A solid foundation for a high growth business

University of Brighton training courses have helped Beaming Limited to continue on its impressive growth trajectory. Not an easy feat in a fast-paced and highly competitive sector.

Beaming is a fast growing national internet and telephone service provider based in St Leonards on Sea in East Sussex. Started in a garden shed in 2004, Beaming's growth rate of over 500% has led to it being listed in the Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 for the last three consecutive years.

Beaming's Managing Director Sonia Blizzard recently completed the Innovation for New Product Development course through the University of Brighton. This series of workshops assists businesses to identify market opportunities and develop new product ideas.

Gaining a competitive edge

Sonia believes training and development is integral to her company's success, which is why she and her team have undertaken a number of training courses offered by the University of Brighton.

Sonia said: "With high-growth companies in a competitive market you can never stand still. What gives you a competitive edge is applying knowledge and innovation. That comes from knowing about the latest technology and investing in training."

The New Product Development course gave Sonia a more thorough understanding of the process of managing innovation and of the market gap, which she found especially useful coming from a non-marketing background. Sonia also valued the fact that the training course was suitable for her sector.

Sonia said: "Training should do more than just give you knowledge you can apply now. Because we operate in such a fast-moving sector, it also needs to be demanding and stretch you into the next phase."

Drawing on peer expertise

Besides the course content, Sonia also found her peers' expertise extremely useful. Sonia said: "Through the University of Brighton you get to meet other local companies with similar issues. You don't only get the training, you gain a network of peers created naturally by meeting through these training programmes."

Held over a year, the workshops gave the participants the tools and the theory to explore and develop their ideas for new products. At each stage of development they presented to the group, who in turn provided constructive feedback.

Training for growth

Besides giving Beaming a competitive edge, training has given Sonia the confidence to keep the company growing.

Sonia said: "There are many challenges for a growing company. Training and development allows you to have the confidence to know that when you take the next step up, you're in the right place with the right foundations. No business is without risk, but training and development allows you to plan, understand and manage that risk."

With the opening of a second premises in Hastings in the first half of 2013, and the imminent launch of their new products, Beaming is on track to keep growing at rates that will ensure it remains a technology company to watch.

Sonia said: "You don't only get the training, you gain a network of peers created naturally by meeting through these training programmes."