Acupuncture Academy growth continues despite Beast from the East!

"Jagdish Soor and Louise Richardson from the council's Economy & Skills team were great to deal with. They were so lovely and there with us every step of the way."

Leamington Spa's longstanding reputation as the home of acupuncture in the UK is in safe hands as the Acupuncture Academy continues to grow in the town.

Founded by Julie Ann Reynolds and Jennifer Winter, The Acupuncture Academy recently occupied newly-refurbished premises in Hamilton Terrace. The town-centre base is in an excellent location for the blossoming business - and rather more comfortable for both practitioners, students and patients than the old prison cells they formerly occupied in the old Justice Centre in High Street.

The business's co-founders both trained at the world-renowned College of Traditional Acupuncture, set up by acupuncture pioneer Jack Worsley, first in Kenilworth and then Leamington. Julie and Jen were among thousands of students who studied there from the 1980s onwards.

They are now passing on their own expertise in a spacious property, once home to the Leamington Spa Courier newspaper, which they extensively refurbished and equipped with the help of a small capital grant from Warwickshire County Council.

Their journey has not been without complications. Early last year their move into Hamilton Terrace was delayed by flooding caused by the Beast from the East. That left the project more expensive than envisaged, but the small capital grant, along with some good business advice, from the council helped provide a perfect base from which they can continue to meet the high demand for their skills.

"We needed to grow the business and, first and foremost, needed more space," said Julie. "The old prison cells were not the most welcoming and were just too small and overcrowded. We were juggling commitments all the time and it got to the stage where we were having to turn students away.

"We had to expand and as soon as we saw the premises in Hamilton Terrace we knew that would be perfect for us. So it proved - it took a bit longer than we thought because of the flooding, which was very frustrating and upped the cost, but we are thrilled with the end-result.

"The grant was a huge help and, all through the process, Jagdish Soor and Louise Richardson from the council's Economy & Skills team were great to deal with. They were so lovely and there with us every step of the way. The flooding delay was quite a stressful time and we were worried we might lose the grant but, all the way through, they just said, 'don't worry, whenever you're ready.' They were brilliant."

Now the Academy is going from strength to strength. Alongside running a low-cost community clinic, it is training many more mature students on the honours degree level, fully accredited professional acupuncture course, both in class sessions at Hamilton Terrace and via integrated e-learning which means students can train pretty much wherever they are in the world.

"We have students from all over the UK, across Europe and even further afield," said Julie. "The other day I took an inquiry from South Africa. It is wonderful to have this perfect base where students can come for the ten practical weekends per year and learn in comfort with all the facilities we need.

"Everyone around us has made us really welcome and we love it here in Leamington."

• The Access to Finance advice for the company was delivered as part of the Coventry and Warwickshire Business Support
  Programme, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Warwickshire County Council
• To find out more about the range of support available to grow your business, please contact the Growth Hub on 0300 060 3747.