Education agency SI-UK has announced global expansion plans and it anticipates 25% revenue growth – approximately £25 million – in 2021, despite the global health pandemic.
With offices set to open in six countries – Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Morocco, Poland and Spain – directors have said growth is expected to reach 40% from 2021 to 2022.
In an interview with The PIE News, SI-UK directors Orion Judge and Dwayne Gallagher also indicated they are aiming to have 120 offices throughout 50 countries by 2023, up from 64 offices in 32 countries currently.
Europe will be a “major new region”, with the company in advanced planning to open in France, Italy, and Romania.
“When we started [in Tokyo in 2006], the majority of education agencies in Japan and NE East were charging students significant fees for education advisory and application support services,” Gallagher said.
“We are also in talks to open further offices in South America”
“We opened on a 100% free service model, without limits on which UK universities they could apply to.”
With the strategic decision to open an office in Delhi to India in late 2010, SI-UK “realised the huge potential as an outbound student market that India represented”. By the end of 2022, it expects to have 25+ offices throughout the country, extending to 35 offices by the end of 2023.
The 1 million Indian students seeking to study overseas annually is expected to double over the next three years, it added. In India alone, SI-UK has over 400 staff.
“We are also in talks to open further offices in South America… particularly interested to open in Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina,” Judge added.
With the expansion, the business aims to reach a valuation of several hundred million pounds over the coming years, he continued.
“This year, we expect annual revenues to be £25 million — and we have a 2-3 year strategic growth plan to increase annual revenues to £100 million,” Judge explained.
“Partially this will be achieved via physical expansion of our offices and territories to 120 offices in over 50 countries by 2023 with the goal of increasing UK enrolments three fold.
“There are a number of highly significant developments for SI that will be announced over the coming several months to one year; these will provide clarity on how Dwayne and I envision SI reaching the £100 million annual revenue target.”
“Despite the challenging market conditions created by the coronavirus, SI-UK has proved the resilience of its business model,” Matthew Taylor, managing director at Macquarie Capital, said. Macquarie Group is advising SI-UK on its mid-to-long- term options.
“The company has an unwavering emphasis on delivering great student outcomes by working seamlessly with partners and universities. They are on track to continue to grow strongly,” Taylor noted.
