The fifth annual English UK Business English Trainers' Conference, in association with Business English UK and supported by Cambridge ESOL, was held on a wet and windy Saturday 28 April at International House London.

68 delegates enjoyed talks on areas including English for Lawyers, Getting Started with Business English, Small Talk, E-learning, ESP Course-books, Developing Listening skills and Meeting the Needs of Pre-service Business Learners.

One major discussion theme, echoed by both of our plenary speakers, Evan Frendo and Ian McMaster, was the intersection between corporate, skills-based or competency-based training and the more traditional concerns of ELT practitioners, including focus on form and lexis.

A generous lunch spread and refreshments from International House kept delegates fed and watered throughout the day and a small business focused exhibition featuring Oxford University Press, Macmillan, Macmillan English Campus, Trinity, Pearson and Cengage gave plenty of ideas for new materials.

Huan Japes, English UK's Deputy Chief Executive (Professional Services) said "It was a fantastic day.  It's good to see that even in such trying times people are prepared to invest in professional development. We had a good number of delegates, up on last year, and will work hard to continue this trend."

Notes to Editors

1. English UK is the world's leading language teaching association, with more than 450 accredited centres in membership. It covers university and further education college language departments, international study centres in independent schools, educational trusts and charities, and private sector colleges. English UK is a UK registered charity (www.englishuk.com).
2. The Business English Trainers' Conference, held on 28 April 2012, was organised by English UK, held in association with Business English UK (a special interest group of English UK) and supported by Cambridge ESOL.
3. For more information, please contact Tom Weatherley (Professional Services Manager) on tom@englishuk.com.