Message from Lawrie Green, Chairman

CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE

Hello again everyone. I hope that you are all well.

It’s been several months since I have last put a Chairman’s update on the PFL site. Sorry for that folks – it has been a tad busy!

Another September intake has been concluded in the UK since my last update and a strange one it was at that. Over the past 15 years or more that I have been in the industry, I haven’t seen an intake quite like it in fact. Literally hundreds of students who were raring to come and study in the UK one moment were suddenly having second thoughts the next. This was mainly down to the changes in UKBA student visa conditions. Fortunately for us at PFL, our varied portfolio of study destinations made offering these students other great overseas study options possible. Our ever growing and impressive list of study opportunities in Australasia (Australia and New Zealand), North America (Canada and the USA) and Dubai are becoming more and more popular options for studies and if you are one of those students who are currently re-considering your study plan, you should check out all these options before you make a final decision. In my opinion, the UK remains a fantastic study destination but I understand that different students and families have different priorities when looking at an overseas study destination. Here at PFL, you have a lot of options and expertise (not to mention experience!) to guide you on an individual basis. If you are one of those students who took a ‘wait and see’ policy in September, many of our partners are still actively giving admissions for January/February 2012 intake – including partners in the UK and all the countries listed above. So if you are not quite sure what to do next, come in to a PFL office soon and we will provide those solutions! If you are a Nigerian student, come and visit the PFL mini-exhibition specifically designed to give you course options for early 2012 admission.

As I write, seven UK universities are slated for the event: Sunderland University, Bradford University, The University of Greenwich, The University of Derby, Sheffield Hallam University, The University of Glamorgan and Coventry University. These are the dates and cities being covered:

Please click here go to the Nigerian section of this website for further details on venues.

We also have several other Universities (Salford, Gloucestershire and Robert Gordon) visiting our offices at about the same time as the PFL expo so view our city event calendar to find our more.

During the past month or two, PFL has continued to be pro-active to give back to our student customers and their wider societies. A combined 70,000GBP was allocated in PFL scholarship awards for Ghanaian, Nigerian and Pakistani students in September.

This is money that has come directly out of the PFL coffers – not from any of our partner institutions. It is our way of rewarding the excellence of our students and to thank them for their loyalty and patronage of our company. I have always been of the belief that talk is cheap, practical action speaks much louder than words. I am sure you would all agree with me on that!

In November, we at PFL are anticipating the launch of our new office in Nairobi, Kenya.

I am sure you will be as excited as we are if you are a Kenyan student or sponsor viewing it. Based in Westlands, the new office boasts 5,000 square feet and will host international education exhibitions, presentations, seminars and individual interview sessions. It is in an impressive brand new building with all modern facilities. We will be inviting institutions from all of our partner countries to Nairobi so if you are interested in multi-study destination choices and you want a professional, expert service, you will know where you need to go – PFL Nairobi! The Director for Africa and the Director for Administration & HR (Africa) for PFL are already permanently located in Nairobi and have re-located from the UK especially to be of service to you and yours. Boasting decades of academic and education experience between them, Guy and Suzanne Doughty look forward to making your acquaintance soon – along with their staff. The address and contact details of the new Nairobi office will be listed on this site in the near future so keep a look-out!

A couple of weeks ago, PFL took part in an education exhibition at the Emirates Stadium (Arsenal’s football ground for those who didn’t already know that!) in North London. It was organised by The Student World and it was aimed at students who are already in the UK (British nationals and other students from all over the world). It was a very busy day – particularly at the PFL stand. If you were one of the students or parents who came to see us, many thanks for taking your time to do so and we hope you found it worth your while. An article was written in The Daily Telegraph newspaper on the event and for those who didn’t see it, PFL were quoted and pictured in the article.

There was also a video made of the event which you can watch here.

Just before that, in September, PFL’s Director of Business Development for Australasia, Mr Victor Rajeevan managed an Australian university delegation to West Africa. Nine great Australian universities visited Accra in Ghana and Abuja and Lagos in Nigeria.

This was the very first time that such a number of Australian Higher Education institutions had made such a trip to West Africa. The event was very well received by students and sponsors and again, if you were one of those who attended, I hope you found it to be enjoyable and informative. I know that Victor came away from this trip with very positive feelings. Not that he had much time to enjoy them – he dropped in to Pakistan on his way back to home in Melbourne and proceeded to do presentations on study opportunities for Australia and New Zealand to students in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore!

Wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay well and stay well informed. Stay with PFL.
 

Until next time Allah-hafiz/God bless you.

 

Lawrie Green
Chairman, PFL Group International Ltd

 

chairman@preparationforlife.com