What Wise Owl Training does

Wise Owl Training is a UK-based, privately-held IT training company founded in 1992 and operated under the legal entity Wise Owl Business Solutions Ltd. The firm delivers instructor-led courses across the Microsoft technology stack — including Power BI, DAX, Power Automate, Power Apps, Excel, VBA, Microsoft 365, SQL Server, SSIS/SSAS/SSRS, plus Python, C#, Snowflake, PostgreSQL, and a newly added AI curriculum covering prompt engineering, Microsoft 365 Copilot, the OpenAI API, and Copilot Studio. All training is delivered by permanent Wise Owl trainers (no freelancers), with a deliberate cap of six delegates per classroom session. Delivery formats comprise classroom training at owned venues in London (Bevis Marks, City of London) and Manchester (Aytoun Street), live online training via Wise Owl's proprietary 'whizzy online classrooms,' UK-wide onsite training (with laptops and projectors provided), one-to-one hourly consultancy, self-paced video courses, and courseware licensing to third parties. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, with invoicing issued after training under a no-cancellation guarantee.

The company's commercial base spans enterprise, public sector, and financial services clients. The publicly displayed top-100 client list includes NHS trusts (Oxford Health, Manchester University, Derby and Burton), central and local government (Crown Commercial Service, Valuation Office Agency, Waltham Forest, Cheshire East, Durham, Halton, Southend-on-Sea), financial institutions and professional services firms (PwC, Macquarie, ICE Futures, Clearwater, CFC Underwriting, IQUW), and industrial buyers (Sellafield, Nexperia, STMicroelectronics, GWR, Argos, Cormar Carpets). The business is bootstrapped with no external funding rounds, no parent company, and no disclosed M&A. Headcount is listed at 1-10 but includes at least seven named senior trainers; the registered office sits in Hadfield near Manchester (Kingsmoor House, Railway Street), with training academies in London and Manchester.

Go-to-market is content-led: Wise Owl maintains an extensive free resource library — 164 Power BI blogs, 275 business intelligence blogs, 119 Excel blogs, 48 AI blogs, plus tips, exercises, skills assessments, tutorial videos, webinars, and a monthly newsletter — to drive inbound demand into its booking funnel. Reputational signals are a primary asset: 7,601 reviews over 10 years averaging 9.39/10, 400 attributed reviews in the most recent three-year window, 117 Google reviews across venues, and memberships with the CPD Certification Service and Manchester Digital. Revenue is not publicly disclosed and pricing is opaque, reflecting a bespoke, project-based services model rather than a self-serve SaaS-style operation.

Name

Wise Owl Training

Legal name

Wise Owl Business Solutions Ltd

Website

https://wiseowl.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Wise Owl Training is a UK-based IT training provider founded in 1992, delivering instructor-led courses on Microsoft technologies (Power BI, Excel, SQL Server, Python, C#, AI) via classroom, online, and onsite formats to businesses, public sector, and financial institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

IT Training Services

NAICS

Computer Training (61142), Professional and Management Development Training (61143)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Training Delivery Services (Onsite/Virtual Instruction, Workshops, Coaching) (BPAEANAN)

Keywords

• IT training courses
• Microsoft training
• Corporate training services
• Classroom training
• Professional development

Headquarters

HQ city

Manchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Classroom Training: Classroom-based training courses delivered at Wise Owl's London and Manchester venues. Small class sizes (maximum 6 delegates) with outstanding courseware including manuals, exercises, pens, and USB sticks.
2. Online Training: Live online training courses with whizzy online classrooms. Delivered by Wise Owl trainers to delegates at their own computers.
3. Onsite Training: Training delivered at client locations across the UK. Wise Owl provides and sets up course laptops and projectors.
4. One-to-One Consultancy: Personalised consultancy services for individual or specific business training needs.
5. Courseware Licensing: License Wise Owl's courseware for internal training use.
6. Self-Paced Courses: Self-paced online training modules available for independent learning.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Wise Owl Training provides instructor-led IT training courses in Microsoft technologies (Power BI, DAX, Excel, Power Automate, Power Apps, VBA, SQL Server, Python, C#, AI tools) and related platforms (Snowflake, PostgreSQL). Courses are delivered via classroom sessions in London and Manchester, live online via the company's proprietary online classroom, onsite at client premises across the UK, and through one-to-one consultancy and self-paced video courses.

Product overview

Wise Owl Training is a UK-based IT training company founded in 1992, offering instructor-led training courses across multiple delivery formats (classroom, online, and onsite). The company provides a comprehensive portfolio of training services organized into technology categories including Power Platform (Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate), Microsoft Office (Excel, VBA Macros, Microsoft 365), Data & Database (SQL Server, SSIS, SSAS, SSRS, Snowflake, PostgreSQL), Programming (Python, Visual C#), and AI (prompt engineering, Copilot, OpenAI API). The training offering is structured as course categories with multiple courses per technology, ranging from introduction to advanced and fast-track levels. Additional services include one-to-one consultancy, self-paced video courses, and courseware licensing. Training is delivered through permanent Wise Owl trainers (no freelancers) at venues in London and Manchester, or remotely online.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Power BI and DAX Training Courses covering Power BI Desktop, DAX formulas, report creation, data modeling, and Power Query for business intelligence and data visualization, delivered to organisations and individuals.
• Power Platform Training Comprehensive training covering Microsoft's Power Platform including Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate for data analysis, app development, and workflow automation.
• Power Automate Training Training on Microsoft Power Automate for workflow automation, covering desktop flows, cloud flows, and integration with other Microsoft services.
• Power Apps Training Courses teaching how to build custom business applications using Microsoft Power Apps with low-code development techniques.
• Excel Training Comprehensive Excel training from introduction through advanced levels, covering formulas, functions, data analysis, Power Query, and Power Pivot.
• VBA Macros Training Visual Basic for Applications programming courses for Excel automation, covering macro creation, advanced VBA techniques, and programming fundamentals.
• Microsoft 365 Training Training on Microsoft 365 applications and services, including Office Scripts for Excel automation and collaboration tools.
• Microsoft SQL Server Training Courses covering T-SQL programming, SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS), and SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS).
• SQL Training Transact SQL (T-SQL) programming courses from introduction to advanced levels, including stored procedures and query optimization.
• Python Training Python programming courses from introduction through advanced levels, covering object-oriented programming and Python for data analysis.
• Visual C# Training Visual C# programming courses from introduction to fast-track levels for building Windows applications and services.
• AI Training Artificial intelligence courses covering prompt engineering, Microsoft 365 Copilot, OpenAI API integration, and Copilot Studio agents.
• Snowflake SQL Training Courses teaching Snowflake cloud data platform and Snowflake SQL for data warehousing and analytics.
• PostgreSQL Training PostgreSQL database courses covering PostgreSQL SQL dialect and database administration.
• One-to-One Consultancy Hourly online consultancy sessions with Wise Owl's expert trainers for personalised guidance and problem-solving on Microsoft technologies.
• Self-Paced Online Courses Pre-recorded video-based training courses allowing delegates to learn at their own pace with exercises and resources.
• Courseware Licensing License Wise Owl's training materials including manuals, exercises, and pens for internal training use.

Quantifiable outcome

• Maximum 6 delegates per course ensures personalised attention
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers30 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Pluralsight: Pluralsight is a global online technology learning platform with deep coverage of Microsoft, data, and AI courses. Comparable on subject matter and target technical learner, but a broad incumbent focused on self-paced subscription rather than UK classroom or onsite delivery.
• Skillsoft: Skillsoft is a large-scale digital learning company offering on-demand IT, business, and leadership content, including Microsoft and data tracks, via subscription. Comparable in subject matter, but a much broader incumbent competing on self-paced, subscription content rather than instructor-led UK classroom delivery.
• Global Knowledge: Global Knowledge is a large global IT training provider (now part of Skillsoft) offering Microsoft, cloud, and data courses across multiple geographies. Comparable in curriculum, but operates as a broad incumbent with a wider vendor and topic portfolio than Wise Owl's Microsoft-led focus.

Others

• Microsoft Learn: Microsoft Learn is Microsoft's own free learning platform for Microsoft technologies, including Power BI, Power Platform, SQL, and Copilot. Adjacent rather than competitive — it sets the floor on free Microsoft training and shapes demand for the deeper, instructor-led courses that Wise Owl sells.

Direct peers

• Learning Tree International: Learning Tree is a long-established IT training provider offering instructor-led courses on Microsoft, data, and developer technologies in the UK and globally. Comparable on curriculum, instructor-led delivery, and enterprise customer base, but operating at significantly larger international scale.
• ITonlinelearning: ITonlinelearning is a UK online IT training provider focused on vendor certifications and Microsoft, Azure, and Power BI tracks, often with payment-plan models. Comparable in UK target market and Microsoft curriculum, differing mainly on online-only delivery and certification orientation.
• Acuity Training: Acuity Training is a UK-based Microsoft and business skills training provider running classroom courses in London and online, including Power BI, Excel, and Power Automate. Comparable in size, curriculum focus on Microsoft tools, and small-class delivery ethos.
• JBI Training: JBI Training is a UK IT training specialist offering instructor-led courses in SQL Server, Power BI, Excel, and C# from London venues, with similar customer segments to Wise Owl. Closely comparable on course menu and target buyer, and one of the most direct mid-sized competitors.
• Firebrand Training: Firebrand is a UK-based accelerated IT training provider delivering Microsoft, data, and developer courses in a residential, high-intensity format. Closely comparable on curriculum (Microsoft certifications, Power BI, Azure) and UK enterprise customer base, differing mainly on the accelerated-bootcamp delivery model.
• QA: QA is the UK's largest IT and business training provider, offering instructor-led courses in Power BI, Excel, SQL Server, Azure, and the wider Microsoft stack across UK venues. Directly comparable in curriculum, customer base, and delivery formats, but at materially larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubewiseowl.co.uk/videos
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wise-owl-training

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wise Owl Training