Sign up

Have some pie!

Krister Weidenhielm, ESL, Switzerland

ESL is one of the largest study abroad agencies, with 37 offices in 13 countries. It started life as Ecole Suisse de Langues, before branching into the agency business too. Krister Weidenhielm, Head of Product Development and Purchase at ESL, talks to The PIE.

The PIE:  ESL has significantly expanded. Can you give me a brief history of the company. 

"There are more and more people who realise that study abroad is an intelligent holiday"

KW: ESL started as a school offering French language junior camps in the beautiful French-Swiss area in 1996. Quite organically we evolved to offer agency services too. I would say without thinking too much we developed our other side of things by starting to contact schools and find solutions for the requests we were having.

When you start, you are open to many things. The two founders of ESL who are Patrick [Siegenthaler] and Alan [Vadi] were obviously focused on the first objective of ESL which was to offer French language camps for kids. But they were definitely open to develop everything related to the industry that we were discovering.

We had one camp and it was a seasonal, during the holidays. So we had time to do something else and started the agency in 1997-1998 which was when I came on board. Very organic!

The PIE: How does operating on both ‘sides’ of the industry help your business?

KW: It gave our agency, I believe, a possibility to interact with partner schools with more empathy. To be more creative as well, because we started as French foreign language for juniors – I mean this is very niche – in Switzerland. So by being in such a niche product from the beginning we had to differentiate as a school. I see this now as part of our DNA.

The PIE: How has the agency side of ESL expanded so successfully?

KW: I have to say that in Switzerland, there is a certain level of quality and professionalism in counselling students… you know, that face-to-face customised service that we’ve invested in to make sure the students are well informed about what they have purchased.

“From the beginning we had to differentiate as a school. I see this now as part of our DNA”

From quite early on we applied a certain style to the way we operated. We were able to bring a certain standard – which is no judgment on other ways of doing it. But I know from feedback that it was something that differentiated us. That was appreciated. Be it from Italy, from Panama, from wherever, a student and a booking was treated in the same way – let’s call it the ESL way.

And as we expanded, that also represented an asset for us, which meant we had the interest of schools: we could contribute actively to their nationality mix.

The PIE: How difficult was it to expand into these other countries- starting with Sweden and France in 2003? 

KW: In the beginning, it was pretty much based, to tell the truth, on the person on site. On knowing someone first whom we could trust, that was getting along with us. We had to customise each office enough to be local. But at the same time we have the same group position as far as the choice of a partner school.

I don’t choose one school for Italy in Vancouver and another school for Spain in Vancouver.  But they might have certain needs in Spain that they don’t have in Italy. So all of these brought to our business an international dimension. Which is today what we define ourselves as being: “an international agency” based in Switzerland.

The PIE: What challenges does the future hold? 

KW: It’s quite challenging but it’s that alchemy to be able to consolidate as you grow. You know we could open in Papua New Guinea tomorrow if we wanted. Because that’s not difficult you just have to find an office, an internet connection and that’s it. But it’s what you do with it which is the real question. And here the key word is consolidation. I believe both are possible. It is still what we aim at. To keep on growing as we consolidate.

“Today we define ourselves as being ‘an international agency’ based in Switzerland”

The PIE: When I became initially aware of ESL it seemed like a really strong brand because it was so good online. Yet you obviously put a lot of stead into the fact that it’s good to have face-to-face interaction. 

KW: Yes definitely. It is again talking about poles that have a compliment or a chemistry there. I’m quite convinced that the type of services we offer, with the portfolio we have – which is, to my knowledge, the most diversified portfolio in the industry – need both facets. [more>>]

Related articles

Still looking? Find by category:

Add your comment

One Response to Krister Weidenhielm, ESL, Switzerland

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Disclaimer: All user contributions posted on this site are those of the user ONLY and NOT those of The PIE Ltd or its associated trademarks, websites and services. The PIE Ltd does not necessarily endorse, support, sanction, encourage, verify or agree with any comments, opinions or statements or other content provided by users.
PIENEWS

To receive The PIE Weekly with our top stories and insights, and other updates from us, please

SIGN UP HERE