Happy Computers

How is it social?

Happy achieves social impact through its core business activities of making charities and housing associations more effective by providing, high quality ICT training. The company believes passionately that the way organisations are run and a socially inclusive and motivating environment can create positive impact not only for employees and management but for the way businesses and charities conduct their activities.

Over 50% of Happy’s clients are charities, who receive a 35% discount on standard prices. Happy has also partnered with a local community organisation to provide training and technical support to agencies serving the homeless and unemployed. The company employs a deaf trainer in order to provide training services for deaf students.

Happy has also developed a 100 day timebank scheme which can be drawn down by any member of staff for volunteering activities.  The company has also used staff interests to develop new business opportunities. For example it has sent trainers to Africa to create sustainable training centres and support staff's desire to travel. Every six years, employees can take a paid month off to do what they wish.

The company has been committed to minimising its environmental impact from its inception. It has sought to offset its impact through endowing rainforests since 1990, long before the term carbon offset was widely used. Happy has been recyling since 1994, using only recycled paper since 1996 and sourcing all energy from renewable sources since 2002. In 2009 the company was offically termed Carbon Neutral and given CarbonZero status.

In 2006 Happy was rated the small business with the most positive impact of any in the UK, in the annual Business in the Community awards. This was based on the overall impact on society,  including core product, environmental impact, treatment of suppliers and staff and involvement in the community.

What is its business model?

Happy believes that learning should be fun. The business was established to combine technical expertise and excellent training skills with an enjoyable learning environment. All Happy training is based around the following age-old principle: "Tell me and I will forget, show me and I will remember, involve me and I will understand."

Happy has three core business units:

• Happy Computers -  provides clients with classroom IT training, covering all the principal software used by non-technical people. The most popular are the Microsoft Office packages, web design packages like Dreamweaver and Flash, desk-top publishing packages like Quark and InDesign, and accounting packages like Sage. The company is also able to customise and build courses for clients’ own in-house bespoke software packages.
• Happy eLearning - is the online arm of Happy Computers, covering all aspects of e-learning, and has worked with the NHS, Heritage Lottery Fund, Royal Horticultural Society and Department of Work and Pensions.
• Happy People - is the soft skills and management training arm of the business, advising clients on how to improve workforce motivation. Courses include ‘Emotional Intelligence’, ‘Creating a Great Place to Work’, ‘The Supportive Manager’ and ‘Positive Organisations, Positive Staff’.   

Happy’s clients come from the corporate, public, arts, housing and voluntary sectors and include Pfizer, Department of Work and Pensions, NHS, UBS, Camden Council, Hackney Council, BAA, Charity Commission, Hewitt Associates, Unison, Diabetes UK, British Library, DfES, HM Treasury Amnesty International and the Fairtrade Foundation.

Its history

Happy Computers was founded in 1990 by freelance trainer Henry Stewart working from his back room in Hackney. In 1991 Happy set up its first training centre. Happy Computers later became one of Happy's business units. Originally Happy Computers focused on IT training, but it now also delivers a range of management and personal development courses. The company has won over fifty awards in a wide range of areas including IT training, customer service, creating a great place to work, and social responsibility. Its most recent awards include:

• Financial Times 2nd Best Workplace in the UK, 2007.
• IT Training Company of the Year, Silver (Institute of IT Training) 2006, 2007, 2008
• Gold 2009
• Impact on Society, Small Business Winner 2006

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