There are more than 400 businesses in Cupar delivering all manner of goods and services. In our latest profile, we caught up with St Andrews Management Centre on St Catherine Street who celebrated their first decade last year …

St Andrews Management Centre is a training provider. They deliver accredited and non-accredited training and were formed in 2013 by Jeff Lockhart & Rick Bond.

Having worked together for the CMI Fife Branch – with Jeff as Chair and Rick as secretary – they had discovered a shared business ethos and strong working partnership.

Rick explains: “Jeff was established as a solo trainer and consultant. When leaving Elmwood, for a time I also went into solo training and consultancy. Now we were both working for ourselves, we saw an opportunity and began to explore the idea of teaming up very much with the aim of combining efforts and building something together that would be greater than either of us could have achieved on our own.”

The result? They combined Rick’s 30+ years’ experience of Further Education at Elmwood College with Jeff’s similar tenure working in Finance and International Trade. Together, this knowledge base has allowed them to build a training company that specialises in management , financial management and international trade covering:

• Management & Leadership
• Project Management
• Change Management
• Finance
• International Trade

Approved …

An approved centre of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Chartered Management Institute (CMI), and the ILM, they offer qualifications from these awarding bodies.

Training is in-person and online – and they have delivered training to individuals, companies and organisations not just in the UK but across the world.

On the company’s USP, Jeff says: “We don’t see training as a ‘one-size fits all’ delivery. As a result, all our programmes have the capacity to flex to the needs of each learner. That means all of our training puts the learner at it’s centre. We will not put a learner on a training pathway or use methods that do no address the needs, wants and aspirations of the learner.”

Today, the company employs six full time members of staff and call on a pool of Associate Trainers depending on the specific skill sets required by any given assignment.

Achievements …

We asked what they saw as their greatest achievements in the last ten years. Jeff says: “Surviving Covid and turning an incredibly challenging situation into an opportunity to pivot into more flexible online delivery. Post-pandemic, that has allowed us to broaden our training reach and given our clients the choice between online or in-person delivery.”

Rick adds: “Developing our TradeNet product. TradeNet is a monthly International Trade subscription service that gives customers monthly access to one-to-one trade consultancy. As a result, they have support with export and import challenges as they arise.” Last year, their TradeNet service saved their subscribers £1.5million in operating costs.

Both agree that “building a ‘family’ business” tops the list. Rick concludes: “We are a small, close knit team and, whilst only some are related, others have worked together for many years – in some cases decades! This has resulted in the feeling of a family business with everybody looking out for one another.”

Both are pictured below – Jeff (left) and Rick (right) – with one of their St Catherine Street training rooms, centre.

As with all who feature on our Blog, we asked Jeff and Rick what they’d recommend to someone visiting Cupar for the first time or for the first time in a long time. Jeff says: “Tarvit Hill and the ground of Tarvit Mansion House for a beautiful walk. It is lovely at any time of year, though especially so in the Spring when the bluebells are out in the woods.”

Rick adds: “For families, the Scottish Deer Centre is a wonderful day out. For the past year they have operated a ‘pay-what-you-can’ model, making a day out more affordable and accessible for more families. Their staff are all really friendly and will happily tell you all about the many different animals they have in the park and answer any questions. The Centre has a large outdoor play area which they add new and interesting elements to regularly.”

Both agreed a visit to Luvian’s on Bonnygate is a “must” adding “a bottle of something delicious or a tasty ice cream. You can’t go wrong with Luvian’s ice cream!”

 

Need more?

Discover more on their website via this link. The site has details on all current courses. They are also on social channels – including LinkedIn.

Visit them at 14 St Catherine Street, Cupar – KY15 4HH.

Call them on 03300 241316 or you can use their contact form to get in touch via this link.

 

Thanks for reading.