortlisted this year range from big names such as Debenhams, JD Wetherspoon, moneysupermarket.com, BSkyB, Majestic Wine and Supergroup, through to rising stars like Ovo Energy, Door-Stop, ShortList Media and HeartSine Technologies.

Finalists will make presentations in person before an independent expert judging panel at the offices of Coutts & Co, in the City of London, later this year.

Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone, is chairing this year's judging programme, where 100 of the country's leading CEOs, entrepreneurs and senior directors, are to assess and reward Britain's most promising and successful companies.

She said: "The economic climate continues to present UK businesses with an unprecedented challenge: it is therefore particularly encouraging that the entries in this year's National Business Awards have shown no drop in quality or performance. Congratulations to all finalists for demonstrating tremendous strength in their ability to adapt and innovate which no doubt reflects the resilience and optimism that are the hallmarks of UK enterprise."

Tony Hughes, managing director at Huthwaite International, added: "We are delighted to have been shortlisted for this important award and to be recognised in line with such successful and well-respected organisations."

Huthwaite International, the market leading behaviour change consultancy, works with major blue chip companies across the world including Rezidor, Dell, Motorola, UPS and Zurich Insurance.

Huthwaite International received the Queen's Award for Enterprise for International Trade in 2008, in recognition of the successful growth of its global business, which saw sales increase by 138 per cent over the previous three years.

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News: Huthwaite develop sales academy for Rezidor

One of the fastest-growing hotel companies in the world, the Rezidor Hotel Group, is the latest leading brand to benefit from sales expertise at Huthwaite International in Rotherham.

The Wentworth company is a market leading behaviour change consultancy and specialises in consulting and training on all aspects of sales.

The operator of Radisson Blu and Park Inn hotels has worked closely with Huthwaite International to develop its highly successful sales academy, which combines a common sales approach based on identifying and satisfying customer needs with the flexibility to work within each brand and region that they operate.

Each year, up to 300 Rezidor sales staff attend training courses based on Huthwaite International's methodology. The current series of improvement initiatives, which includes sales, sales management and negotiation, continues to expand, with a new account development programme currently underway.

Jan Spooren, people development director at Rezidor said: "Our sales teams had to develop a deeper understanding of our clients' requirements, in order to propose solutions which aligned more closely to their business challenges.

"Huthwaite International also practiced what it preached, by working hard to understand our business and its challenges before putting together an appropriate
recommendation that would meet this objective."

During the recent recession, training sessions placed even greater emphasis on how to build value for each Rezidor brand in the face of unprecedented price pressure. More locally too, programmes were also adapted to address specific problems. For example, new hotels in Johannesburg suffering a significant drop in business immediately after the 2010 World Cup.

As well as boosting sales, Rezidor has also witnessed an improvement in staff retention, as employees recognise the company's increased commitment to their personal development. "This also feeds indirectly through to greater customer loyalty," adds Spooren, "as customers build trust and confidence in longer-serving
staff, resulting in stronger relationships."

Huthwaite International website

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News: Huthwaite International focuses on the changing world of legal services

Experts from Rotherham-based Huthwaite International, the market leading behaviour change consultancy that works with major blue chip companies across the world, will be in the region next month to emphasise the importance of having a proactive business development strategy in the legal sector.

Earlier this year, the Wentworth firm acquired top sales and business development training provider to the legal sector, Ridley Fleming, to strengthen its professional services team.

Their new specialist legal services arm, HuthwaiteFleming, has teamed up with RBS and NatWest to host a series of conferences around the UK designed to help leaders and finance managers in law firms address the challenges they face in a fast-changing legal services environment.

Peter Fleming, partner with HuthwaiteFleming, said: "The past year has proved especially tough for many firms.

"And, with the Legal Services Act due to come into effect in October 2011, the next few months will put even greater pressure on them to meet new commercial and regulatory demands."

In response, the free-of-charge conferences provide those attending with an opportunity to hear high-profile speakers address a broad range of topical concerns. These include the growing competitive threat, pressure to consolidate, understanding clients' buying criteria and negotiating profitable fees.

Heading the line-up will be industry thought-leader, Professor Stephen Mayson, strategic advisor to the Huthwaite Group, director of the Legal Services Institute and professor of strategy at The College of Law, who will explore in more detail the new world of legal services in 2011.

"As clients become more demanding and less loyal, the need to adopt proactive business development strategies focused on delivering meaningful client value has become central to success," added Fleming.

Tony Hughes, managing director, Huthwaite International said: "We believe there is a real demand for credible, research-based business development solutions which are tailored to meet the unique needs of the legal profession.

"Huthwaite International's strongly results-focused consultative training programmes, based on more than 30 years' dedicated research, are perfectly geared to meet the tough demands lawyers make on any training investment."

The next event takes place in Leeds on December 7.

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News: Sales Academy to be established in Rotherham

Huthwaite International, the market leading sales training organisation that works with major blue chip companies across the world, has teamed-up with the South Yorkshire Chambers of Commerce to develop a unique Sales Academy.

The Sales Academy is set to start in April and run over a five-week period, taking place at the Huthwaite International's headquarters in Wentworth, Rotherham.

Training includes consultative selling, managing complex sales, negotiating, networking and persuasive presentations and proposals.

Guy Aston, mid-markets director at Huthwaite International, said: "The only way anyone is going to grow their business is through sales. The local Chambers recognise this and approached us with the idea.

"It is a great opportunity for us and we welcome the opportunity to utilise our expertise and experience in this area to bring world class, benchmark training to companies in South Yorkshire.

"We believe that the Sales Academy will build the foundations for the development of a South Yorkshire Sales Association. This will bring together sales people from around the region to discuss best practice and future training needs to boost the industry and help pull South Yorkshire out of the current difficult market conditions.

"The Academy is a unique opportunity for South Yorkshire and one we hope will become a regular feature on the landscape."

Huthwaite International website

Rotherham

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News: Martek predict record sales

The Star reports that Martek Marine, the Rotherham-based world leaders in safety and environmental monitoring systems for the global marine industry, is predicting record sales of £10.8 million. The company, which was ranked at number 16 on the Sunday Times Fast Track table, has seen turnover rise from £110,000 in 2000, while the number of people it employs has risen from three to 60 over the same period. Marketing manager Vanessa Muff told The Star: "Sales of our environmental products have soared and we have seen massive growth in terms of turnover, staffing levels and product offering's to the industry."
Martek website
The Star article
Rotherham

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News: Rotherham firms work together to double turnover

The Star reports on the specialist software developed by Kinspeed that has helped fellow Rotherham firm Lloyd Catering Equipment to double its turnover. Based near to junction 34 of the M1, Lloyd supplies catering equipment to customers including Wetherspoons and Whitbread and designed, supplied and installed equipment for the new restaurant and bars at Sheffield City Hall. Kinspeed are a Sage business partner and Sage developer and supplied sophisticated software worth more than £200,000 to improve Lloyd's accounting systems and stock control. It is creating an online shop for Lloyd's internet site which is expected to take up to 200 orders a day. Financial controller Glen Banks told The Star: "With Kinspeed's superb guidance and ongoing support, things have really moved on at Lloyd Catering. The new systems have tightened up all our operations and been instrumental in doubling our turnover."
Llyod Catering website
Kinspeed website
The Star article

Rotherham

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News: Record sales month for Rotherham's Martek

April has proved to be a fantastic month for everyone at Martek Marine. In addition to winning a prestigious Seatrade Award 2008, end of month sales figures have shown that it has been a record month for the value of orders received. Orders have reached an all time high for their marine detection and emission monitoring systems and it is expected that this success will carried over into May. Head of Global Sales, Duncan Gaskin was delighted with the results from April. He said: “What a truly unbelievable month! We’ve had some really incredible results in the last few weeks which have been capped off with the Seatrade Award; it’s been a real buzz for all of us at Martek to have won so many significant orders. We’re all very keen to build on this success and make May, June, July and beyond all landmark months for Martek; I can’t wait to get started!”

Martek website

Rotherham

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News: Rotherham based Huthwaite International recognised with Queen's Awards for Enterprise

Huthwaite International of Wentworth, Rotherham, have been recognised nationally for their achievements in the annual Queen's Awards for Enterprise. The company specialises in consulting and training on all aspects of sales and have been recognised for their outstanding achievements in International Trade. Since 1974, Huthwaite have been studying behaviour in sales situations in real commercial settings, observing in excess of 35,000 sales calls, isolating the behavioural characteristics that lead to a successful sale. Huthwaite is established in more than 33 countries and their impressive list of clients include Dell, Bayer, Motorola, Sony, UPS and Zurich. Huthwaite join other Rotherham firms, AESSEAL and Martek Marine and RiDO's Amanda Parris as recipients of the awards.
Huthwaite International website
Queen's Award website
The Business Desk article
Rotherham

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