Category: News

Mr. Fritz Schillig passed away peacefully at home on the afternoon of Wednesday, 11 January 2017, aged 87 years.

Mr. Schillig was the founder of Anglo-Continental School of English in Bournemouth. After the war, as a young man in Switzerland, he started his career in an import/export company. He soon realised that the future of global economies would lie in the ability to communicate effectively in English in order to trade with rapidly growing markets, such as the United States. He therefore resigned from his job and travelled to England to attend an English language course in Christchurch, England.  It was here that he saw the potential to create a well-run and professional English language school, where only the highest quality of service in every aspect of the students’ experience would be good enough.

Mr. Schillig founded his own school in Christchurch in 1950 with 80 Swiss Francs lent to him by his father to advertise for students in Switzerland. His father never expected to see his loan repaid. Mr. Schillig borrowed 4 tables and chairs and a blackboard from St. Mary’s Gate School (which were returned) in order to launch the new language school.

Anglo-Continental expanded rapidly and the school’s current site in Wimborne Road was settled in 1955. Anglo-Continental has since grown to become one of the largest and leading English language schools in the UK. It has always prided itself on promoting the highest standards in teaching. Mr. Schillig encouraged teachers to develop their own curricula prior to textbooks being readily available to English language students. As a result, many well-known EFL authors started their careers at Anglo-Continental.

Anglo-Continental has taught over 400,000 students from 120 different countries and continues to thrive today. Anglo-Continental has a loyal base of staff, some of whom have worked at the school for many years (and even decades!), including his wife, Jane Gorman, and his son, Guido Schillig.

The visionary founder of Anglo-Continental, Mr. Fritz Schillig, will be very much missed. Everyone at Anglo-Continental will continue to do their utmost to honour his vision and to continue to promote the high standards and professionalism which Mr. Schillig instilled in all who worked for him.

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Bournemouth wins Blue Flag status and Seaside Awards for 2016

On 19 May 2016, Keep Britain Tidy announced that four Bournemouth beaches have been awarded 2016 Blue Flag status – Alum Chine, Durley Chine, Fisherman’s Walk and Southbourne Beach; alongside this, Bournemouth and Boscombe Beaches gained Seaside Awards.

Both the Blue Flag and Seaside Awards are the quality marks for UK beaches and mean those visiting them can be sure that they are clean and safe and meet the highest environmental standards, as well the tough bathing water quality standards.

Councillor Lawrence Williams, Portfolio Holder for Tourism, Leisure and The Arts said, “We are delighted to have achieved Blue Flag status for four beaches once again and the two Seaside Awards. Everyone takes great pride in our beaches and the seafront team work all year round to ensure visitors have the best experience when visiting our golden coastline.”

The Blue Flag beaches and the Seaside Award beaches have seen a lot of regeneration in the past year and there’s more to come this year and next:

• Alum Chine has seen the addition of the Superhuts being installed
• Durley Chine now boasts a very popular contemporary look café called Chineside
• Boscombe beach will be the first Bournemouth beach to offer exclusive overnight luxury beach huts in 2017.
• Southbourne Beach will have new Superhuts installed this year.
• Bournemouth Beach has had a significant facelift over the last year
• Boscombe Beach has a new American style ‘Prom Diner’ and the UK’s first eco-friendly Mini Golf on Boscombe Pier opens end of May – where the balls feed the fish!

Source: Bournemouth Tourism

 

 

Guido Schillig, Chair of Bournemouth & Poole International Education Forum/Managing Director of Anglo-Continental and Mark Smith, Director of Tourism in Bournemouth, met with the Prime Minister David Cameron today as he announced a five point plan to support tourism growth across the UK, during a visit to Cornwall.

Prime Minister, David Cameron, emphasised his commitment saying; “This Prime Minister is for Tourism.”

As part of a £5m South West Tourism Growth Fund announced by Government, a range of activity will take place to grow tourism; deliver economic growth and boost export earnings in the South West of England. Bournemouth Tourism will lead on the International Education aspect of the South West Growth Fund project, working with the South West region to deliver the campaign to this key tourism market.

Mark Smith, Director of Tourism in Bournemouth, said; “I’m proud to be working with VisitEngland, VisitBritain and colleagues across the South West to maximise the return on this valuable new international marketing investment.

“Being involved in this high profile regional campaign will be a significant boost to the local economy. Especially to the important international education business which already brings in a quarter of £1 billion per annum in export earnings to Bournemouth and Poole.”

Guido Schillig, Chair of Bournemouth & Poole International Education Forum, said; “I am absolutely delighted with this new funding. It will allow new partnerships to be formed across the South West and together we will be looking to generate a significant number of extra jobs in this fast-growing world-wide industry, through raising our profile around the world.”

VisitEngland’s Chief Executive James Berresford said; “Our ambition for the South West Tourism Growth Fund is to work closely with VisitBritain and partner destinations to create an additional visitor spend of £60m, supporting the creation of 1,000 jobs to boost the South West visitor economy.”

The South West Tourism Growth Fund
The South West Tourism Growth Fund for tourism investment was announced by Government on the 5th March 2015 to grow tourism, deliver economic growth and boost export earnings in the South West of England. The total programme expenditure will be £10m, consisting of the core £5m funding from Central Government and £5m estimated match funding from partners in the public and private sectors. Match funding will be both cash funding and in-kind. This fund will be managed by VisitEngland, working closely with international delivery partner VisitBritain and partner organisations from across the South West of England.

About Bournemouth

• With seven miles of golden sands and frequently warmer than average temperatures, the vibrant, cosmopolitan town of Bournemouth has it all. As well as a vast array of shops, restaurants, cliff-top hotels, bed and breakfast accommodation, the UK’s premier destination boasts historic gardens, an award-winning seafront and a buzzing nightlife.
• Voted the UK’s Best Coastal Resort in the British Travel Awards 2014, Bournemouth’s excellent transport links, including an airport and trains direct from London Waterloo, make it the perfect base for exploring the history, heritage and picture-perfect scenery of Dorset.
• Surrounded by rolling countryside, Bournemouth enjoys 2,000 acres of parks and gardens located in the centre of the resort. The Lower, Central and Upper Gardens are Grade II listed and date back to the Victorian era. Bournemouth seafront features four Blue Flag beaches, two iconic piers and almost 2,000 beach huts, as well as the resort’s distinctive land trains and cliff lifts.
• A sublime mix of evocative Victorian history alongside modern living, Bournemouth is a bustling yet picturesque destination with a wealth of accommodation and activities to suit all tastes and budgets. www.bournemouth.co.uk

About VisitEngland

• VisitEngland is the country’s national tourist board. We work in partnership with the industry to develop the visitor experience across England, plan national tourism strategy, grow the value of tourism in England and provide advocacy for the industry and our visitors.  Our work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights.

• Over the last five years VisitEngland has invested over £57m of Government funding in English tourism. These investments have generated over £1.5 billion growth in visitor spending and to date have created over 28,000 jobs.

• England is a unique destination and a real powerhouse in global tourism. It represents 84 per cent of the total UK visitor economy, is worth £106 billion, and supports 2.6 million jobs.
• For further information and to access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics visit www.visitengland.com/biz  or www.visitengland.com  for consumer information.

Anglo-Continental celebrated its 65th birthday on Friday, 7 August 2015. The school first opened its doors in 1950 and has provided English language tuition to over 400,000 students from 120 different countries across the world.

Anglo-Continental celebrated its 65th anniversary by sharing a huge birthday cake with students and staff and by showing a slide show of photographs depicting the school in different eras, from the 1950s to the present day. Anglo-Continental is a family-run school. Mr. Fritz Schillig founded the school in 1950 and his son, Mr. Guido Schillig, is the current Managing Director. Mr. Fritz Schillig, Mr. Guido Schillig and Mrs. Jane Gorman are members of the school’s Board.

Everyone at Anglo-Continental was very excited to celebrate this landmark anniversary and it was a fantastic opportunity to share some of the school’s history (and birthday cake!) with its current staff and students.