Pearson to exit adult-education arm

Less than three years after buying, Melorio, for £99 million, new Pearson boss John Fallon today announced plans to close the UK adult-education arm of the company. The shut down is expected to hit the firm to the tune of £120 million.

Pearson, which owns the Financial Times and book publisher Penguin, said it would try to sell the assets of the business, now called Pearson in Practice.

Fallon's predecessor dame Marjorie Scardino had pointed out last year that adult training was in a bad shape, after trading took a turn for the worse when the government changed the mode of funding of apprentices.

At the time Scardino acquired Melorio in 2010, she paid a 31 per cent premium to the share price. The decision yesterday held no surprise for analysts, as Pearson had taken a £21-million hit on Melorio last July, but it comes just a week following Scardino's formal departuare.

Fallon, who ran all of Pearson's international education businesses said the company very much regretted the decision to plan for closure but to its belief all alternatives had been exhausted. The company's shares were down 0.5 per cent or 7p to 1215p.

Pearson in Practice has been a provider of industry-specific training and qualifications through apprenticeships, work-based, technical and specialised training programmes.