Joan Grady discovers a firm where commitment to training has resulted in a rather special brew

the fabulous features of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Willow Tearooms are still there after 70 years. Miss Cranston, who opened them in Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street, would recognise them easily - but she might find things had changed on the business side of things.

The remarkable transformation - to a thriving entrepreneurial enterprise, complete with gallery and 50 employees - has been achieved by Anne Mulhern. The tearooms had been closed for 50 years when she decided it was time they were re-instituted as a Glasgow landmark.

''We reopened in 1983 with six staff,'' she said. ''We've simply grown and grown since then - in 1996 we opened the Willow Tearooms Gallery and our staff increased to 20. By July 1997 that number was up to 50 and turnover had increased tenfold, from #80,000 in 1983 to #800,000 today.''

Much of this growth happened so steadily that Mulhern and her team did not notice the extra strain it was putting on her management systems. Eventually, however, as staff increased, weaknesses began to emerge.

Mulhern decided it was time to take action. ''I realised one of the major things which was missing was training,'' she said. ''I knew I had to get it started, and that I needed a formalised qualification to bring our standards up to scratch.

''By 1996 we still had no formal training - we had an induction process but nothing structured. I began to look for ways to provide that structure. I decided to see if IIP would work for us.

''It was a way to make everything more rigid and gave us the opportunity to standardise our operations so when we opened the gallery in Buchanan Street it didn't cause too much disruption.''

Before committing to the process, Mulhern discussed it with her staff. With their approval, she contacted the GDA who put her in touch with Esteem, the company which created the Milestone Model. Mulhern used this model to put together the targets and systems for the accreditation process.

Seminars and workshops hosted by GDA and Esteem offered guidance and help with preparing the company portfolio. Every ''mile'' along the way was marked out on a worksheet and submitted as a module towards eventual accreditation.

''Their help was invaluable,'' said Mulhern. ''It took us about seven meetings - just over a year - to get through the entire process. Throughout it all we were also having meetings with Elaine Sneddon from GDA every couple of months. She kept an eye on everyone - knew where we were and kept us on the right track.

''Financially GDA took care of everything - all we had to pay for was the IIP process itself - there was no extra charge for meetings and seminars. With all that assistance we eventually received accreditation in March this year.''

Mulhern was surprised at the ease of the process. She had anticipated more problems and was worried that staff would object to the extra workload. In fact staff entered into it enthusiastically.

''The feedback I received has been excellent,'' she said. ''Everyone has shown great enthusiasm.We still sit down regularly to discuss and assess company goals and staff goals. I didn't know that would be one of the outcomes. I never realised the difference training can make to an organisation.''

Everyone at the tearooms and the gallery had a part to play in the accreditation process. Each fulfilled their roles, and the enthusiasm of everyone was shown after accreditation was achieved. All levels of staff joined together for a huge celebration party in honour of their efforts.

The Tearooms are a classic example of a small company creating its own success. The staff pulled together to learn about IIP, to implement it and to achieve it. The result, says Mulhern, has been a greater commitment from her existing staff and a significant drop in staff turnover.

''Everyone is more motivated,'' she said. ''They all show more interest, and we've done so well out of that we've been able to implement a profit-share scheme for the first time. Now everyone gets a little of the profits they work so hard for.''

Customers have noticed the change too. One of the innovations made in the IIP process was the implementation of customer comment cards. These have been complimentary - ''We'll be back for some more excellent service'', ''Extremely friendly staff and a delightful atmosphere,'' and the simplest, but possibly the highest praise: ''Miss Cranston would be proud.''