ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> <meta name="Description" content="Providing Business Simulations, business training, management training and business games to the corporate and academic markets"/> <meta name="Keywords" content="Business Simulations, Training simulations, Academic Simulations, Management Training, Business Games, Online Training, Management Developments, Retail Simulations, Start Up Simulations"/> <title>April Training | About Us & the Development of our Business Training Simulations</title> <style type="text/css"> ul { list-style-type:none; margin:0; padding:0; width:100%; } li { float:left; } a:link,a:visited { display:block; font-weight:bold; color:#FFFFFF; background-image:url('../imgs/backgroundimage.png'); text-align:center; width:120px; height:25px; padding-left:10px; padding-right:10px; padding-bottom:7px; padding-top:3px; text-decoration:none; font-family:"Segoe Print", Times, serif; } a:hover,a:active { background-image:url('../imgs/hovermenubutton.png'); 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margin:0; padding:0 0 0 40px; } a.big:link,a.big:visited { display:block; font-weight:bold; color:#FFFFFF; background-image:url('../imgs/sidemenubutton2.png'); text-align:center; width:120px; padding:10px; text-decoration:none; font-family:"Segoe Print", Times, serif; } a.big:hover,a.big:active { background-image:url('../imgs/sidemenubuttonhover2.png'); } </style> </head> <body><div id="centered"> <div id="header"> <img alt="April Training: Simulating Business, Stimulating Learning" src="../imgs/logowithpeople.jpg"> </div> <ul> <li><a href="../index.html">Home</a></li> <li><a href="overview.html">About us</a></li> <li><a href="../simulations/why.html">Simulations</a></li> <li><a href="../login/login.html">Client login</a></li> <li><a href="../contact/contact.html">Contact us</a></li> </ul> <br> <div id="grey"> <table> <tbody><tr> <td class="leftside"> <ul class="side"> <li class="side"><a class="side" href="overview.html">Overview</a></li> <li class="side"><a class="side" href="purpose.html">Our purpose</a></li> <li class="side"><a class="side" href="studies.html">Case studies</a></li> <li class="side"><a class="side" href="testimonials.html">Testimonials</a></li> <li class="side"><a class="side" href="clients.html">Client list</a></li> </ul> </td> <td vAlign="top"> <br> <font size="3"> OVERVIEW OF APRIL TRAINING </font> <br> <br> Microsoft's Flight Simulator, which came out in the early 1980s, was perhaps the main inspiration for April's business simulations; that and the availability of the personal computer itself, which put sophisticated data processing on everyone's desk and in everyone's home. <i>CAR-100&nbsp</i>, the first April Training simulation now known as <i>Executive&nbsp;</i>, began in 1985 as a joint effort between Julio Faria, an ICI chemical engineer with a computer modelling background, and Julian Critchlow, a bright Cambridge undergraduate. <br> <br> By 1986 the early software was receiving encouraging reviews from Training Managers who evaluated and contributed to the development of the product, a philosophy which continues to this day. The company expanded steadily as the market demand increased.<br> <br> Julian moved on to the Wharton Business School and then to Bain Consulting, but his valuable contribution was undeniable and this encouraged an ethos which saw a stream of extremely bright young men and women involved with the company in the following years. <br> <br> They helped turn an interesting idea into a powerful and robust product which, 25 years on, still inspires and educates many thousands of students, managers and trainees every year. <br> <br> <br> </td> <td width="50"> &nbsp; </td> <td class="sidebar"><p align="left"> Some of our clients: <br> <br> <a class="normal" href="clients.html"><img alt="Some of our clients" src="../imgs/company_logos.jpg" width="165" height="378"></a> </p></td> </tr> </tbody></table> </div> <table> <tbody><tr> <td class="testimonials"> <b><font size="2">Acknowledgement is due to the following people in recognition of their invaluable work:</font></b><font size="2"></font> <br> <br> <b><i>Longest serving developer of too many versions of the software to mention:</i></b><i></i> <br> Peter Walkley B.Sc.(Eng). <br> <br> <b><i>Product development:</i></b><i></i> <br> Timothy Auton B.A.(Cantab), Ph.D., A.F.I.M.A. <br> Mark Dutton M.A. (Cantab) <br> Richard Henfrey M.A.(Cantab) <br> Robert Marshall M.A.(Cantab) <br> Peter Mabbs M.A. (Oxon) <br> Richard Oates B.Sc.(Hons), Ph.D <br> Duncan Peppercorn M.A.(Cantab) <br> Jeremy Pickard M.A.(Cantab) <br> Kate Wardley M.A. (Cantab) <br> Paul Worthy BSc.,Ph.D <br> Sebastian Zurek M.A.(Cantab), Ph.D <br> <br> <b><i>Wordsmithing:</i></b><i></i> <br> Chris Daw <br> <br> <b><i>Web development:</i></b><i></i> <br> Moira Cox <br> <br> <b><i>Market Development:</i></b><i></i> <br> Chris, Debra, Gill, Nikki and Sally. <br> <br> With thanks to Alan Hickman M.A. for his work on the continuing development of the software. Additional thanks go to our highly experienced consultants Andrew, Bob, Derek and Hilary, who translate the software into real and effective training, and to our superb operations team Linda, Chris, May and Joanne. </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <br> <ul> <li><a class="footer" href="../press/press.html">Press</a></li> <li> <a class="footer" href="../map/map.html">Site map</a></li> <li> <a class="blogfooter" href="http://www.trainingsimulations.co.uk">Blog</a></li> </ul> <table> <tbody><tr> <td class="footertext"> <br> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; April House | Tarvin Road Frodsham Cheshire WA6 6XN UK | Telephone: +44 (0)1928 735868 | Fax: +44 (0)1928 735352 <br> <a class="contact" href="../index.html">www.trainingsimulations.com</a> | <a class="contact" href="mailto:info@trainingsimulations.com">mailto:info@trainingsimulations.com</a> <br> Copyright © April Training Executive Ltd 2012 <br> <br> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </div> </body> </html>