A SOUTH Lakeland training company has teamed up with one of the nation's most popular sportsmen to create an innovative package for corporate conferences.

Staff from Corporate Adrenaline are putting the finishing touches to the new product after getting the seal of approval from their new business partner, former Olympic hurdler and sprinter Kriss Akabusi.

The package, to be named the Kriss Akabusi Olympic Challenge, is being targeted at the lucrative corporate conference market and those behind it are convinced they are on to a winner.

Kriss, who won three Olympic medals during an illustrious 13-year career, has since gone on to forge a successful career as a motivational speaker on the corporate circuit, where he rubbed shoulders with the Windermere-based firm.

The former European 400m hurdling champion, best known for his larger-than-life personality, flew in by helicopter to cast a critical eye over the training package.

He told Business Gazette he was very impressed with the product, which involves teams of people competing against one another in a series of simple games, ranging from completing a giant jigsaw of the five Olympic rings, to moving players moving a golf ball along a series of interlinked tubes.

"The Olympic theme is going to dominate conferences in the run-up to next year's Olympics in Athens, and people will need a mechanism to deliver their conferences. What better than something like this, which is just ideal?"

Kriss, who started his own company ten years ago, said there were a lot of parallels to be drawn between succeeding in sports and business, such as being focussed, having a unique selling point and learning from your mistakes.

"This product is globally unique and its potential is endless. The game format is in vogue at the moment, with TV shows like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and The Weakest Link, so this product is very contemporary and I'm very excited about it," he added.

Corporate Adrenaline's managing director Chris Hillman said bringing Kriss Akabusi on board would dramatically raise the profile of the new venture, due to be officially launched next month.

"This opens up a new market for us and gives us another very powerful string to our bow. We are using fun interaction and engagement to learn. When we went to kindergarten, we learned by playing games why does that have to stop," he said.

Mr Hillman said the product could be adapted in the future to reflect the themes of other major sporting events, such as the football, rugby and cricket world cups.

The Windermere business is forging ahead on several new fronts, in the wake of fall-out from the September 11 terrorist attack which badly hit the firm's American market.

"September 11 was a financial disaster but it was perhaps the thing that we needed to reassess what we do and where the market is going," he added.

The firm has secured a £45,000 SMART award from the DTI to carry out a feasibility study into creating computer-based virtual learning environments for the business world.

The idea is to develop a virtual campus with

the look and feel of a real university campus,

where people can log on and learn, use reference material and afterwards visit a student bar', have

a virtual beer and play virtual games with colleagues.

Corporate Adrenaline has also been signed up as an advisor to the Department of Education and Skills to help develop thinking on web-based educational learning.

May 1, 2003 14:30