Quest Professional
Quest Professional is a London-based professional training institution. Quest Professional developed from the merger of three Colleges Queen's, St James's and Lucie Clayton. Each College has its own history dating back to the 1900s.
In 1912 St James's was founded by Monica Spencer-Munt, a private secretary to Lord Churchill. Monica developed a course which was to become the blueprint for secretarial courses in the United Kingdom. The 1980s and 1990s saw the introduction of professional qualifications in management and marketing, as St James's began to align itself with modern business needs.
In 1924, Queen's was founded. It aimed to meet the needs of young women seeking careers. Queen's training courses grew between the Wars when it became acceptable for young ladies to train in secretarial skills, presentation and decorum.
In 1928, Sylvia Golledge founded the Lucie Clayton Charm Academy. The early timetable was based around developing social and presentation skills, before broadening and offering shorthand, typing and flower arranging. By the 1990s, flower arranging had been replaced by advertising, finance, human resources and IT.
In June 2007, the three colleges merged, forming Quest Business Training, known today as Quest Professional. In 2012 the then Principal of Quest, Jo Barnard, spoke to the BBC about opportunities for young people to enter employment without university degrees.[1]
In 2013 following the financial crisis Quest Professional attracted national media interest [2] when for the first time men had enrolled on its executive PA programme and it said that more and more men were doing its administrative courses in general. The article attributed the rise in male graduates seeking PA roles to a growing awareness that salaries for corporate PAs can reach £75,000 a year.
The organisation now offers a range of courses including post-graduate professional skills, personal development and recruitment services are run alongside secretarial courses at Quest Professional. Courses are open to both men and women and focuses on employability skills.[3] As part of its learning programme the college encourages students to develop philanthropic activities.[4] Recent charity partners have included Action for A-T [5] fundraising and Woodford Green’s Haven House hospice.[6]
In 2018 Claire Granados was appointed as Principal.[7]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Jo Barnard talks about university applications and options available to young people". BBC TV News (Interview). March 2012.
- ↑ "Jobless male graduates turn to secretarial work". The Guardian. October 2013.
- ↑ Quest Professional (June 2018). "How to Gain Key Business Skills – Without Going to University". School House Magazine.
- ↑ "Quest Professional students celebrate raising £18,000 for children's charity at glittering graduation ceremony" (Press release).
- ↑ https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/actionforat/questp
- ↑ http://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news/london-training-college-raises-thousands-of-pounds-for-woodford-green-s-haven-house-1-3628549
- ↑ "Claire Granados". Professionals in International Education News. February 2018.
- "John Crace gets a grooming at the finishing school that reinvented itself". The Guardian. 10 April 2001.
- "Lucie Clayton House: A model lesson in home-making". The Telegraph. 24 Nov 2007.
- "4 Cornwall Gardens - Formerly home to Lucie Clayton Finishing School". The Harrington Collection - 4 Cornwall Gardens. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
- "Office Hours", The Guardian 2001
External links[edit]
- http://questprofessional.co.uk/
- https://www.theguardian.com/money/2001/jun/18/officehours.education
- https://www.tes.com/news/we-used-weigh-students
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