Company History

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Zodiac Training was founded by Lilian Mains and Jacqui McQueen and has grown into one of the biggest training organisations in the north-east, employing over 150 staff and gaining a range of awards along the way.

Zodiac Training's first office, Sunderland 1996

Lilian Mains left her role as National Operations Director of a large training company in 1996. She recognised that there was a gap in the market for quality training providers to deliver the then new, modern apprenticeship programmes and so she invited ex-colleague Jacqui McQueen to join her in founding Zodiac Training. From an office in Sunderland and with just one member of staff plus Lilian and Jacqui, Zodiac Training opened for business in October 1996.

“The most important thing in any business is people”, says Lilian, “Jacqui and I recognised that people would be our greatest asset and we wanted to demonstrate that to our clients, so we built the company systems around the standards of Investors in People (IIP).”
Zodiac Training gained the IIP award within the first twelve months of operating.

When the company began it delivered 5 qualifications within a limited number of sectors. Today, Zodiac has a portfolio of more than 30 vocational qualifications across many sectors as well as numerous technical certificates, literacy and numeracy certificates and a vast array of bespoke short courses.

Zodiac Training opened its Learning Centre HQ in 2004

“It’s so important to innovate and diversify”, says Jacqui, “The culture we have strived to create within Zodiac is one where people are encouraged to grow and try new things. We need people to feel confident and comfortable in bringing new ideas and ways of working to the business.”

The company’s vision is Growing People to Grow Business and its values are Respect, Integrity, Commitment and Innovation. In order to ensure that all areas of the business meet the vision and values, regular Investment in People assessments are carried out. In the December 2008 assessment, Zodiac Training was recognised for the achievements of the business within all areas of learning and development including, Coaching, Mentoring, Structured Development Training and the Provision of Internal and External Training. In particular the assessor recognised Zodiac for, ‘Its supportive and effective management style which has been further strengthened in 2008 by a revised management structure’, for ‘The respect and trust staff have in the Directors and Managers within the business’ and for ‘The range of opportunities Zodiac staff have to gain professional qualifications and how they are fully supported throughout the process.’

Zodiac’s dedication to its employees is best summed up in the comments of two members of staff quoted in the IIP report, one said “I have had an enormous amount of time invested in my development which makes me feel valued”, the other said “There is so much opportunity to gain professional qualifications and it just keeps on improving. With Zodiac you are someone!”