The London School of Business and Finance (LSBF) is to rebrand its LSBF School of English chain as The Language Gallery (TLG), as it kicks off an expansion drive. A spokesperson for the global business school said it planned to launch three more language schools, either in the US or UK, to its portfolio by the end of 2014.
LSBF operates four English language centres in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Toronto, Canada, catering to a total of 3,000 students. As well as opening in new locations, it says it will increase its ELT programme offerings and alongside a new website for the brand launched last week.
TLG managing director, Fay Drewry, told The PIE News: “We decided to rebrand over a year ago, in essence, for the purposes of separation and expansion, so the website launch and name change is the exciting fruition of months of analysis and internal collaboration.”
“We decided to rebrand over a year ago, in essence, for the purposes of separation and expansion”
Drewry added that while LSBF was aware of the competition in the ELT market it was confident about its growth potential. “We prefer to set our own pace and our own rules, and be a game changer in the industry, rather than follow or copy what is already being done.”
Among its expanded programme, the Language Gallery will offer courses in languages other than English, CELTA teacher training programmes and executive English packages, including modules from LSBF Executive Education courses. However, it will maintain the accreditations, faculty, quality standards and pricing of its previous brand.
Drewry said the new name attempted to capture TLG’s extended offerings and pay homage to the history of Bloomsbury, London – the location of its first school.
“‘Language’ reflects the additional foreign language courses and other programmes that we will be offering, and ‘gallery’ alludes to the vast array of course options that we currently run…We also wanted a name that reflects the literary, artistic and historical area where our flagship school is based.”