SI-UK Shanghai and SI-UK Lagos opened last month, following the opening of an office in Bangkok in October 2013. An aggressive marketing spend is being allocated to each of these markets over the next three years as SI-UK builds an international student audience in these respective countries.

SI-UK currently assists with 17,000 applications to UK universities annually, an increase of 25% on the previous year

Director Orion Judge told The PIE News: “SI-UK carefully researched countries that were undergoing significant growth in student enquiries to the UK by reviewing growth projections.”

He added, “We also spoke to key UK university partners who felt that our aggressive marketing, coupled with the SI-UK method, would lead to an increase in high quality applications from these regions.”

A combination of traditional channels and cutting-edge technologies including mobile marketing and social media are being used to target prospective students.

“Our electronic, print, web and partners engagements have led to our IT and marketing departments growing three-fold over the last year, enabling greater brand awareness as well as quality lead generation,” recounted Judge.

An advantage for the company is its active offices in London and Manchester, which cater to “onshore” students domiciled in the UK, meaning those from Nigeria, China, and Thailand can access SI-UK in the UK too.

Unlike other agencies, SI-UK has an in-house visa team and even an “Oxbridge service” to help international students gain access to the UK’s top universities.

“Our UK offices also act as a further USP for that extra level of support once a student has left their home country,” said Judge, who claimed that SI-UK was becoming a global brand now in the sector.

Founded in 2006 in Tokyo by  Dwayne Gallagher, Orion Judge and Vicki Smith, SI-UK currently assists with 17,000 applications to UK universities annually, an increase of 25% on the previous year.

The year-on-year growth can in part be attributed to an acceleration scheme fund awarded to the company in 2013. SI-UK received a growth coach who has developed a three-year growth plan for the business. “This input has proved invaluable and has allowed us to accelerate growth as well as support it with the appropriate infrastructure,” explained Judge.