Embassy CES

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Embassy CES is an international chain of 19 English language schools owned by Study Group, and operating in five Anglophone countries across the world.

Embassy CES
Type English language school
Founded Hastings, UK, 1989
Headquarters Brighton, Sydney, New York, UK, Australia, USA
No. of locations 19
Industry TEFL, EFL, ESOL
Services English courses, examination preparation courses, university preparation
Parent Study Group
Website Embassy CES website
Architect's impression of the new Brighton building at the New England Quarter, now completed and housing a school and the UK head office.
Architect's impression of the new Brighton building at the New England Quarter, now completed and housing a school and the UK head office.

Contents

[edit] History

1989: Businessmen Andrew Colin and Duncan Greenland acquired Embassy language school in Hastings, England.

1991: A second Embassy language school was opened in Hove.

1994: The company British Study Group was formed, comprising the two Embassy schools, and Bellerbys, a sixth-form college for international students.

1996: 40% of the business was acquired by the Daily Mail Group [1] [2]; a third Embassy school was opened in Cambridge.

1997/1998: Major acquisitions in Australia [3].

1998: Study Group acquired the CES chain of language schools in the USA and Canada[4], adding Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver to their fold. Embassy became Embassy CES. Study Group International was formed[5].

1999: The Daily Mail Group took over 100% of the business [6], paying an estimated UK£44 million[7], and the company acquired Newnham Language Centre in Cambridge and International House in Hastings.

2001: The Oxford Language Training Centre was acquired.

2002: Opened a school in Auckland, New Zealand [8]

Exterior of the Embassy CES school in Boston, situated on the campus of Lasell College.
Exterior of the Embassy CES school in Boston, situated on the campus of Lasell College.

2004: Embassy CES opened its first purpose-built school designed by Watkins Grey Associates LLP [9][10] on a site in Greenwich/Deptford, London, sharing premises with sister company Bellerbys college. Residential accommodation was also built in partnership with University of Greenwich [11]

2006: Study Group acquired by private equity company Champ for A$176.4 million[12][13].

2007: Brighton school and UK head office moved to purpose-built premises in the New England Quarter, next to Brighton station[14][15][16], costing an estimated UK£28 million [17].

[edit] Statistics

Embassy CES has 19 schools [18]in:

Exterior of the Embassy CES school in Perth, Australia.
Exterior of the Embassy CES school in Perth, Australia.

Number of students who study with Embassy CES per year: Approximately 36,000 [19]

[edit] Notable staff and students

[edit] Staff

  • Adrian Underhill, training advisor at ECES; ex-director of the International Teacher Training Institute at International House Hastings[20]; series editor of the Macmillan Teacher Development Series; author of Sound Foundations: Living Phonology and its chart; contributed to the development of the Macmillan English Dictionary and associated works[21]
  • Tim Bowen, author of books on EFL teacher-training, pronunciation, business English and ESP. Teaches at Embassy CES Hastings (formerly International House).[22].

[edit] Students

According to the Embassy CES website, several 'celebrities' have studied at various Embassy CES schools [23]:

  • Ruby Lin Taiwanese actress and singer. Studied English at Embassy CES New York, with side-classes in acting at the New York Film Academy in 2004, and wrote a book (My Private New York [24][25]) about the experience.
  • Isabel Bawlitza Miss World Chile 2000 and a semifinalist in Miss World 2000.
  • Katrin Meißner Former freestyle swimmer from East Germany, who won three medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
  • Manuela Fellner Swiss folk singer and winner of the music contest TV programme Grand Prix on SF DRS. [26]
  • Riyo Mori Japanese dance instructor who won the Miss Universe 2007 title in May 2007. She studied at Embassy CES in New York.[citation needed]
Exterior of the Embassy CES school at Greenwich in London.
Exterior of the Embassy CES school at Greenwich in London.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Daily Mail Group Press release Preliminary unaudited consolidated results from Thursday 10 December 1998; mentions Study Group becoming a subsidiary.
  2. ^ Another Daily Mail Group press release Preliminary unaudited consolidated results from Thursday 11 December 1997; mentions expansion into US and Australia.
  3. ^ Special Report: The Evolution of ELC from Language Travel Magazine. See paragraph headed 'Study Group' for details of acquisition strategy.
  4. ^ Report from Language Travel Magazine As above.
  5. ^ Report from Language Travel Magazine As above.
  6. ^ DMGT interim report 1999 - PDF See page 3, paragraph headed 'Funding' for reference to the purchase of the outstanding minority of the company.
  7. ^ Language Travel Magazine Special Report: Industry Entrepreneurs, June 2007, paragraph titled 'Alternative angles and corporate investment'
  8. ^ Language Travel Magazine Special Report: The Evolution of ELC See paragraph headed 'Study Group' for details of acquisitions
  9. ^ Watkins Grey Associates website Overview of build project, with photos.
  10. ^ PDF from UK Construction Magazine (hosted on Studygroup corporate site) describing the building's features.
  11. ^ Press release from the builders, Jarvis PLC Greenwich development will deliver new student digs 11 February 2003.
  12. ^ Champ website - portfolio page
  13. ^ Press release from international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, advisors on the sale.
  14. ^ Embassy CES website news page News from Embassy CES Brighton
  15. ^ Studygroup.com corporate website New Brighton Study Centre Ahead of Schedule.
  16. ^ New England Quarter official site Short description of the Quarter's commercial uses.
  17. ^ Language Travel Magazine New Buildings for British ELT
  18. ^ Embassy CES site: our schools
  19. ^ In 2004. Special Report the Evolution of ELC from Language Travel Magazine - see paragraph titled 'Study Group'.
  20. ^ [1] International House 2005 conference - speakers' abstracts.
  21. ^ Macmillan English Dictionaries Magazine Introduction to contributors, including Adrian Underhill.
  22. ^ One Stop English publishers' website author profile.
  23. ^ Embassy CES website 'Celebrities at Embassy CES' page
  24. ^ Ruby Lin fan website
  25. ^ YesAsia bookshop My Private New York by Ruby Lin
  26. ^ Manuela Fellner official site