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Holmes Group acquires Sol, expands to North America

Australia-based Holmes Group has announced a North American acquisition which means the English language education company is now a sizeable global operator. It has entered the US and Canadian markets after acquiring four North American locations of Sol Schools International, The PIE News has learned.

Sol Schools Miami Beach. After granting I-20 student visas for a year, Holmes Group plans to expand to other US locations.

The latest acquisition means that Holmes Group will now offer ESL courses at 14 locations in all four major English speaking markets

The latest acquisition means that Holmes Group, which also owns Oxford House Colleges, Oxford English College and Richmond Language Training in the UK, will now offer English language courses at 14 locations in all four major English speaking markets.

The group has also announced that it will move into the pathway market after signing an agreement with University of Buckingham in the UK to offer foundation courses from January of next year.

“We’ve definitely got a strategy of going further into North America”

With Sol schools in Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Miami Beach, Holmes Group director Stephen Nagle, told The PIE News the acquisition is just the starting point for future growth in the region.  “We’re thrilled about covering all four English speaking markets and the potential of expanding in the US is very exciting,” he said.

The Miami location has been ACCET accredited and is awaiting licensing to issue I-20 student visas.  After operating for a year, Nagle says the group plans to open more locations around the US and is also in the process of gaining vocational accreditation for courses at the Canadian locations.   “We’ve definitely got a strategy of going further into North America,” he said.

“We think we’re going to have a good summer in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary and expanding the Oxford House and Holmes Group is fantastic,” he added.

Holmes Group is a private provider of VET, higher education and ESL currently catering to some 5,000 students at five Holmes Institute locations around Australia and one in Hong Kong. It also operates four English language centres around the UK with more than 2,000 annual enrolments.

Sol Schools International opened in 1996 in Toronto and has between 500-800 students per week across all four locations. In 2012, then-CEO Houman Nikmanesh severed ties with International House in order to open the Vancouver location.

“We have not done pathways because we’re our own degree awarding institutions in Australia but in the UK we’re starting with University of Buckingham”

Nagle says Sol will maintain its name but will be added as a member of the Oxford House College Group. “Sol has been around for 10 years, people know it, the identity is established. It’s very well branded and we didn’t want to destroy that brand,” he commented.

Expansion into pathway programmes is also part of Holmes Group’s growth strategy. “We have not done pathways because we’re our own degree awarding institutions in Australia but in the UK we’re starting with University of Buckingham which we’re excited about,” said Nagle.

Founded in 1973, the university is only one of three private providers in the UK to be granted a Royal Charter allowing them to award degrees.

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