Written by Tineke Brooks, Head of Training Services Division
As I look back on the past financial year leading the training services team, I'm filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment! It’s been a period marked with achievements, valuable lessons and the unwavering dedication of our talented professionals.
Our successes and learnings from the last financial year will drive our team ever forward, motivating us to develop our exceptional service and offering in line with new requirements and technology (more on that later in the blog...)
In 2024/2025, our team secured 12 major training services contracts with esteemed UK and international security and defence customers. These contracts spanned a diverse range of services, including analysis for complex equipment upgrades and new procurements, workforce reviews and restructuring, and the development of cutting-edge training solutions, particularly those leveraging synthetic training equipment. Notably, half of these contracts involved close collaboration with other areas of expertise within Inzpire, showcasing our ability to deliver comprehensive and integrated solutions.
Internally, our team played a pivotal role in supporting eight critical projects across various departments. We provided direct consultancy services in areas such as:
Software management and development
Independent auditing of governance, risk, and compliance functions
Internal training consultancy
Support for equality, diversity and inclusion planning and outcomes
Throughout this journey, we gained invaluable insights and lessons that will shape our future endeavors. Three key lessons stand out as particularly impactful:
1. Effective project management planning is crucial
From the outset, meticulous project management planning is critical to success. Clearly defining the scope, identifying potential risks, allocating appropriate resources and establishing realistic timelines are essential steps that lay the foundation for successful project execution.
2. Collaboration with customers and end-users is paramount
Fostering positive relationships and maintaining open lines of communication with our customers and end-users is imperative. By collaborating closely, we can better understand their requirements, manage expectations and deliver tailored solutions that meet their unique needs.
3. Investing in the development of our people is indispensable
Our people are our greatest asset and investing in their professional development is a top priority. We strive to provide credible coaching and mentoring opportunities, encourage the expansion of knowledge and skill sets, offer diverse tasking experiences and empower our team members to reach their full potential.
While these lessons may not be groundbreaking revelations, they are critical principles that can be easily taken for granted. Complacency in adopting these activities and behaviors can quickly undermine progress and success. As such, we must and will keep these tenets at the forefront of our ethos, culture and overall approach.
The UK's defence forces face significant hurdles in ensuring their training programmes remain effective and up to date. From the ever-evolving threat landscape and rapid technological advances to the complexity of modern military equipment and roles, assessing training needs is an immense challenge. The operational tempo, with personnel regularly being deployed, makes it difficult to find time for comprehensive analyses.
To overcome the significant challenges in delivering effective training needs analysis for the UK's defence forces, we employed a multi-faceted approach. This has included leveraging experienced training consultants with a deep understanding of military roles and emerging technologies, as well as fostering close collaboration between our team and our customers to ensure analyses accurately capture operational realities.
Embracing innovative data collection methods - such as virtual reality simulations and AI-assisted assessments - will help us mitigate issues around operational tempo and geographical dispersion. Ultimately, a flexible, well-resourced and integrated strategy will be crucial for continuously aligning defence training with evolving requirements despite budgetary constraints and a rapidly shifting threat landscape.
Here’s to a successful 2025!
