Announced in the top 10 Fast50 fastest growing companies, New Zealand’s leading provider of business coaching is going global by partnering with one of Canada’s top firms. Results Canada has been formed through a joint venture between The Results Group and Alignlink, Calgary’s leading business coaching practice with turnover of CAD$1.5 million and a suite of clients which includes a number of billion-dollar companies. The new company will become the first Results Group practice in North America, with Results Calgary, in the booming western province of Alberta, to be the first Results Canada office. The next is slated for Vancouver in 2009.

After more than a year of negotiations which included a February 2008 visit to New Zealand by Alignlink’s senior management, the deal was signed in Calgary last month. Alignlink has been the leading corporate coaching and strategic planning firm in Calgary, Canada’s fifth-largest city, for more than 10 years, and has contacts and networks throughout Canada. The size of the partnership is such that it lifts the revenues of The Results Group, New Zealand’s largest provider with nine offices nationally and more than 200 clients serviced each week, by an immediate 20%. The deal includes the master license for Canada for Results Limited (The Results Group is the operating name), paving the way to create a similar operation to that of New Zealand and establish practices throughout Canada, which has a population of more than 33 million and a GDP of $1.265 trillion*.

The expansion of The Results Group’s business model offshore, through the establishment of Results Canada, is a key step in the Kiwi company’s objective to build the world benchmark for business coaching firms. “It’s an equal partnership and we’re working together,” says The Results Group Managing Director Ben Ridler. “Even though their client base includes billion-dollar-plus businesses – reflecting the size of the Canadian economy and Alberta’s massive oil industry – our core values are nearly identical. We believe in living, as a business, what we teach our clients, in putting people first, and in straight talk. “What they like about The Results Group is the focus on the business model – we concentrate on creating a scalable model for long-term business success.”

Results Canada Managing Director Scott Morris said, “The Result’s Group’s Systems and purpose-built facilities, with integrated IT systems and smart screens, are unique – there is nothing like their systems in North America. This infrastructure now becomes part of Results Canada’s service, and The Results Group acquires all the intellectual property, systems and processes of Alignlink to enhance existing systems and processes. “The integration between countries is a great opportunity for clients in New Zealand to use the networks and contacts that we have access to in Canada, and vice versa.”

The system allows participants at different locations (including different countries) to interact in real time – an advanced type of video-conferencing using wall-mounted computer interfaces which respond to touch.

A Results Canada Director has already visited New Zealand for training in the use of The Results Group’s business systems and sophisticated IT and electronic communication systems.

Mr Ridler is also exploring partnerships with similar businesses in Shanghai and Ireland. He says leading coaching firms in larger markets see the advantage of how The Results Group has operated in a smaller market – “It’s an evolution from simple business coaching to being involved in developing the business model and executing the strategy. Clients are moved from coach to coach to keep it fresh and continually bring in new expertise as the client business grows. In a small market you evolve quicker.”