OTD celebrates 10 years of global training growth

A pioneering Birmingham-based training business is celebrating a decade of international acclaim by flying a team of UK coaches to their latest assignment in Singapore.

OTD will embark upon the delivery of a session to develop the skills of local trainers in Southeast Asia, bolstering the company’s capabilities in the region.

It marks the latest in a whirlwind global training tour for OTD business partners Andy Crotty and Chris Cummins, who left behind established careers in the pharmaceutical industry to found a firm with a passion for inspiring people.

OTD has since rapidly expanded to become one of Birmingham’s biggest training exports, employing 10 full-time staff at its Jewellery Quarter head office, with an additional 50 coaches located in more than 20 countries worldwide.

OTD’s intrepid team of core trainers has amassed thousands of air miles in the past 10 years, delivering a suite of its own innovative training products – including Power Presenter, Carpe Diem Coaching and Eight-Step Coaching – in five continents. 

In that time it has supported over 12,500 delegates through more than 1,000 international coaching courses in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Russia, Germany, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Canada, the USA and many others.

Director of coaching, Chris Cummins, attributes OTD’s lasting success to the development of a reputation for life-changing coaching and customer excellence.

“Our first focus has and always will be on our customer,” explains Chris, whose longstanding clients include several global pharmaceutical companies.

“We have built our business on a foundation of customer excellence and a vision of bringing about lasting change through the delivery of quality leadership and development coaching.

“We make sure that the customers we have are 100% happy with what we do and will recommend us to their other divisions.”

Andy, OTD’s director of operations, said: “Our customers value the sustainable impact of what we deliver and they like consistency across markets. It has led us to work in every corner of the globe in the past 10 years, from Europe, to Africa, Asia Pacific and North and South America.”

Whilst more than 50% of OTD’s work is within the pharmaceutical industry, the company has recently diversified into new markets including electronics and sports retail.

OTD crosses cultural divides with an open mindset and a willingness to both embrace its host country and give something back to the regions in which it operates.

The company’s approach includes an investment in the recruitment and development of training professionals located in countries across the world, who are steeped in the OTD commitment to customer excellence.

Chris added: “Next month we’re travelling to Singapore to support the development of a training team who are being specially prepared for work with several customers.

“It’s a strategy that has really worked for us, having local trainers who understand the region and our very particular commitment to the customer. We believe that preparing people properly is a key part of our story.

“A lot of the customers we started out with are now senior managers – we tell our customers that our company values are all about changing lives and we like to think we practice what we preach.”

For more information please visit www.otd.uk.com.