On Saturday 15^th August SMART Way Forward Managing Director Nadeem Shaikh was asked to be Team Manager for England Athletics at their ‘Race the Train’ home international endurance event in Tywyn, Wales.

Nadeem, who is already a fully qualified UK Athletics Level 3 Performance Endurance Coach looked after Team England to gain further experience as part of his role on the National Coach Development Programme (NCDP) with England Athletics. The course was 14 miles of varied terrain around the Welsh countryside in Tywyn which included lots of steep muddy climbs and downhill fast treks . The event hosted almost 1100 athletes from all over the UK and Europe and has quickly established itself as one of the most testing endurance events in the country.

The event was won by Mike Kallenberg who was representing Team Wales. Mike completes the course in 1 hour 19 minutes 26 seconds. Andy Greenleaf from Team England (Serpentine AC) finished 2^nd in 1 hour 20 minutes 10 seconds, with Andy Nixon from Team England (Stockport Harriers) finishing 3^rd in 1 hour 20 minutes and 13 seconds. Team England won the team price, with Wales finishing second.

‘It was a real honour to be the Team Manager for England at this event. Thank you to England Athletics for this opportunity. Both Andy Greenleaf and Andy Nixon had a tremendous run to finish 2^nd and 3^rd at this event and it was great to win the team prize. I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of Andy Greenleaf and Andy Nixon at future international events in the coming months. Finally, I would just like to say a special thank you to the organisers for Race the Train, as well as Welsh Athletics for looking after us all so well on the day’ said Nadeem

More information about England Athletics can be found at www.englandathletics.org

To learn more about the Coach Development workshops delivering by SMART Way Forward, pleae visit http://www.smartwayforward.co.uk/training/

SMART Way Forward is proud to announce that we will be the official sponsors for elite marathon runner Daniel Davies for the next 12 months.

Daniel Davies is a successful British elite marathon runner who competes for Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers and Barnet and District Athletics Club. He is coached by UK Athletics qualified Level 3 performance endurance coach and Managing Director of SMART Way Forward, Nadeem Shaikh.

Daniel finished 41st in this year’s Virgin London Marathon and his personal best times are incredibly impressive over a variety of distances. For 10K Daniel has run 33 minutes 03 seconds, half marathon 1 hour 13 minutes 28 seconds, 20 mile in 1 hour 55 minutes 25 seconds and Full marathon 2 hours 25 minutes 39 seconds. He was the 4th Team GB runner through when he ran the BMW Frankfurt Marathon in 2104 and 2nd GB runner when he ran the ING New York Marathon in 2013. Therefore, he was the obvious choice when it came to SMART Way Forward considering sponsoring and supporting an up and coming potential Olympic athlete.

Training as a full time athlete to try and achieve his dreams of one day representing Team GB at an Olympic Games, Daniel has already been very consistent in his performances achieving tremendous success in the UK and overseas over the marathon distance. However, unfortunately Daniel is not currently funded or supported by sport’s National Governing Body, British Athletics or any other sponsors. Therefore, SMART Way Forward stepped in and agreed to sponsor Daniel for 12 months from immediate effect so he could focus on his training and not worry about the financial pressures of purchasing running kit, paying for treatment, race entry fees, running shoes and travel costs.

Daniel Davies said “I feel so very lucky, grateful and privileged for the opportunity I have been given by SMART Way Forward. The financial support will make such a difference to my training, racing and injury prevention to ensure I can continue to compete at the highest level. I am very excited about the future and what lies ahead. Thank you so much”

“I am absolutely delighted to announce that SMART Way Forward will be sponsoring and supporting Daniel with his marathon training, which should hopefully bring him a few steps closer to his Olympic journey. I have known Daniel for a number of years as one of the athletes whom I coach in my squad at Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers. He is a very mature, professional, focused and dedicated athlete and we are all very proud and inspired to follow his progress over the years. The financial support we can offer him for the next 12 months will hopefully go some way to easing the burden and ensuring he has what he needs to give him every opportunity to help him fulfil his dreams of representing team GB at an Olympic Games. To be part of this journey with Daniel is incredibly exciting for us as a company and we wish him every success now and for the future” said Nadeem Shaikh, Managing Director of SMART Way Forward.

To view Daniel Davies’ online profile on the British Athletics Power of 10 website, please visit

http://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=373313

Established sports equipment supplier Mark Harrod Limited will soon be celebrating their tenth anniversary. Based in Beccles, Suffolk they have been at the forefront of sports equipment innovation, design and distribution for over 10 years working with premiership sports clubs, the London Olympics, various sport’s National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and many other clubs, leisure centres, schools and universities around the UK.

An established family business, Mark Harrod Limited is big enough to deliver, yet small enough to care and offer a personal, professional service from start to finish.  Having recently moved to bigger offices in Beccles, which now includes a larger capacity warehouse and a fleet of delivery vehicles, the business is going from strength to strength.

Consistently delivering a professional service and developing the skills, knowledge and experience of their staff has always been a priority at Mark Harrord. So when it came to staff training and CPD (continuing professional development) we were delighted that Mark Harrod Limited chose SMART Way Forward.

“At Mark Harrod Limited we are always looking to develop our staff, along with our products to ensure we can offer our customer the highest levels of quality and service. We appointed SMART Way Forward to deliver a series of bespoke management and customer service training workshops to help us exceed expectations in all areas of the business. The training has been extremely beneficial and we would have no hesitation in recommending SMART Way Forward to other organisations” said Mark Harrod, Managing Director of Mark Harrod Limited.

Nadeem Shaikh, Managing Director of SMART Way Forward said “I have known Mark and the team at Mark Harrod Limited for many years and these are very exciting times for their business. They are a fantastic sports equipment supplier, offering a wide range of quality products and services around the UK. I am delighted that they have chosen SMART Way Forward to deliver a CPD management and customer service training programme to their staff.  We are really looking forward to working with them all over the coming months to help them develop their skills and be the best that they can be”

To learn more about Mark Harrod Limited, please visit www.markharrod.com

To learn more about our SMART management training, sales training or customer service training programmes, please visit www.smartwayforward.co.uk/training/

A full list of the training courses we deliver at SMART Way Forward can be found at www.smartwayforward.co.uk/our-courses/

WASPS rugby club are one of the most established premiership rugby clubs based in the UK. Located at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, they strive to deliver an all round memorable experience for all their customers, partners, sponsors and supporters.

With so many different marketing and promotional opportunities available at WASPS and The Ricoh,  when it came to developing the skills of their corporate sales and customer service teams, they needed a management and training consultancy who understood the sport, leisure, health and fitness industry.

Due to our extensive knowledge and experience of developing effective sales, management and customer service CPD (continuing professional development) training programmes for organisations around the UK, we were delighted that WASPS chose SMART Way Forward.

We designed a series of bespoke sales training workshops to help the team consistently deliver a professional consultative customer service experience every time. James Wootton, Corporate Sales Manager at WASPS said “At WASPS, we are always looking to develop the skills of our team so we can deliver a professional customer experience, each time, every time. We recently appointed SMART Way Forward to deliver a series of bespoke sales and customer service training workshops to help our corporate sales team exceed expectations. The training has been fun, effective and very beneficial and we would have no hesitation in recommending SMART Way Forward to others”

Nadeem Shaikh, Managing Director at SMART way Forward said “Being a passionate sports fan, I was delighted when we were contacted by James regarding a bespoke sale training / customer service training CPD programme for WASPS Rugby Club. The Ricoh Arena is such an iconic venue and offers so many different marketing and promotional opportunities. We are so proud to be working with James and his team to ensure they consistently deliver great results on and off the rugby pitch”

To learn more about WASPS rugby club, please visit www.wasps.co.uk

To learn more about the bespoke sales and customer service training programmes delivered by SMART Way Forward, please visit www.smartwayforward.co.uk/training/

A full list of the training courses we deliver at SMART Way Forward can be found at www.smartwayforward.co.uk/our-courses/

In the Summer of 2014, Bonar Yarns, one of the leading suppliers of high performance synthetic turf and carpet yarn around the world, appointed SMART Way Forward to deliver a focused Customer Service CPD (Continuing Professional Development) training programme to its team based in Dundee, Scotland. The programme was very well received by their customer service and sales team and has already helped the team become even more effective and efficient in their roles.

Bryn Lee, Commercial Director at Bonar Yarns said “Bonar Yarns is primarily a manufacturing company and our customer service is an essential link between our own production facilities and our customers. SMART Way Forward were asked to deliver a training programme focused on improving our service, communication skills and helping staff make best use of their time. This they have achieved through a series of onsite training sessions. The results have been excellent with great feedback from staff and customers. We would certainly recommend SMART Way Forward to other organisations where communication with customers is key to a successful business”

“It is an absolute pleasure working with Bryn and his team at Bonar Yarns. They are always looking to exceed their customer’s expectations by consistently delivering a high level of customer service, before, during and after an installation. So with this in mind, SMART Way Forward designed a bespoke ‘solutions focused’ training programme to help the team manage workloads and customer expectations.  Results have been fantastic and it is great to see theory being put into practice” said Nadeem Shaikh, Managing Director at SMART Way Forward

To learn more about Bonar Yarns, please visit www.bonaryarns.com

To learn more about the customer service training programme delivered by SMART Way Forward, please visit www.smartwayforward.co.uk/training/

A full list of the training courses we deliver at SMART Way Forward can be found at www.smartwayforward.co.uk/our-courses/