Soft skills took centre stage at English UK's annual conference for Business English teachers.

Country Cousins has recently won a prestigious ELTons award for its PALS scheme, which enlists young people living in the seaside town of Ilfracombe in Devon to help ensure international students are accepted locally.

Soft skills are the overarching theme of the 2014 Business English Trainers' Conference which takes place this Saturday (7 June) in central London.

Haggis, kilts, and poetry were among some of the Scottish traditions introduced to a group of agents from Central, South East and Eastern Europe on English UK's spring 2014 inward mission.

The achievements of retiring English UK chief executive Tony Millns were celebrated at a special dinner in London this week.

During his 15 years in the job, Tony masterminded the creation of English UK from predecessor organisations dedicated to state and private language centres, giving the industry a single voice and pushing to raise standards.