"Excelus Leaders was both good for me personally and enjoyable. It made me think but more important it was action orientated. One of the actions I took as a consequence of the programme has been of significant monetary benefit to the company to an extent that it is hard to believe. That single benefit has paid for my time away from the business and the course fee many times over. I never thought I would say that about any development programme."

"Excelus really helped me see the wood from the trees. This has enabled me to focus on the important things that are going to drive the business forward into the future. It was undoubtedly very good use of my time and outstanding value for money."

"I am a much better leader now than I was when Excelus started some seven months ago. The business is more focused, people are more organised, results are improving and there is a greater buzz about the place.
I do not think any of that would have happened without the intervention of Excelus and in particular the coaching element of the programme."

"Excelus was one of the best investments of my time and money as a business owner. Additionally, one workshop has enabled me to add a very large multiple of the cost of the programme to my bottom line this year and in the years to come.."

"I learned more about running the business in three sessions of Excelus Leaders than I did during the whole of the MBA. Furthermore, Excelus Leaders furnished me with an array of "tools" that are put to practical good use regularly to help the business grow and prosper. It was of outstanding value to me and the company."

"Excelus Leaders has given me at least £20,000 of value to date and we are only just half way through the programme. As for the almost £8,000 price I got that amount of value from the very first day."

"The investment of my time and the company's money (on Excelus Leaders) has been returned many times over, for me personally and particularly in terms of company performance."

"Before the programme I modelled the way forward as the boss as 'being my father' Now it is to listen to the team that are in the business. I have learnt that the employees feelings are important and also to ensure that managers manage with guidance when it is required. I need to find "my team" as the NK Group begins to write its second chapter."

"I knew we could not go on doing things the way we had always done them at Douglas and Grahame. Thanks to Excelus Leaders I have learned a lot about leading the business through the changes. I also benefited from the support and encouragement of the other business people on the programme. I would have no hesitation in recommending Excelus Leaders to any owner manager. It is simply an excellent programme."

"For me Excelus Leaders has been a really worthwhile experience that has helped both me and my business. I particularly enjoyed the group and mentor sessions which I found helped me significantly as I set about the development of my "on line" furnishing fabrics business. Looking back, I feel that I now have a more open mind regarding business options and opportunities."

"Gradually I'm learning to encourage others to solve their own problems rather than jumping in myself to fix things for them. I'm learning to ask more questions of people, rather than always give the answers... I would recommend Excelus Leaders to anyone who owns and runs a business."

"Before Excelus Leaders I was working all the hours I could get, week in and week out, mostly on matters at hand such as deadlines and commissioning dates, contracts, suppliers and subcontractors. I knew I needed to use my time better to focus on the bigger picture and become more personally effective as a leader.
The Excelus Leaders mix of workshops, vigorous debate at group sessions and individual personal coaching has more than worked for me and everyone else in our group. I am certain it can do the same for other business leaders."

"Excelus Leaders was partially responsible for seeing me and this company through a particularly difficult period. I learned a lot about leading the business and it provided a range of practical tools that have been and are being used regularly in the company to aid the growth we have achieved. In fact I have become such a Excelus Leaders convert it has now been woven into the fabric of the company."

"A Excelus Leaders claim is that it helps you "Learn to Let others Lead". It has done that for me and much more. It has opened up my thinking, challenged my beliefs, energised my ideas and given me a forum where I can continue to learn. As a result I have moved on significantly and the business is in better shape than ever before with a bright future. Now "Learning to Let others Lead" is a constant focus of Woodlock's continuing marketplace improvement."

"I now realize that I have been doing so many things wrong for too long. I have not taken time to detach myself to see what I have created and see where the weaknesses lie. I now know that I must change and continue to change and work at change for the rest of my personal and professional life. The programme has given me the tools to stand back and look and analyse current situations and be able to apply new methods to solve them. "

"Excelus Leaders has helped me focus my attention on directing McLarnons rather than constantly getting involved in the detail. I have learned to encourage others to lead, and am now in the process of letting and helping them. Our people feel valued, I believe, by having greater opportunity to show what they can do. They are "listened to" more and are happy to make a contribution.
Looking back, twelve months on, Excelus Leaders has been a really good investment of time and money. McLarnons has benefited, with the whole organisation being better 'glued together' and focused on our goals. At Group level, the O'Kane Board is content in the knowledge that their animal feeds business continues to move forward in the right direction."

"As a consequence of Excelus Leaders the business continues to prosper. Sales are up and so is profitiability. New products have been developed and launched and we have sought and gained business from customer types not previously dealt with. Financially the company has never been so well organised and we are now well into the issue of succession planning. None of this would have happened without the input of Excelus Leaders"

"Excelus Leaders has been instrumental in helping me get the direction of the business right and it has both encouraged and helped me learn to let others lead. Without a doubt that, more than anything else, has opened the doors to a host of opportunities."

"The most rewarding part of Excelus leaders for me was the fact it was practical and you could go and put what you had learned into practice back at the business."

"The most important part of Excelus Leaders, for me, was the Business Mentoring. The regular meeting kept me focussed and on track. Excelus offered me a chance to get away from the day to day, hectic environment and take a step back to work on the business rather than in it."

"It was my poor work life balance that eventually persuaded me to join the EXCELUS Leaders programme. All I wanted from it was to free up one day in my normal seven day week. That has been delivered but in addition the business now has clear direction, everyone knows what is expected of them and every employee is actively engaged in achieving the goal that has been set. But that is not all. I am still identifying other activities that to date I have held on to, that are now being delegated to others in the business."

"The Excelus Leaders programme has been very good for me. I have had the privilege of undertaking management and leadership programmes at Babson College and Harvard in Boston. But I honestly feel that EXCELUS pushed me further because I was able to learn more by trying things out, by putting the experiences of the Excelus programme into action. Slowly I am learning to let others lead and not doing it for them. I am delegating more and coaching more. Skills I have now, but didn’t, thanks to Excelus."

"I was told I should go on the EXCELUS LEADERS programme in 2002. I didn’t, I kept putting it off. I regret that for it has changed me for the better. I have a better work life balance, I have learned to ask questions and I am getting better, by the day, at not solving peoples problems for them. The result is simply a better; less stressed me and a better business that has doubled in size during the period of the programme."

"Excelus Leaders exposed me to some new concepts and to other business leaders each with their own experiences and stories to tell. I enjoyed the whole experience, some bits more than others and it has left its mark on me. Instead of lists of things to do I now have a list of things to stop doing. I am getting better at asking hard questions, I am spending my time differently and I am letting the managers do what they are paid to do - run the company. But I am still the leader."