The three renowned companies were acquired by the Emerald Group in 2015, 2017, and 2019 respectively. As a global provider of research and learning resources with an annual turnover of £65 million, Emerald has now established itself with a strong and unique position in both the academic research and corporate learning and development markets.

Emerald Works, which has offices in Edinburgh, London, Horsham, the US, and Australia, works with global brands such as Virgin Money, Standard Life Aberdeen, Rolls-Royce, Edrington, and AstraZeneca among its growing client base. With a focus on the USA, UK, and Australia, the company now serves more than 2.5 million learners and learning professionals each month, based in 180 countries worldwide.

The integration will see Emerald Works invest in its core award-winning learning and development solutions: the Mind Tools learning toolkit, which boasts more than 2,000 online resources; evidence-based off-the-shelf and customizable eLearning solutions; and the Lean learning management system.

In addition, Emerald Works will also extend the international reach of its industry-wide Learning Health Check, an independent research programme for L&D leaders to benchmark their strategies against other high-performing learning organizations.

Peter Casebow, CEO of Emerald Works, said, "This is a tremendously exciting day for Emerald Works, as we bring together the heritage and expertise of these three respected brands to form one combined company.

"Together, we share a passion and mission to change lives through learning, and our combined expertise, resources, and evidence-led approach will help more people and organisations around the world to reach their potential.

"As we launch Emerald Works and look to enhance our solutions, one important thing will remain unchanged: our customers will continue to receive the same excellent solutions and high levels of service they have come to expect from us."

Richard Bevan, CEO of Emerald Group and Chairman of Emerald Works, said, "It’s a truly significant moment for the business, as we develop the Emerald name into the corporate learning space. The Group mission since our foundation in 1967 has been to provide research and learning resources that people can use to make a difference and, in bringing the expertise of these businesses closer together, we’re now positioned to extend the value of what we do to more learners worldwide."

Alan Brown, L&D Consultant at Standard Life Aberdeen, said, "It’s great to see these companies coming together under the new banner of Emerald Works. Towards Maturity is recognised as a leader in its field, gathering data and insights, and this has supported our own thinking and direction. GoodPractice and Mind Tools have also played their part, so to bring everything into one place can only be a good thing. We see this as a good thing for the continued development of our people."

Sean Brown, Colleague Digital Experience Manager at Virgin Money, said, "This is great news. I can only see the positives of what this combined expertise will bring to us.  Having a brilliant learning experience for our colleagues is paramount to our learning strategy, and I look forward to us shaping a prosperous future together."