SVA turns 14!
SVA started in 2005 and is now officially the oldest active virtual assistant organisation in the UK.
Just 7 VAs got together with (the infamous!) Alan the Geek in a restaurant in Edinburgh in June 2005. The idea was to promote virtual assistance as a profession and spread the word about how VAs could help business owners, since this was a relatively new concept and we were all working towards the common goal of raising awareness. Originally a Scottish movement, we quickly became outnumbered by UK-wide VAs, all looking for specific advice on how to work with UK based clients.
The whole thing has snowballed since then:
- SVA is recommended in The Wealthy Freelancer guide as a resource for people looking for VAs and as a start up guide (Ed Gandia is one of my personal heroes!)
- Presented at OIVAC (Online International Virtual Assistant Convention)
- Panel questions at London's Olympia as part of The PA Show
- In 2007 we established the first set of professional standards for UK virtual assistants (updated in 2017)
- Judging The UK VA Awards since 2010
- Compiling the UK VA Survey since 2008 - the only statistically valid study of the UK VA industry as we survey the entire industry and don't publish till we get at least 10% responses (CIM standards)
- Live events sponsored by SVA: 10
- Sold 4 different businesses via the website - all in under 14 days
- VAs helped to set up their own businesses: 11,000+
- Wikipedia acknowledges SVA as the leading source of information for UK based assistants.
- Current active membership: 2,754
- 2018 HMRC recognise the special status of virtual assistants with clearer advice and a concession for those doing small amounts of bookkeeping work, working with SVA and VAProMag to address the issues.
- 2019 Established first set of professional standards for Virtual Assistant training - a worldwide first!
Then and now - what our homepage looked like:
We hope you'll join us for the next stage!!!
Ha! I remember that first website well. I thought I had found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Congratulations, Caroline, on SVA’s 14th Birthday, and grateful thanks for all you have done since in leading ‘The Movement’ to the success it is today. Many of us wouldn’t still be here today without your sterling efforts and belief in Virtual Assistance as a profession.