Written by: Kyle Green – TQUK Creative & Communication Manager
Less than two years have passed since Training Qualifications UK opened its first international business hub in Hong Kong, and they have already hit their first major milestone of 100 recognised centres.
Led by Business Development Director Joana Ip and Marketing Manager Daniel Au Yeung, TQUK-HK have driven our brand forwards across the South East Asian market to great success since operations began in January 2017.
Last year they hosted our first International Conference event in Kowloon, Hong Kong, a rousing success with over 60 centres in attendance from the surrounding regions including centres from Macau, Taiwan, China, Malaysia and the Philippines.
And just last month, Managing Director Andrew Walker attended the 2018 Hong Kong International Piano Open Competition, an honour to be there and another sign that TQUK-HK has made great strides in their short time of operation in Hong Kong.
Andrew Walker said: “When TQUK-HK opened its doors early 2017 we always believed they were going to be a great success – they had the drive and ambition required to expand the TQUK name and make the first global strides for the company.
‘We didn’t however believe that the success would come so quickly. The team in Hong Kong have been phenomenal and each time myself or a member of the UK team get a chance to visit the office on Hong Kong Island we are amazed at the progress being made and the inroads the team is making into providing TQUK qualifications to the local market.’
Adopting the mantra, ‘One Worldwide Family’, TQUK-HK has been able to extend our customer-focused approach to qualifications seamlessly to another continent and keeping regular contact with the team in the UK, it’s like the teams are side by side –not 6000 miles apart.
On reaching the 100 centre milestone, TQUK-HK Business Development Director Joana Ip said: “We couldn’t be happier that we have achieved this milestone in such a short period of time, given that TQUK’s name is still growing in our region. The centres here are very used to the traditional ways of working with other AOs, they were reluctant to get out of their comfort zone and adopt our more flexible, dynamic, and customer-first business approach. They just couldn’t believe there was another way to work with an Awarding Organisation!”
This was echoed by Marketing Manager Daniel Au Yeung who said: “It was frustrating in the first six months because we were building a whole new brand and trying to compete with other leading AOs at the same time. These established AOs have been very successful for many years and are highly regarded in some industries.’
‘But we always believed in our core values and the successful foundations in place in the UK. And we are now starting to see some of the biggest training providers switch to TQUK. As a result of this, we are becoming more involved with government-led education projects in South East Asia which have been a fantastic learning experience for us.’
‘We would like to thank our colleagues in the UK head office, without their continuous support we couldn’t accomplish what we have today. It’s always a joy when a member of the team comes over to Hong Kong and our regular Skype meetings are always hilarious as we catch up with what’s been happening in Manchester. We haven’t discussed United much recently…”
You can stay up to date and follow the Hong Kong team on the usual social media channels, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
