Training provider Scientiam in trouble

LIVERPOOL training company Scientiam has been placed into administration, TheBusinessDesk.com understands.

A subsidiary of Wirral Metropolitan College, Scientiam has around 40 staff at offices on Hanover Street in the city centre. The company operates the Academy ONE retail skills training faciltiy for the Liverpool ONE shopping centre.

Staff were called into a meeting on Monday afternoon and were told by managers that the business was suffering severe financial difficulties.

Founded in 2001 Scientiam is one of the largest training providers in the North West. It works with both the Skills Funding Agency and Education Funding Agency to deliver a range of Government-funded programmes.

The company has worked with more than 1,500 employers across the region and supported more than 6,000 apprentices and learners.

Scientiam delivers its training across a comprehensive list of sectors including construction, catering and hospitality, business, sports and leisure, management, green energy, and retail. In the year to the end of July 2011 it saw turnover fall from £3.8m to £3m, but reduced its losses from £400,000 in 2010 to £29,641.