Birmingham-based private distributor and services group Specialist Computer Holdings has launched Specialist Computer Education, a training subsidiary born out of Asystel UK Ltd’s Wordability company which Specialist acquired last July (CI No 1,479). The newly-structured company, which has retained all 10 Wordability employees and added 15 newly-recruited lecturers, is to specialise in personal computer-based hardware and software education, and will offer standard training courses as well as customised courses, on-site or in one of Specialist’s seven nationwide centres. Course fees are UKP175 per day for standard programmes and UKP225 for specialist courses. The official launch of the new training company will take place at the end of the month, when Specialist holds its official opening day for its new UKP1m site in the City. The new office was also a tactical move to improve the group’s presence in the south. Specialist Computer Holdings reckons it is a successful company, and puts this success down to the fact that it is and always will be a private company. It turned over UKP70m last year, which represents quite a growth from the UKP16m of 1986-7, and is projecting UKP120m turnover for the current year to March 31. The nine-year-old self-financed Specialist Computer Holdings now comprises five operations – Specialist Computer Centres, which supplies systems to large companies and local government bodies; Specialist Computer Services, which provides IBM 3270 mainframe bureau services; Enhancement Technologies Corp, which distributes personal computers and peripherals to dealers serving small companies; Specialist Computer Leasing; and the new Specialist Computer Education.
