After gaining nearly 20 years of experience working in post-16 education, Rachel Arnold and Ros Protheroe have set up their company aimed at supporting and developing work-trainers, tutors and assessors out in the workplace.

Panda Education and Training Ltd was launched after the pair left their full time jobs last July.

The company, based at the Welsh Innovation Centre for Enterprise in Caerphilly, aims to ensure learning being delivered by trainers, tutors and assessors is of high quality and has an impact.

The new business has received a £450 business start-up grant jointly funded by Caerphilly County Borough Council and Tata Steel subsidiary UK Steel Enterprise.

Martin Palmer, investment executive with UK Steel Enterprise, said: “We are delighted to be supporting Panda in their new training enterprise and wish them luck for the future.

Ros Protheroe said: "Training practitioners can often lack confidence or expertise in learning and development skills to enable all course participants to achieve their learning goals.

“It’s important that businesses have access to high quality, innovative training delivery to upskill their workforce.

“So often, training takes place that has no impact. We develop trainers within organisations on how to deliver engaging, innovative training that makes a difference.”

Panda has recently delivered a series of workshops in partnership with the National Training Federation of Wales, giving professional development opportunities to apprenticeship assessors.

Rachel Arnold said: “Apprenticeships are key in the growth of the Welsh economy, when delivered to a high standard.

“In order for our vocational assessors to have parity of esteem with other education practitioners, we must ensure our assessors are fully equipped to deliver effective learning in the workplace.”

To meet these needs, Panda provides accredited qualifications including Train the Trainer, the Award in Education and Training (formerly PTLLS), and Assessment of Vocational Achievement (TAQA).

“As a start-up we’re very pleased to be able to access the match-funded grant from CCBC. It allowed us to purchase essentials like business cards, a laptop, a printer and our website.

“We’re very grateful to CCBC and UK Steel Enterprise for providing this opportunity.”