After 18 years as part of the successful Switzerland-based Ecole Suisse de Langues (ESL) Education Group, ESL Language Schools is breaking away to become a new independent entity named ALPADIA Language Schools.
ALPADIA will continue to offer language courses in Switzerland, France, Germany and England, where it hosts over 6,000 students each year across its network of four adult schools (16+) and 10 juniors and teens summer camps.
As well as a new name, the rebrand entails commercial registration change and full corporate identity and marketing support change, but there is no external investment behind the new direction and it has been described by ALPADIA as a “purely intentional development strategy.”
“We are confident that this strategic decision will benefit our partners, students, team and alumni”
“We are confident that this strategic decision will benefit our partners, students, team and alumni,” said ALPADIA’s General Manager Ugo Toselli.
“Our objective is to create a vibrant experience to nurture and encourage language development and build a sustainable future. We are all very excited to launch this 2014-2015 season,” he added.
While the schools group is now totally independent, it will continue to work with ESL Language Studies Abroad agency services, as well as its other network of over 100 agencies worldwide.
Speaking to The PIE News ALPADIA’s Sales Manager Xavier de Bastos said: “it is an interesting move as not many companies make such an important step after having their brand established in the market for almost 20 years.”
“All matters related to our course centres and programmes, company’s philosophy, internal operations, teams, B2B established partnerships and so on remain identical as we have provided since 1996,” he noted.
Formed in 1996 in Switzerland, ESL began as language camps for juniors, formed a language travel agency a year later and expanded its language school business shortly after.
ALPADIA will remain headquartered in Switzerland and will be headed up by CEO Alain Vadi and General Manager Ugo Toselli.
