What we don't do

We do not sell clarity approval logos, corporate memberships or general public courses.

Clarity approval logos

Editing organizations that provide clarity logos seem to be private commercial firms, often family owned and run. They are not in any usual sense campaigns. They are certainly not charities or government bodies.

Some customers buy clarity logos from such firms, believing they have won an award or achieved a generally approved standard. However, the logo is a commercial product, not an award, and is usually paid for in addition to or as part of an editing fee.

Such logos have questionable linguistic authority. They have no consistently independent academic or literary backing and are invented by the firms that sell them. The firms' editing credentials should be checked carefully by prospective customers.

We are of course happy for our customers to show we have edited their documents or trained their staff. We can supply a simple logo, at no cost, which makes clear we are a private company. There is no hint of an award, nor any suggestion that the logo represents some kind of general standard. Our logo simply indicates our customer has taken the trouble to employ a specialist company to edit their documents. We invite customers to check our credentials rigorously.

Corporate memberships

Some plain English training firms offer corporate membership schemes. The advantages are hard to see. They may include an annual training course, whose value is far less than the cost of the membership. The package may include the use of a logo that simply indicates a client's general wish to communicate clearly.

Our approach is different. We offer a personal service with inherent corporate benefits covered by our competitive fee. For example, we discuss closely with clients what training needs they have. We invite course delegates to send us samples of their writing for pre-course editing, and to contact us with brief language queries for a year after their training. We develop some dedicated materials for each client and build consultancy into our service. We do not sell corporate membership, but assume it as part of our relationship with our clients. Please ask us for some examples of our extended, corporate service.

Public (open) writing courses

General open courses can help organizations not ready for in-house training. One or a few members of staff can learn basic approaches to writing and assess the training for their employer.

Typically, a group of strangers work through simple, general materials. Such an approach is better than nothing, but its effect may be patchy, short-lived and limited.

Again, we do things differently. We will arrange tailored open courses on request, for delegates from similar professional backgrounds. We discuss needs and like to design some materials from clients' documents at no extra cost. Delegates can work on relevant tasks with their peers from similar organizations. We invite debate and disagreement. Our public courses are flexible, relevant, use modern materials and are as bespoke as is possible within a realistic budget.