ACT and ALS merger to strengthen work-based training provisions in Wales

Wales’ largest training provider, ACT, has merged with its sister organisation, ALS, to become a single organisation under the ACT brand. The move is set to strengthen support and provision for employers, learners and communities across Wales. 

The merger marks the next chapter, building on over 20 years of collaboration between the two organisations. By combining their expertise, ACT will offer employers a wider range of services covering employability, skills and workforce development. 

Richard Spear, Managing Director of ACT, said the decision was driven by a shared passion to deliver high-quality learning and to ensure the organisation remained strong in the future. 

“We knew from our very close work with ALS that they shared our values. They’re almost a mirror image of ACT in many ways,” he said. “Both organisations have an absolute passion to deliver the best quality services to learners and employers. Our main focus has always been quality and people. 

“The greatest challenge we face at the moment is uncertainty due to external changes. We thought, let’s get ahead of that, merge the organisations now and we’ll be in a better position to share best practice, strengthen the organisation and be ready for the future.” 

Founded 25 years ago, ALS built its reputation on delivering bespoke learning solutions in partnership with employers rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. 

Helena Williams, Director at ALS and now Director of Learner Recruitment & Employer Engagement at ACT, explained:

“It was very much about delivering learning in partnership with organisations delivering bespoke solutions that result in tangible benefits – it’s actually doing training with them.” 

Helena described the merger as ‘the natural next step’. 

“It just felt right,” she said. “We could see that being separate wasn’t benefiting our clients any longer. Bringing all of the expertise together means we can deliver a far better joined-up service for our employers and learners.” 

Sarah John, ALS Director and now ACT’s Director of Strategy and Transformation, said the merger creates new opportunities while preserving the values that have underpinned ALS for the past quarter of a century. 

“We see it as a fantastic opportunity to bring together all the talent we’ve got across both organisations and channel that more strategically into our delivery, including understanding how we can build delivery to respond to the emerging digital developments in the workplace,” she said. 

While this may seem like a big change for the organisations, existing learners and employer partners will continue working with the same teams, with a phased transition designed to minimise disruption. 

Looking ahead, Richard said: “We’ve got bags of talent across the organisation. Bringing that together, harnessing new technology and continuing to improve lives through learning – at the end of the day, that’s what we’re all about.”