London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 09, 2025

Virtual path: how an aviation training startup got onboard with remote internships

Virtual path: how an aviation training startup got onboard with remote internships

Aviation training company boss Claudio Marturano explains the role of the Open University in his career and in recruiting two virtual interns for the business

Claudio Marturano runs Nubis Aviation Training, a compliance training and support platform for the aviation industry. Marturano began studying for an MBA through The Open University (OU) before setting up his own business. He recruited two OU virtual interns, Lily Beach (online marketing and customer relations officer) and Helen Wood (business development officer), via its online vacancy service, OpportunityHub. They’re both now full-time members of staff.

How did you hear about the OU?
Marturano: I started doing an MBA through the OU because I didn’t have the resources to stop work and go to university full-time. I knew all about OpportunityHub and the ways in which it connects OU students and alumni with career opportunities.

As an employer, what made you recruit via the OU?
Marturano: Having started my own business, my first thought – when the time came to hire people and think about expanding – was the OU. It was an obvious choice because I know that OU students and graduates have a similar mindset to me – we share a commitment to learning and bettering ourselves, and have the resourcefulness to study at the same time as working. That lends itself well to the demands of growing a business.

How did you find Helen and Lily?
Marturano: I contacted the OU via OpportunityHub and they put me in touch with several candidates. Helen and Lily were by far the best fit.

How easy was it to find the right people?
Marturano: It was completely seamless and easy. The OU were fantastic and made it very simple to find the right candidates. They actually did most of the work for us. They took care of everything from collating CVs to contacting candidates. They even put the job advert together.

How did the OU compare with other agencies?
Marturano: I did work with a couple of other recruitment agencies too and they weren’t nearly as helpful.

Were you surprised by the calibre of candidates?
Marturano: I’ll be honest, no. I knew the OU would unearth people with impressive skills and the mindset to succeed. What has surprised me is the fact that I went to the OU as a means to an end – I needed an MBA to progress in my career when I was offered a directorship – but I ended up with the team to start and scale my own business!

Do you have any advice for other employers?
Marturano: Think about what you want from an employee and particularly how you want them to help grow and sustain your business. OU students and graduates don’t want to be average employees – they have the skills and tenacity to become an integral part of your business.

How did you find the position?
Wood: I joined the OU to do a maths degree and I spent a lot of time on the OpportunityHub looking at jobs and seeing what openings were out there. I came across Claudio’s advert and thought the idea of a virtual internship sounded really interesting. I applied and came onboard as a virtual intern for six weeks. After that, I was delighted when Claudio offered me a full-time job.

Beach: When I started international studies with the OU, I immediately began looking for jobs as I’d always planned to work alongside studying for my degree. The online internship seemed perfect for me because you can fit your working hours around your other studies and commitments.

What do you do?
Wood: I work in business development, looking after the sales and finance side of things. I’m also involved in deciding what direction the business will go in the future.

Beach: I’m responsible for marketing and branding.

What’s your favourite thing about working?

Wood: I’m in my final year of my degree so I’m working full-time alongside studying, and I enjoy that. I also really like having had the opportunity to join the business from the very early stages of its development. It’s been an invaluable experience.

Beach: I enjoy the fact that I can bring the skills I am learning through my studies to my working environment. It’s great to have this opportunity through the OU to work alongside studying, gaining and developing vital work experience to use for the future and in any professional setting.

What have Lily and Helen brought to your business?
Marturano: They have literally helped build the company from scratch. They were very eager and wanted to achieve from the get-go. Within six weeks, we had made a lot of progress and I realised very quickly they would be of real benefit to the business. Soon after they joined, they helped design an infrastructure for our working environment, which brought us from startup to being ready to scale.

So together they’ve been a dream team?

Marturano: So far, so good, yes!

Any challenges?
Beach: One thing we initially found a little bit of a challenge was communication, but since then we’ve developed our own communication system and way of sharing new information and keeping track of everything we need to work effectively, from project management to workflow.

Marturano: It’s not without its difficulties; you’re doing something brand new and working with people you’ve never met before. But aviation is not a nine-to-five job; you have to work in different time zones and I travel a lot, so having a virtual team that I can communicate with from everywhere has been invaluable.

Hang on – you’ve never met your staff?
Marturano: We’ve met twice since December, but I didn’t meet Helen or Lily until more than a month after they joined the team. The nature of a virtual internship meant I didn’t need to! And I actually think that’s one of the key advantages of a virtual internship; aside from the fact that it keeps overheads low from an economic point of view, it also means you’re not forced in front of each other just because you work together.

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
Beach: I am enjoying learning about the business, particularly the aviation industry and contributing towards the growth of the company. We recently launched the official website and I am looking forward to attending events and talking about the products. Although it is difficult to say where I’ll be in five years, I hope to continue to develop my skillset and have completed my degree.

Wood: I’m really enjoying watching the business grow and helping to develop it. I’m not quite sure where I’ll be in five years’ time. I haven’t planned that far ahead. I am taking one thing at a time, finishing my degree and learning more about the business.

Marturano: As an employer it’s wonderful to hear your team say that. They’re already an integral part of the business but that they want to help grow it – well, I couldn’t ask for anything more.

In five years’ time, I’d like us to be a sustainable business with lots more people onboard; the go-to for support and training for the aviation industry.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
×