As we draw towards the end of 2023 and we take time to reflect on the previous 12 months it occurred to me we've not really told the story of Experiential Learning Tools and a bit about where we are based.
A Dear Green Place(ish)
As a team
the people behind Experiential Learning Tools are primarily located in the west of Scotland, near Glasgow (with Geoff in the Lake District embracing remote work), we find ourselves far from Silicon Valley's hustle. Yet, Glasgow boasts a burgeoning tech ecosystem. Scottish tech, with notable names like Skyscanner, FanDuel, and FreeAgent, has achieved great things and products used globally are created and developed in Scotland. So why not ELT too?
A good place to build ed-tech
Most of the team have always lived in Scotland specifically in and around Glasgow. The city is home to world-renowned Universities with Glasgow University, Strathclyde, Glasgow School of Art and Caledonian sitting within the city boundaries, and West of Scotland on the fringes of the city. That solid base of educators and researchers creates a strong pull for talent to come from across the world and learn here but it also makes the city a great place to build a platform focused on virtual learning.
We can tap into world-class research and grow our team from a broad talent base that stems from the universities around us. There's also a vibrant community with events like
RookieOven and GlasgowJS.
An affordable city
Glasgow, compared to other UK cities and I would assume across Europe, is refreshingly affordable. The cost of living, including housing and leisure, is reasonable. This affordability extends to business operations as well. In other cities across the UK, the cost of living is vastly higher.
Work-life balance
We’ve established Glasgow is an affordable place to be and we have a great pedigree in Education. Other cities can boast about that, but what I think really sets the city apart is what we have on our doorstep.
You can go see Beyonce at the Hydro (the eighth-busiest music arena in the world in terms of ticket sales, by the way) in the evening and the next day you can explore the Trossachs or nip up to Glencoe. The city is a short journey to the beautiful west coast and the islands like Arran, Skye, Bute and Harris or you can potter around one of the world-renowned museums in the city - many of them are free to enter.
You might think that with us having wilderness on our doorstep, we might be a bit isolated. Nope. Glasgow has two airports with direct flights across Europe and to the US, and Edinburgh airport is actually pretty close too. We have fast and frequent trains to London and other major UK cities like Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle leaving from the city centre multiple times a day.
No other city in the world has that mix of modern, living city and accessible wilderness on your doorstep. This combination of a thriving tech sector, rich educational resources, affordable living, and a balanced lifestyle makes Glasgow an ideal base for Experiential Learning Tools.
We're proud to be building an exciting, growing
SaaS platform based in Scotland. If you would like to find out more then let's chat. Drop an email to
hello@experientiallearningtools.com
