HISTORY OF ST GILES
St Giles International was founded in 1955 by Paul Lindsay and his wife Diana. Paul trained to be a teacher and started his career teaching English and French to native English speakers at a north London polytechnic.
Wanting to earn some more money for his upcoming marriage, he took a summer job at an English language school on Oxford Street. The school was bursting at its seams with foreign students and he was excited by the demand for learning English. So he saved up £100 and rented a small room in a back street of Soho, London, and launched a school of English.
Since then, St Giles has grown into an international organisation with 6 year-round centres in the UK and Canada, as well as Junior Summer Courses in the UK.
Paul Lindsay, the founder of St Giles, said "We were established a long time ago, but I am very pleased that all of the St Giles centres are today up-to-date and young in outlook, with vigorous lively teachers and administrative staff. Although we have all the latest electronic equipment, interactive whiteboards in the classrooms, self-access centres, new digital Language Labs, we haven’t overlooked the importance of good teaching. Our teachers are constantly updating their commitment to learner-centred learning and therefore the top priority of putting the student’s needs first.
We have every right to be proud of our high standards and our reputation. It is to the great credit of Mark Lindsay and all our wonderful staff that St Giles is celebrating its 65th anniversary. We look forward to many more anniversaries!"
St Giles Timeline
- 1955: The first St Giles School of Languages opened in Soho, London
- 1963: St Giles opened a branch in Canterbury
- 1969: St Giles Brighton first opened as the Brighton Overseas Students Centre at 69 Marine Parade, Brighton
- 1975: St Giles Highgate opened at 51 Shepherd's Hill, London
- 1978: St Giles Eastbourne was founded
- 1982: The first overseas branch of St Giles opened in San Francisco, USA
- 1986: St Giles Brighton purchased a new building in Marlborough Place
- 1987: St Giles Westminster opened near Trafalgar Square, London (later re-named “St Giles London Central”)
- 1991: St Giles San Francisco moved to larger premises on Hallidie Plaza
- 1993: St Giles Westminster moved to a bigger building in Great Russell Street and was renamed St Giles London Central
- 1997: St Giles London Central moved to its current location at 154 Southampton Row
- 2001: St Giles opened its first centre in Brazil, in Sao Paolo
- 2004: St Giles Campinas opened
- 2005: St Giles opened a Summer Course for young learners in Southampton. (There are currently 9 Junior Summer Courses available, across the UK, USA and Canada)
- 2006: St Giles San Francisco moved to a new building located on Market Street
- 2006: St Giles took over the Canadian Business English Institute (CBEI) and opened St Giles Vancouver
- 2009: St Giles San Francisco expanded into a second building, nicknamed 'NOMA' (North of Market Street) opposite its current building, 'SOMA'
- 2011: The St Giles New York City year-round centre opened on Fifth Avenue
- 2015: St Giles International celebrated its 60th Anniversary and received a prestigious Queens Award for Enterprise in International Trade
- 2018: St Giles opened a new year-round centre in Cambridge
