The Training Managers Yearbook 2001
AP Information Services
ISBN 1-902202-29-5
800 pages, £80

This is the second edition of 'The Training Managers Yearbook' and is designed to complement other reference titles from AP Information Services such as 'The Personnel Managers Yearbook' and a range of finance and other directory services.

At over 800 pages, the Yearbook weighs in like a substantial phone book and indeed much of the look-and-feel of the directory is similar to such a daily reference work - something to keep within reach to dip in and out of when particular services or information is required.

At the heart of this directory is a listing of more than 5,700 companies each with over 100 employees and including core contact and business details including the name of the person responsible for company training functions. For any training provider wishing to extend their marketing base, this is highly valuable information. The directory can be searched and organised in various ways - by geography, activity and other classifications.

A second major section of the Yearbook lists over 3,000 companies and organisations supplying services and facilities to the sector. This listing is divided into various categories including training providers, software suppliers, venues, online training services, products and vocational training organisations. Again, the data is searchable in different ways.

Whilst there is great value in having so much information readily available in one reference book, there is an increasing demand for such data to be provided online, perhaps through a subscription service. The benefit of online data is that it can be maintained more easily and can be accessed from several locations. AP Information Services do sell their data as mailing lists (and this facility is being made available online at http://www.datanow.co.uk), but as yet, much of the comprehensive Yearbook information is not available on the web although various companies, including this website, offer less comprehensive directories of training providers and venues.

The function of such directories is to provide valuable professional information, and squeezed into just a few pages towards the front of the Yearbook are some highly relevant and interesting statistical tables derived in part from the Industrial Society's recent Training Trends survey. As well as some standard data on companies analysed by size, sector and region, there are a range of tables examining changing patterns of training salaries, budgets and expenditure. Did you know, for example, that the average spend per employee in training was £397 in 2000, and that three-quarters of employers reported a sustained or increased expenditure on training compared with the previous year?

All-in-all, there is a vast amount of relevant professional reference material in the Yearbook which is sure to find its way into the offices of a great many training departments and training providers.

This Yearbook, and other books from AP Information Services are available online in the Shopping Mall