This paper gives a detailed description of the needs analysis (NA) stage in the development of a set of English language intensive courses at a large Japanese industrial firm. The case study highlights the NA practices of using multiple sources and multiple methods in the data gathering stage and uses triangulation in order to validate results. The perceived needs of different informant groups, resource constraints, data gathering techniques and syllabus design are all discussed in light of current theory and research. It was found that great care and thought are required in the planning and execution stages as this area of course and syllabus design is often far more complex than described in the syllabus design literature.