I sat across Asif Musa - husband, Dad of two and Managing Director of West London English School (WLES), in an empty classroom like that of a teacher having a one to one with a student. Mr Musa was about to give me a lesson on his life and WLES.  

Based in Ealing, WLES began in 2015 after changes to immigration laws meant that the school Mr Musa worked for previously, West London Business College, decided to close.   

Going back to that time, Mr Musa said: "We all got given notice that we were going to close the school down.   

"That was when I approached a few staff members and said, 'look, if I start and take over the lease of the school would you be interested in joining me?'"  

He added: "And I knew I could rely on some of those teachers like Rebecca and Jamie, who've been with me since the beginning, I knew I could trust them and rely on them to build the business."  

WLES now employs 30 staff members and has a wide range of courses on offer to help improve people's English and their future career prospects.   

And English aside, the school focuses on ensuring that all students who walk through their doors, leave with values that would help them to better integrate into British society.   

Many of WLES's students come from abroad to study English in the UK (credit: WLES).

Mr Musa said: "The language you can learn anywhere.  

"A lot of employers and countries for example Saudi Arabia, want a lot of their people to come here (UK) and just learn English.  

"But it is more about the values. Values that they can take on into the workplace."  

He added: "Those are important things to try and learn and to develop in student's character, especially the younger ones."  

When asked about what makes his school different to other language schools, Mr Musa, gave me various reasons, but most important of all, the staff's willingness to be there for their students every step of the way.  

Mr Musa said: "I'm fully available for all staff and students. I work for them (the teachers) and the teachers work for the students."  

Mr Musa continued: "We try to create an environment for students where they feel comfortable, where they are getting a good standard of education and a very good service from the team."  

Admittedly, Asif Musa explained that not all language schools in London offer services in the best interests of its students he believes.   

He said: "The students benefit from getting that slightly cheaper pricing, but the same type of standards as they get from other kinds of corporate schools that are in and around central London that charge a lot of money."  

A report from May 2023 revealed that the intake of international students in the 2021-22 academic year contributed £41.9 billion to the UK economy. 

"But it is more about the values. Values that they can take on into the workplace."  

The large influx of international students coming to the UK every year has allowed WLES to continue growing and supporting the local Ealing economy.  

Mr Musa explained: "We sell Ealing, London and the UK on a bigger scale so we bring so much to the local economy.  

"The students who come here (WLES), they spend money in renting places, host families and in shops around Ealing, so we do a lot for the local economy as well." 

WLES classes are limited to a maximum of 14 students for a personal tailored approach (credit: WLES).

Despite the recent growth, WLES' journey has not been without its "hurdles" as Mr Musa called it.  

In the first year of WLES, Mr Musa was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer.   

This meant whilst he was recovering, Mr Musa had to rely on his team to run day to day operations of the school.  

"We have created something special here and we don't rest on our laurels."

Fast forward, after getting through that tough period WLES were faced with another challenge.   

The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.  

Mr Musa confessed: "We didn't know how long we were going to be in lockdown for. We were closed for four months. We went online, but the whole world went online.   

"You can't just have an online business overnight."  

"I had to really think about whether we were going to carry on," he added.  

Mr Musa attributed the reasons as to why he carried on, was because of his team and "vision" - a vision he had before starting WLES.  

"I started the business then with the redundancy money I got from my job and selling my house at the time.   

"A lot of people were like, 'don't do it. It's the worst time to start this business' but I believed in it, I believed in the team, and I had a vision for it," he said.  

Mr Musa told me that "15-20 percent of language schools closed down" during the pandemic, but WLES did not through the school's resilience and ingenuity. 

Some of the team from WLES (credit: WLES).

He said: "Everyone's going the other direction and we've been kind of going against the grain." 

And as Asif Musa sat across me, he described some of the plans WLES has for the near future and admitted that there is still more work to do.   

"We have more plans; we're continuing to grow and expand organically with the efforts of everybody.  

"We're working on a new project, which is a kind of AI (artificial intelligence) powered online learning platform with lots of potential for growth."  

Mr Musa finished by saying: "We have created something special here and we don't rest on our laurels. We want to keep moving forward and continue thinking outside the box as a school."  

To find out more about West London English School and its courses on offer, visit their website here.  

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