Jack Contze works for the HRM division of the Research Lab at the international metal company Corus in IJmuiden. "In 1999, Dutch Hoogovens merged with British Steel," says Jack. "As a training officer, it was my task to help employees become more fluent in English, the new working language of the company." He turned to the Alkmaar-based language institute PCI for suitable language training. "About 175 employees, most of whom were senior staff, signed up to take English lessons. During 18 months, native-speaker trainers taught them in small groups at various levels to improve their conversational abilities and writing skills." In addition, Jack arranged what he calls a 'survival course' for UK expats and their families moving to IJmuiden, designed to prepare and ease their relocation and stay in The Netherlands. But the language training doesn't stop here. "Expertise on aluminium is a scarce commodity," explains Jack. "It often happens that we need to recruit staff from our subsidiaries in France, Germany and Australia. So, we've asked PCI to provide language and culture training for expats from those countries as well." Commenting on the teachers and PCI, Jack says: "They impressed us because of their flexibility in finding slots for in-company language training, which isn't always an easy task. What's more, we find our staff are getting high-quality, made-to-measure language training for a good price."