This year we’re celebrating 20 years of Hubken Group! To commemorate this huge milestone, we sat down with Hubken Director and founder Ray Lawrence to find out what he had to say about the past two decades of growth and achievements.
What are your personal highlights from the last 20 years?
In Hubken’s early days (or ‘HowToMoodle’ as it was then known) I spent a lot of time out and about delivering training and consultancy sessions. I loved meeting people who were passionate about achieving their learning and development goals. While I don’t get the chance to get ‘out and about’ as much these days, I still enjoy that ‘lightbulb’ moment – when a new client suddenly ‘gets it’. They see beyond their original expectations and start to realise the full potential of what they can achieve with the platforms we offer.
We’ve had so many memorable clients over the last twenty years that it is difficult to pick highlights. It’s great when we win business with big-name brands, but equally, it’s a thrill when we work with smaller businesses or charities where budgets are smaller and the stakes often seem higher. Every client we bring on board becomes part of a network of meaningful partnerships, many of which have lasted many years – and hopefully will last many more.
When it comes to personal highlights, there is a lot to consider for a business that started from nothing more than an idea and a small office in my front bedroom. We have indeed come a long way. Today, Hubken has a committed board of directors, focused and competent management colleagues, and a brilliant team working closely with our clients to help them achieve their goals. The work they do every day makes me very proud, and I’m delighted to celebrate the company’s 20-year milestone with them.
What inspired you to start the business 20 years ago?
Way back then I was working in a senior training role in a UK-wide financial services company and was expected to support a myriad of training requirements for learners across the UK. All of this training was delivered face-to-face – making the process not only disruptive, but very expensive. I thought there had to be a better way.
This inspired me to start researching e-learning as a viable alternative. However, at the time the LMS world was populated by expensive, monolithic, US-oriented systems that I would never be able to put forward as a viable training solution – until I discovered Moodle.
My interest was piqued when I started to look into Moodle which stood out as a free, open-source, and accessible option, still in its very early stages. At this point, I was fed up with corporate life and so, keeping a close eye on Moodle, I embarked on a new career as a freelance training consultant.
In March 2004, the Moodle programme was starting to form. I applied with a pitch that demonstrated my intention to fill a gap in the market with a company that, unlike others, wasn’t simply an IT company focused on the technical aspects of running Moodle. Instead, my company would utilise years of learning and development experience to get the best out of the platform. I still believe these roots permeate the Hubken culture today. We’re not an IT company that bolts on training and support. We’re a company focused on client enablement and success with a robust software-as-a-service approach that aims to eliminate any technical hassles.
For another 10 years or so we focused solely on Moodle services. But, as wonderful as Moodle is, some clients found they needed more than Moodle could offer as their LMS journey progressed. So, with its early roots in Moodle and superior administrative capabilities, we approached Totara about a potential partnership. With our reputation in the e-learning marketplace, this approach soon turned into the formal partnership that we cherish today.
Some Hubken highlights over the past 20 years
What are your thoughts on the development of the business and where it is today?
By providing a full service to our clients instead of our initial training/consultancy offering, the business today is exactly where I hoped we might be. Hubken today is made up of a fantastic team that genuinely cares about our client’s success and strives daily to deliver the best service possible.
In some ways, it feels like the business has come a long way over the past two decades, but in the same breath, it feels like we’re just getting started and there’s so much more to come.
How has Hubken maintained a loyal customer base after 20 years in business?
We’ve always understood the importance of building long-term and meaningful relationships with our clients, offering support right from the start of the project, through the implementation phase and beyond. We’ve successfully maintained a loyal customer base for two decades because our priorities have remained the same:
- Delivering great value
- Taking a straightforward approach with clients
- Being as open and transparent as possible
- Focusing on our client’s success
Celebrating our client’s success
Over the past two decades, our clients have celebrated huge milestones, achievements, and awards, and we’ve been right there celebrating with them. We’re so proud of what our clients can accomplish with the help of our solutions and services. Here are just some of our favourite client success highlights:
- Arriva won Totara’s Best Compliance Experience Award in 2023 by delivering company-wide compliance training with their Totara Learn solution
- The GCA was shortlisted as a finalist in the Best Learning/Professional Development Programme category at the Association Excellence Awards 2023
- 99% of learners in the Parkinson’s Excellence Network rated their training, using a Hubken Moodle solution, as good or excellent
Read through some more of our client success stories by visiting our case studies page.
What’s next for Hubken Group?
We’re so excited for the year ahead as we continue to celebrate our huge milestone in 2024. From more anniversary celebrations to inspiring webinars, make sure you stay up to date with everything Hubken by signing up for our mailing list.
If you’re looking for an e-learning platform, why not work with one of the UK’s leading e-learning companies with 20 years of experience? Contact us today to find out what we can do for you.