Gulliver's Theme Parks

North West Tourism Award winners 2006
On Thursday 16th November 2006 Gulliver's World Warrington, in partnership with Head First Associates, received the Best Practice in Tourism Training Award
in recognition of the excellence of their Management Development Programme.
Visit the CATS 2006 Winners Page

“This is great for morale – look at the team, they are absolutely delighted at winning the award. Money cannot buy that!”
Julie Dalton - Managing Director of Gulliver's

Management Development Programme
Gulliver's Theme Parks have three of the best family entertainment resorts in the UK and have been established for over 25 years.
They asked Head First to design and deliver a comprehensive management training programme for all management levels, from supervisor through to director. The aim of the programme was to raise management competence and enhance the customer experience.

"The Theme Park Industry is an unusual industry and when looking for a training provider
we did not want off the shelf training programmes. Instead it had to be relevant to our industry, incorporating the challenges our staff would encounter during their normal working day.
Headfirst did that for us, working with us every step of the way from conception to delivery.
I have no doubt in my mind that, without their help our business would not have developed the way it has in the last 12 to 16 months."
Ian Gardner, Group Operations Manager, Gulliver's Theme Park Group

"Excellent, I would recommend Head First to anyone"
Eddie Newton, Rides Manager, Gulliver's Theme Parks

"The programme gave me a very good understanding of how to motivate people - myself included"
Paul Kirkley, Duty Manager, Gulliver's Theme Parks

Royal and Sun Alliance

Trainers' Development Programme
Natalie Hayesmore in UK Claims had put together a pretty impressive team of technical trainers. What she wanted was to enable them to provide training in a much wider and more challenging arena - that of behavioural skills. We worked with Natalie's team for a period of 12 months transforming not only their competence but also their confidence as trainers. 

"Lisa and her team, deliver a highly professional programme, which is tailored to the audience needs...
If you want training which does not involve you sitting and listening all day, then this is the training for you. A key strength for this company is the ongoing support they provide with regular updates,
opportunities for further training, and a mine of information if you get stuck!
I have attended a number of sessions delivered by Lisa Smale, and her colleagues as part of a programme of self-development. Using a number of tools I had not previously seen enabled me to develop my skills around training design, coaching, communication, listening, leadership & motivation.  A great solution to many training needs".
Trudy Branton, Team Leader, Financial Services, Royal and Sun Alliance

Somerfield Stores Ltd

MX2 Graduate Development Programme
Working with new managers who have not yet learned bad habits is indeed a privilege.  Somerfield Stores wanted to introduce a dynamic annual development programme to equip a new intake of graduates to become future business leaders. The programme enabled each graduate to learn about the culture and operation of the business together with a huge amount about their own thinking strategies. They had to gel quickly as a team to tackle a live business issue and master the core skills needed to equip them to perform effectively as a manager.

"Lisa designed and delivered a 3-week induction programme and a number of subsequent one-day development days to support our graduate development scheme. Every aspect was tailored to our specific needs and Lisa's understanding of the audience and our organisation resulted in a powerful learning experience for delegates. Lisa has an infectious enthusiasm for learning and development which is evident in the design and delivery of her programmes, and it rubs off on delegates. I can't speak highly enough of the value Lisa has added to the graduate development scheme".
Anita Craig, Head of Internal Communications at Somerfield Stores PLC

"I think this course is sure to springboard our careers"
Matthew Look MX2 Graduate Buyer

"The MX2 programme exceeded my expectations by combining practical, real-life business tasks with very useful workshops that helped me improve my skills"
Constantinos Bastias