A YEAR OF ADAPTING AND THRIVING FOR M2R EDUCATION

m2r Education have a lot to shout about celebrating their 20th birthday and a year of resilience surviving the global pandemic.

m2r Education the Wakefield-based multi-award winning company have been through a challenging year, however, have stayed resilient and true to their reputation continuing to provide bespoke services to the education sector with a high level of service surviving the global pandemic.

Munir Mamujee, Director of m2r Education told us: “In 12 months we had gone from staring down the barrel to helping over 500 UK nationals secure online teaching jobs, launching 3 brand new online learning services and receiving local, national and international praise along the way. 2020 felt like it lasted 10 years and 10 minutes all at the same time.”

In January 2020, m2r Education were business as usual planning for the future with overseas clients and attending international business events, little did they know that the life was about to come to an abrupt standstill with their last face to face event taking place in London in January 2020 where for many COVID-19 was simply a light topic in conversation for many who were unaware of the global impact that was about to hit…

In February m2r began to plan for their first overseas event in Abu Dhabi. As the month rolled on and news began to filter through, there was a very slight concern that the BSME conference may not go ahead, but that was all it was. So off to Abu Dhabi they went, ready for event number 2.

This is when the world of events that we know so well changed dramatically

Munir told us: “On the first morning of my stay, upon deciding to enjoy a bit of winter sun, pre conference, it became very clear that leaving the hotel was not going to be possible.

“In the hotel there was an Italian cycling team and they had tested positive for something called Coronavirus. All I knew was that it meant I was confined to my hotel room, conference cancelled and the British Embassy ringing me to enquire whether I needed assistance. After 5 days of monotony, I was allowed to leave and hot footed back home on the first available flight, still not realising the enormity of what had just happened.”

March came around quickly and saw the UK Governments announcement on the 23rd March 2020 regarding the threat of coronavirus which resulted in the world of home working begin. Working from home came as shock to the team and the business was at great risk with the standstill of international travel and as a result of this M2R’S revenue and pipeline was disappearing at a rapid pace.

This is when m2r knew they needed to act quickly and adapt their business into what it is today.

m2r Education had a client who operated in the online teaching space. One. That was it. So, it was an all eggs in one basket moment. The client informed m2r that they could take as many online (work from home) teachers as m2r could supply and they would provide full training. In one month they went from supplying 150 applicants to 1500. Munir and the team soon realised the diversification of the business had potential.

They committed to the new direction and a huge new business drive ensued, contacting every online teaching company they could and offering their services. In a newly saturated market this was not easy.

March was also the month where they achieved their first award of 2020. Munir commented: “In times of adversity it was great to be recognised for our efforts of international opportunities by the Department for International Trade as we received the title of ‘Export Champions’ for the second year running. A proud moment.”

Munir told us: “April was also when we started to learn as we had more time on our hands, the webinars became our best friend, especially those through the Digital Knowledge Exchange - digital marketing, SEO, website development, video, and social media. We learnt so much and continue to learn too.”

The online English teaching contracts were now beginning to grow and it was easy to see that m2r were helping people find jobs that before, they probably wouldn’t have considered. They were now supplying over 3000 applications per month.

By May m2r started to look at more partnerships and how they could enhance their service offering. Therefore it was great news when they signed a partnership agreement with TEFL UK and began to offer English teaching courses to anyone who needed this qualification.

As summer arrived winning a national competition to win free advertising with the Daily Mail certainly helped raise spirits! m2r Education branding was now in front of around 15 million people, across the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Mail Online, Metro and The i.

By June, Munir had personally spoken to over 50 Commercial Officers in British Embassies across the globe, promoting services and building m2r’s global network virtually.

August was a milestone month where m2r won another national competition, this time with Vodafone Business, for helping UK nationals secure working from home jobs. They called them ‘true heroes’ which was said to be extremely humbling. They also launched another brand new service, offering online English language lessons to students of all ages across the globe. Using the knowledge gleaned from the numerous webinars they had watched, they single built a brand new website and hired an initial cohort of 8 Teachers. The first lessons were booked only a week later and this continues to grow. A truly proud moment in the face of adversity.

In September it was decided to launch a second online tutoring service, this time offering support to school children of all ages, across the globe. They now provide tutoring to children in the UK, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa, including senior royal family members in a Middle East country.

As October began, optimism for international travel had still not returned and although applications were increasing, they were way down on the previous year.

Munir commented: “we could not afford to take the foot off the pedal and assume everything would be ok. I successfully formed a new partnership with USD $100m Middle Eastern ed-tech company, Bahwan Cybertek, to grow our new online services and our first series of joint ventures began a few weeks ago”.

As the year began to draw to a close, it was decided there was time to again increase m2r’s portfolio of education services, this time offering their very own app based English courses. Munir continued: “I had to learn, very quickly, how to integrate an e-commerce platform into the site, something we never had to do before. Watching all those webinars back in the summer certainly helped. We have so far sold courses to students in Russia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Portugal and here in the UK.”

December was a very busy month but also a time for reflection. They attended their fourth virtual trade mission, this time to China and were showcased by the Department for International Trade as part of their Dubai Expo 2020 promotions.

Munir told us: “Hopefully all this hard work will make us a far stronger proposition when the world returns to normality. So now, when people ask what we do, our company introduction has changed. We are not ‘an international recruitment company’ anymore. We now offer ‘bespoke services to the international education sector’. As we enter our 20th year in business, 2020 will certainly be one to remember.”

To get in touch with m2r Education please see contacts below:

munir@m2rglobal.com

01924 201973