From the lab bench to the training room.

A scientist first

Patrick’s career began not in a training room but in a laboratory. He read Biochemistry at Oriel College, Oxford, before moving into medical research at the University.

His proudest achievement from that period: being part of a research team involved in developing a cure for a genetic disease.

It is this scientific background Patrick brings to Keys today, championing an evidence-based approach to training and learning.

Entering the training industry

Patrick’s journey into training began in 1994, when he established a secretarial college. The rigour stayed the same; only the subject changed, from the science of the human body to the practical skills people use every working day.

It was the start of everything Keys would become.

Making national headlines

As the business grew, it began to attract national attention. It was featured in The Daily Telegraph, and Patrick was invited onto BBC News to comment on the Chancellor’s Budget and what it would mean for employers.

Small companies cannot afford to lose somebody they have spent a lot of money to train. (Patrick Tiley, Business Monitor, 18 January 1999)

One of the North West’s largest training providers

In 2006, Patrick developed the business into Keys Training, which grew to become one of the largest training providers in the North West, with offices across the region.

Of all the offices over the years, Patrick’s favourite was in Winckley Square, Preston, a city with particular significance for him as the birthplace of his second son.

Evidence, thirty years on

More than 30 years after first entering the training industry, Patrick oversees the strategic direction of Keys Group, which has supported more than 1,000 organisations across the UK.

His background, spanning scientific research, education and business, still shapes how Keys works: practical training underpinned by evidence, focused on making a measurable difference.