Educators providing Courses in Edinburgh

Overview In today's competitive business world firms are under unprecedented pressure to deliver value to their shareholders and other key stakeholders. Senior executives in all parts of the organisation are finding that they need some degree of financial know-how to cope with the responsibility placed on them as business managers and key decision-makers; monitoring and improving business performance, investing in capital projects, mergers and acquisitions and budgets. All require some degree of financial knowledge. 

About this Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) This 4 half-day Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) course presents the principles and best practices of portfolio management in the upstream (E&P) oil and gas industry. The VILT course is equally valuable for small independents, large integrated international companies and national oil companies. The VILT course consists of presentations, case studies, illustrative practical exercises and syndicate discussions. Particular emphasis is given to pragmatic portfolio management approaches and solutions which can be implemented swiftly without recourse to major investments in planning and portfolio management software. The VILT course will draw on examples from your expert course leader's 35+ years' experience in the oil and gas industry as an explorationist, upstream vice-president and management consultant. The VILT course handout will comprise softcopy slides used in the presentation and a softcopy workbook for the exercises. Participants will gain proficiency in portfolio management techniques, understand how and why to undertake this activity and be able to apply key concepts directly in the business of their teams / divisions. The VILT course will be presented over 4 half-days, using Microsoft Teams or Zoom and a proprietary set of VILT tools. Participants will be asked to complete a pre course questionnaire (PCQ) addressing their objectives and experience, and attend a session to familiarise themselves with VILT tools before course commencement.     Training Objectives To present the tools, concepts and principles of portfolio management To define the quantitative metrics which are used to describe projects in a portfolio To understand the benefits of portfolio management at different stages of the upstream business: in strategy development, opportunity screening, business development, drilling prospects, conducting appraisal of discoveries and developing fields To put portfolio management in the organisational context by describing the role of the portfolio management team and examining how value assurance (quality control) is best conducted on portfolio data for projects and assets To demonstrate how portfolio management contributes to improved business performance By the end of the VILT course, participants will understand: Key concepts and principles of portfolio management How to design a simple portfolio database and describe complex projects in a small number of objective metrics How to segment the portfolio into meaningful units How to use portfolio data in making business choices and decisions at the strategic and tactical levels The extent to which it is meaningful and reasonable to make comparisons across different portfolio segments How the portfolio management team can support the wider business in decision-making Target Audience This VILT course is specially designed for exploration and development geoscientists, E&P economists and finance staff, and E&P managers. Both technical and non-technical staff will benefit from the concepts presented. Companies are encouraged to send participants from different functions and seniority levels to gain great benefits especially those which would like to implement the concepts presented in this VILT course. Course Level Basic or Foundation Training Methods The VILT course will be delivered online in 4 half-day sessions comprising 4 hours per day, with 2 breaks of 10 minutes per day. The VILT course will be presented in an interactive workshop format that allows for discussion. Course Duration: 4 half-day sessions, 4 hours per session (16 hours in total). Trainer Your expert course leader draws on more than 35 years of experience managing, reviewing and directing projects in all aspects of the exploration business: from exploration business development (new ventures), through prospect maturation and drilling, to the appraisal of discoveries. He has more than 30 years' experience with Shell International, followed by 10 years consulting to NOCs in Asia Pacific, Africa and South America and independent oil companies in the United Kingdom, continental Europe and North America. Other than delivering industry training, he has worked on projects for oil & gas companies of all sizes, including independents, national oil companies and (super)-majors, private equity firms, hedge funds and investment banks, and leading management consulting firms. He is an alumnus of Cambridge University. He has M.A and Ph.D. degrees in geology and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London as well as a respected speaker on management panels at international conferences. Professional Experience Management consultancy & executive education: Advice to investment banks, businesses and major consulting firms. Specialist expertise in upstream oil & gas, with in depth experience in exploration strategy, portfolio valuation and risk assessment. Leadership: Managed and led teams and departments ranging from 3 - 60 in size. Provided technical leadership to a cadre of 800 explorationists in Shell worldwide. Member of the 12-person VP team leading global exploration in Shell, a $3 bln p.a. business and recognised as the most effective and successful among its industry peers. Accountability & decision-making: Accountable for bottom-line results: in a range of successful exploration ventures with budgets ranging from $10's million to $100's million. Made, or contributed to, complex business decisions / investments, taking into account strategic, technical, commercial, organisational and political considerations. Corporate governance: Served as non-executive director on the Boards of the South Rub al Khali Company (oversight of gas exploration studies and drilling in Saudi Arabia) and SEAPOS B.V. (exploration deep-water drilling and facilities management). Technical & operations: Skilled in exploration opportunity evaluation, the technical de risking of prospects, portfolio analysis and managing the interface between exploration and well engineering activities. Unparalleled knowledge of the oil and gas basins of the world, and of different operating regimes and contractual structures, ranging from Alaska, Gulf of Mexico and Brazil, through to the Middle East, former Soviet Union, Far East and Australia. Safety: Following an unsatisfactory audit, became accountable for safety performance in Shell's exploration new ventures. Through personal advocacy and leadership of a small team, delivered pragmatic and effective HSE systems, tools and staff training / engagement and a dramatically improved safety record. R&D: Experience in the 3 key roles in R&D: scientific researcher, research manager, and 'customer' for R&D products. After re-defining Shell's exploration R&D strategy, led the re-structuring of the R&D organization, its interface with 'the business' and approaches to deployment and commercialization. Strategy: Accomplished at formulating competitive strategies in business, R&D and technology deployment, translating them into actionable tactics and results. Defined the exploration strategy of PDO (a Shell subsidiary in Oman) and latterly of Shell's global exploration programme. Professional education, behavioural/motivational coaching: Experienced in organisational re-design, change management, leadership education and talent development. Commercial skills: Personally negotiated drilling compensation claims, educational contracts and E&P contracts, with values of $5 million to $100+ million. POST TRAINING COACHING SUPPORT (OPTIONAL) To further optimise your learning experience from our courses, we also offer individualized 'One to One' coaching support for 2 hours post training. We can help improve your competence in your chosen area of interest, based on your learning needs and available hours. This is a great opportunity to improve your capability and confidence in a particular area of expertise. It will be delivered over a secure video conference call by one of our senior trainers. They will work with you to create a tailor-made coaching program that will help you achieve your goals faster. Request for further information about post training coaching support and fees applicable for this. Accreditions And Affliations

About this Training Course The industry is surrounded with examples of poor Turnarounds, which have injured people and damaged businesses. If Turnarounds are not properly planned, managed and controlled, companies run the risks of serious safety and budget penalties, costly schedule delays and negative impacts on customers. As a consequence, operators are starting to explore Turnaround best practices and establish a more robust methodology. Turnarounds are the highest risk activity that we routinely perform in the industry, but they are also an area of massive variability in approach and outcome. Central to the variability is a lack of written methodologies and training - there are around 1,000 times as many books on maintenance as there are on turnaround management. All too often companies see Turnarounds as something to be survived and therefore it is no surprise that most Turnarounds fail. This 4 full-day course is based upon the Carcharodon 'Best of the Best' model of excellence for shutdown management with inputs from people who have done it from the trenches along with some of the world's most experienced shutdown specialists. All this experience has been condensed into a core methodology - our blueprint for success. It converts Turnarounds from a high-risk nuisance to a business opportunity. It has been used on multiple sites around the world, has been the basis of two books and is also supplemented by a roadmap for building and controlling a successful Turnaround. This is a certificate course where participants will have the option to participate for a short exam on the final day of the course to gain a Certificate in Advanced Turnaround, Shutdown & Outage Management from petroEDGE and the Academy of Turnarounds Operations and Maintenance. The purpose of this course is to equip the participants on the use of the Model of Excellence for Turnarounds and the principles of Challenge Planning to equip attendees with an advanced approach to Turnaround Management. The course is backed by real situations, high levels of interaction, group exercises and multiple case studies. It will explore the underlying mechanisms and levers that shape a Turnaround to demonstrate why we sometimes succeed or fail and introduce new conceptual approaches that can increase our chances of succeeding. Training Objectives Upon completion of this course, the participants will be able to: Position Turnarounds as part of an overall strategy of improving business performance. Build the best Turnaround team possible from available resources. Help senior management build effective steering teams. Reduce the downtime associated with turnarounds while simultaneously improving safety performance. Use the Model of Excellence to analyse their own performance, explain key principles to others and build a detailed methodology of their own. Maximise the benefits of planning and preparation through a proactive challenge planning process where the participants will build a Turnaround from the ground up from concept to execution and review. Target Audience This course has been researched and developed for Experienced Managers, Superintendents, Supervisors, Engineers, Planners, Team Leaders and Coordinators of: Shutdowns/Turnarounds Maintenance Engineering Reliability Plant Outage Asset Management Operations/Audit Safety Course Level Basic or Foundation Trainer Your expert course leader is a highly experienced facilitator in maintenance improvement, change management, continuous improvement and capability development as a management coach and trainer. He has a strong focus on people with an emphasis on developing people and the practicalities of improving maintenance performance rather than just the theory. He has worked internationally across Europe, America, the Middle East and Africa with extensive experience in Oil and Gas, the Chemicals sector and manufacturing as well as working with clients in Steel and Power Generation. As a result, he can bring best practice from a wide variety of sources. He spent the first fifteen years of his career as a specialist trainer working for companies such as Lloyds British Training Services and Rolls Royce. He then went on to work as a Principal consultant for ABB consulting for 15 years. During this time, he refined some of the established improvement tools including how and when to apply them for maximum impact whilst still continuing to develop and deliver training in support of this. Recent work has included improvements to the Work Order to Work Execution processes of Engineering departments and focused on Reliability, Planning and Scheduling. This ongoing field experience has helped him test and refine specialist training in a number of areas. He has been able to use his own experience to contribute with other maintenance specialists to the Carcharodon models of excellence. Its methodologies are recognised as 'Best of the Best' standards providing the inspiration for two books, projects that have won awards such as the prodigious UK Chemical Industries annual Excellence in Engineering award and form the basis of this training. He was recently awarded a national award as coach of the year. He uses the same skills to ensure that he does not just preach maintenance best practice, he discusses it, explains it and ensures that delegates have a much more personal and flexible experience. POST TRAINING COACHING SUPPORT (OPTIONAL) To further optimise your learning experience from our courses, we also offer individualized 'One to One' coaching support for 2 hours post training. We can help improve your competence in your chosen area of interest, based on your learning needs and available hours. This is a great opportunity to improve your capability and confidence in a particular area of expertise. It will be delivered over a secure video conference call by one of our senior trainers. They will work with you to create a tailor-made coaching program that will help you achieve your goals faster. Request for further information post training support and fees applicable Accreditions And Affliations

Data analysis translates numbers and data into information that can be used to solve problems or track business performance. Data analysis produces graphs, charts, tables and reports. Data analysis is in high demand across all sectors, such as finance, consulting, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, government and education. The ability to pay attention to detail, communicate well and be highly organised are essential skills for data analysts. They not only need to understand the data but be able to provide insight and analysis through clear visual, written and verbal communication. This course provides the knowledge and skills to help you hone your data analysis skills.

Overview Account Management is an important role within any organisation. Account Managers are responsible for nurturing customer relationships and increasing sales with their organisation’s key customers. The Account Manager will usually act as a first point of contact for clients; responding to complaints, purchases, project requests and any general queries. Their approach should help maintain client relationships in order to ensure that they continue to use the company for business. This one day course can help them learn the key skills they need. Description Build a strong account management team that are able to effectively manage customer relationships and drive sales The role of account manager is both important and demanding. The account manager acts as the ‘face’ of the business and should professionally represent the business by creating a strategy for success and delivering a high level of customer service. Account managers need to be effective communicators, needing to both engage with the client and also develop internal relationships to ensure promises are delivered upon. Another key responsibility of the account manager is to identify business opportunities and help drive business results for their company. Account Management can be a very challenging role depending on the number of clients, the range of industries the clients represent, and the nature and attitude of the client. The main focus of the role is to provide continual client service to clients, this may include quarterly or annual business reviews, additions to the account in terms of extra services supplied plus face-to-face and online meetings, on a regular basis. The Account Manager will also be responsible for delivering high levels of client service to ensure that clients do not leave and will need to create a strategy around this. This strategy will depend on the type of client in terms of size of the business commitment, Key Performance Indicators plus contractual agreements which may dictate the framework for the relationship. Building a personal relationship as well as a business one is key to becoming an effective Account Manager. After all, “It is easier to fire a business associate or employee than it is to fire a friend”. Why should people attend this training course? Well, just imagine if your employees were better able to: Build effective business relationships with clients and help drive sales performance. Add value to clients and help ensure their requirements are met or exceeded. Measure the performance of their key accounts and adapt their approach accordingly. Understand the key attributes required for success and work on developing them. Set a strategy for sales success and create action plans for pre-defined goals. Monitor and measure their own performance and set their own targets. Ultimately, this training course will help employees to focus on what is required to succeed in the role of account manager, building a strategy with clear actions and helping the organisation to business success. Who is this course for? This Account Management training course is for anyone that works in an account management role or relevant sales function and will assist the participants in improving their working practices, developing customer relationships and in turn increasing business performance and sales success. Requirements for Attendance Prior sales experience is recommended, but an awareness of the sales process as a minimum will suffice.

Are you seeking to make a real impact at work by gaining new leadership skills and enhancing your personal development? Our accredited Leadership Foundation Programme provides you with in-depth understanding of how to enhance business performance and employee wellbeing, and how you as an effective change leader can coach, inspire, engage and empower your people. And you gain an internationally recognised ILM Level 5 Award in Leadership and Management.

Coaching workshop for managers who want to use their coaching capabilities to improve the business performance of their coachees.

In today's competitive business world firms are under unprecedented pressure to deliver value to their shareholders and other key stakeholders. Senior executives in all parts of the organisation are finding that they need some degree of financial know how to cope with the responsibility placed on them as business managers and key decision-makers; monitoring and improving business performance, investing in capital projects, mergers and acquisitions: all require some degree of financial knowledge. The key financial skills are not as difficult to learn as many people believe and in the hands of an experienced senior executive they can provide a formidable competitive advantage. After completing this course delegates will be able to: Understand fundamental business finance concepts; understand, analyse and interpret financial statements: Profit Statement, Balance Sheet and Cashflow Statement Understand the vital difference between profit and cashflow; identify the key components of working capital and how they can be managed to generate strong cashflow Evaluate pricing decisions based on an understanding of the nature of business costs and their impact on gross margin and break-even sales; managing pricing, discounts and costs to generate strong business profits; understand how lean manufacturing methods improve profit Use powerful analytical tools to measure and improve the performance of their own company and assess the effectiveness of their competitors Apply and interpret techniques for assessing and comparing investment opportunities in capital projects, business acquisitions and other ventures; understand and apply common methods of business valuation Understand the role of business finance in formulating and implementing competitive business strategy; the role of budgeting as part of the planning process and the various approaches to budgeting and performance measurement 1 Basic principles Delivering value to key stakeholders Accounting concepts, GAAP, IFRS and common terms Understanding and using the balance sheet Understanding and using the profit statement Recognising the vital difference between profit and cashflow Understanding and using the cashflow statement What financial statements can and cannot tell us 2 Managing and improving cashflow Sources of finance and their advantages and disadvantages What is working capital and why is it so important? Managing stocks, debtors and creditors Understanding how working capital drives business growth Understanding and avoiding the over-trading trap Unlocking the funds tied up in fixed assets: asset backed loans and leasing 3 Managing and improving profit Understanding how profits generate cashflow The fundamental nature of costs: fixed and variable business costs Understanding gross margin and break-even How common pricing methods affect gross margin and profit Effective strategies to improve gross margin Using value chain analysis to reduce costs Lean manufacturing methodsUnderstanding Just-in-time, 6 Sigma and Kaizen methods Improving profitEffective and defective strategies 4 Measuring and managing business performance Measures of financial performance and strength Investor behaviour: the risk and reward relationship Return on investment (ROI): the ultimate measure of business performance How profit margin and net asset turnover drive return on net assets Why some companies are more profitable that others Understanding competitive advantage: cost and differentiation advantage Why great companies failWhat happened to Kodak? Using a 'Pyramid of Ratios' to improve business performance Using Critical Success Factors to develop Key Performance Indicators 5 Budgeting and forecasting methods Using budgets to support strategy Objectives and methods for effective budgets Using budgets to monitor and manage business performance Alternative approaches to budgeting Developing and implementing Balanced Scorecards Beyond Budgeting Forecasting methods and techniques Identifying key business drivers Using rolling forecasts and 'what-if' models to aid decision-making

This workshop has been designed to help managers understand their responsibilities and what they need to do to ensure compliance with current workplace legislation - including the fire safety and CDM regulations. The day will cover the legal background - including an appreciation of how safety legislation has evolved and why; the logic behind recent developments and the implications for staff and employers; key areas of current legislation; roles and responsibilities in health and safety management, including monitoring contractors and suppliers effectively; implementing sound health and safety policies and procedures; getting staff on board, and implementing effective systems. Also, recognising potential risks and hazards and developing strategies to minimise their impact in the workplace. This course will give participants an understanding of: The broader context of the key areas of health and safety regulation which apply to your organisation Existing health and safety practice and guide them in how to shape and implement an effective health and safety policy What they should do and the procedures to support it Potential areas of risk in the workplace - and how to take action to minimise the threat to staff safety How sound health and safety processes can contribute to business performance 1 Understanding the workplace legislation Overview of health and safety and workplace legislation Compliance, the role of the facilities manager, and who is accountable? Breakout session to discuss where we are now and to highlight issues of concern Applying required policies and procedures Developing and implementation/review of the safety policy Communicating with users, clients and contractors Health and safety manual 'Selling' health and safety 2 Key legislation - a practical working guide Asbestos Regulations Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 / 2015 Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Regulations 1992 Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 Fire Precautions (Workplace ) Regulations 2006 Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1992 REACH - Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2006 Work Equipment Regulations 3 Controlling contractors Understanding the Regulations Selecting and assessing contractors Understanding and setting accountability Why a method statement? How to apply a permit to work system Safe systems of work Round-table discussion to bring out issues from participants' own experience 4 Risk assessment Understanding your hazards Identifying specialist areas How to undertake these assessments Implementation of sound systems and processes Syndicate exercise identifying where assessments are needed and carrying out assessments 5 Keeping the work environment safe Sick building syndrome and legionella Asbestos Waste management Pest control Provisions for first aid Accident reporting and investigation At-work driver safety Security 6 Fire safety Understanding the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order Fire certificates The fire risk assessment Testing fire-fighting equipment? Emergency procedures Workshop to examine the procedures for dealing with different types of emergencies 7 Ergonomics programme Ergonomics - important or irrelevant? Are you complying with HSE regulations? Furniture and equipment Display screen equipment assessments Homeworking - your concern or not? Syndicate exercise to review what to do when relocating or refurbishing an office 8 Inspecting and auditing Role of Health and Safety Executive Inspectors - 'be prepared' FM role Staff/trade union involvement Independent audits Records and reports Communicating the results 9 Action plan Participants to list actions they need to take after the course

An insightful, enjoyable and experiential programme to help you analyse data and information and make a balanced decision based upon sound commercial reasoning. It will enable you to identify options, make decisions and take actions based on a thorough analysis combined with instinct and intuition to make a positive effect on profitability. This programme will help you: Identify ways to analyse data and sort relevant from irrelevant information Develop analytical and numerate thinking, and consider the financial implications of a decision Make decisions based on sound commercial reasoning - a mix of intuition and analysis Select from a range of tools to analyse a situation and apply these effectively Understand how costs and profits are calculated Use tried-and-tested techniques to manage and control your budgets Appreciate the fundamentals of financial analysis Focus on the bottom line Identify the basics of capital investment appraisal for your business Evaluate results and seek opportunities for improvement to your business 1 The commercial environment What do shareholders and investors want? What do managers want? Profit v non-profit organisations Investor expectations 2 Financial and non-financial information Risk and reward considerations Drivers of commercial decisions 3 Running a business A practical exercise to bring financial statements to life Different stakeholder interests in a business The impact and consequences of decisions on financial statements 4 Where do I make a difference to the organisation? How can I contribute to an improved business performance? Key performance indicators - measuring the right things A 'balanced scorecard' approach - it's not all about money! 5 A 'balanced scorecard' approach Analysing and reviewing my contribution to the business direction What is the current focus of my commercial decisions? Developing the business in the right way - getting the balance right! Where should/could it be in the future? Do my decisions support the overall vision and strategy? 6 Making commercial decisions Left-brain and right-brain thinking Convergent and divergent thinking Analysis and instinct Interactive case study exercise - emotional and rational decisions Reflection - what is my style of making decisions 7 Let's consider the customer! Identifying target markets Differentiating propositions and products Customer service considerations Marketing considerations and initiatives Pricing strategies and considerations 8 Strategic analysis The external environment The internal environment LEPEST analysis SWOT analysis Forecasting Group activity - analysing markets and the competition How do these improve your decisions? 9 Comparing performance Analysing key financial ratios Ways to compare performance and results Break-even analysis 10 Profit and loss accounts and budgeting Managing income and expenditure The budgeting process How does this link to the profit and loss account? Managing and controlling a cost centre/budget The role of the finance department Different ways of budgeting Incremental budgeting Zero-based budgeting 11 Understanding the balance sheet Purpose of balance sheets Understanding and navigating the content What does a balance sheet tell you? How do you affect your balance sheet? Links to the profit and loss account A practical team exercise that brings financial statements to life 12 Business decisions exercise How does this improve your decisions? A practical exercise to apply new knowledge and bring commercial thinking to to life The impact and consequences of decisions on financial statements 13 Working capital Why is this important? The importance of keeping cash flowing Business decisions that affect cash Calculating profit 14 Capital investment appraisal Capex v Opex Payback Return on investment The future value of money The concept of hurdle rate 15 Lessons learned and action planning So what? Recap and consolidation of learning The decisions that I need to consider Actions to achieve my plan