HA Tutors Ltd
13 Earlsfield Rd
London
SW18 3DB
Tel 0208 874 0233
Web: www.harrisonallen.co.uk
Email: enquiries@harrisonallen.co.uk
We have met with Harrison Allen’s staff. In addition, 20 clients and 33 tutors have completed an on-line survey (sent to 143 clients and 198 tutors) and we have followed this up with additional short phone interviews with some of those surveyed.
Sheila Allen and Julie Harrison began Harrison Allen way back in 1989. Both have since stepped back and the key members of the team are now Nicola Smith (all client services), Karen Abbott (finance and compliance), Rosa Coakley (client services, part-time) and Pippa Harris (tutor manager, part-time), who together run the show from the top floor of a large Victorian house, five minutes from Wandsworth Common. Nicola’s background was ‘the university of life’, setting up an advertising agency ‘after a good grounding with the Saatchi’s’; she came across HA ‘entirely by accident when my children were tiny’ and quickly fell in love with the ‘caring, family feel’. Karen comes from a legal background, while Rosa and Pippa both previously worked in client services – Rosa at Wandsworth Borough Council and Pippa at The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. The team’s energy, enthusiasm and clear pleasure in their work shines through and there’s real camaraderie, all helped by the addition of Nicola’s adorable dog, Minnie, and the fact that the team are all in clear sight of each other (the grand tour takes less than 30 seconds). If you’re dropping by, we’d strongly suggest going in the morning – Rosa often turns up with a warm loaf of her husband’s sourdough, arguably the best bread south (and quite possibly north) of the river.
HARRISON ALLEN REVIEW CONTINUED >>
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