It was my teaching background which led me to set up English Unlocked. For years I taught English to people from all over the world. I noticed that although my students could understand me, they struggled to understand the receptionists, librarians and other staff. Very few of my colleagues knew how to modify their speech effectively for learners of English. I decided to share the tricks of my trade with other professions and developed our first course. We now have a number of courses which empower staff to overcome language barriers without learning a language.