On Tuesday 2nd February, the mayor of London announced The London Boiler Cash back scheme, as part of his commitment to help reduce London’s carbon emissions by 60 per cent in 2025. This is the first major boiler scrappage scheme in England since the launch of the campaign in 2010.

The London boiler cash back scheme will provide home owners with £400 cash back when they upgrade their old, inefficient boilers, with new A-rated gas, renewable or low carbon heating boiler. Currently this scheme will be open to home owners and private residential landlords with properties within the 33 London boroughs. However, it will increase the demand for gas engineers when people decide to upgrade their boilers. This is a great opportunity for a newly qualified gas engineer to increase their work load!

For the home owners to be eligible for the scheme, their boilers must have an energy efficiency rating of 70 per cent or less, and be using gas, oil, LPG or solid fuels. The boilers must also be in full working order, and it must be the homes main boiler, not just the boiler that they use to heat water. The boilers will be replaced with boilers that have a minimum energy efficiency of 90 per cent, and should be gas, Air or ground source heat pumps, solar thermal systems or a boiler with a passive flue heat recovery device.

All of the boiler replacements must be installed by fully qualified, gas safe registered installer. With the announcement of this scheme, it means that there has never been a better time to train and become a fully qualified Gas engineer!

Currently this scheme is only exclusive to London, and only available for 6,500 home owners, however, we are confident that this scheme will prove to be a success. There is a strong possibility that other larger cities, such as Birmingham, Nottingham, Manchester and Newcastle will follow and introduce similar schemes.

So, if you have been thinking about training to become a gas engineer – now is a very exciting time to do so! Click here to view the courses we offer here at Access Training. If you would like to talk to us about enrolment, please call us on (Freephone) 0800 345 7492 and a member of our team will be happy to help you!

Here at Access training we provide a number of plumbing courses in Kent that have been tailor-made for people who are looking to change their career. All of our courses are perfect for the absolute beginner, through to people who are industry professionals who are looking to expand their skill –set.

We know that you are all living busy lives, and changing your career path, especially when you have no prior experience can be a scary prospect. Here, at access training, we aim to make the transition as smooth as possible; we work tirelessly with our students and teach them everything that they need to know to become a fully qualified plumber in the shortest time possible.  

If you are living in Kent, or living near Kent, you can train to be a plumber at our state-of-the-art training centre located in Edenbridge, a quick 30 minutes’ drive from Tunbridge Wells.

If you are not currently living in the Kent area, we provide a range of appealing accommodation packages. It’s a good idea to stay near the training centre for the duration of your course as it is imperative that you arrive on time every day. Furthermore, some of our plumbing courses require you to read in the evenings and prepare for the next day. Straying away from your family and friends will minimise distractions allowing for you to complete your course quicker. Click here for more information about accommodation packages we offer in the Kent area.

Finally, all of our plumbing courses and training centres are accredited by City & Guilds, NVQ, and Logic. And our plumbing courses in our Kent training centre are no exception. So when you enrol on a plumbing course in our Kent training Centre, you can be confident that you will receive the highest training, and receive a nationally recognised qualification.

If you would like more information about the plumbing courses we offer in Kent, and all of our UK based training Centres. You can contact us by telephoning us on 0800 345 7492  or  you can fill out an enquiry form here and a member of our team will get back to you.

Joseph Valente Tweet

You may remember that a few weeks ago we posted about the recent success of 2015 Apprentice candidate, Joseph Valente, who was rewarded with a £250k business investment from Lord Alan Sugar. It would seem that Valente, owner of plumbing business Impra-Gas, is already putting the money to good use; he recently announced via Twitter that the company is looking to recruit electricians and gas engineers in Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and the Midlands.

It's fantastic to see that Lord Sugar's investment is already paying off, and that Valente is able to offer a number of candidates the opportunity to become a part of a successful, expanding business. This is also great news for qualified electricians and gas engineers, and proves how valuable and in-demand their skills are across the country. Valente, who admits that traditional education wasn't right for him, has managed to forge a pathway to success not only for himself, but also for other budding professionals in the industry, proving that highly determined tradespeople are just as worthwhile to the world of business as those in more glamorous professions.

Valente's journey from school drop-out to budding plumber and now businessman is highly inspirational, and is testament to the number of lucrative opportunities available to those who are willing to make the commitment and learn a new trade. Whether you see yourself as one of Valente's future employees or as the owner of your own business, you can be sure that the time and money you invest in completing your training as a gas engineer or electrician will prove to be invaluable in shaping your future career ambitions.

If you've been inspired by Valente's story, or if you're looking to begin your career in a particular trade and don't know where to start, we want to hear from you! We have carefully designed courses for budding plumbers, electricians and gas engineers, and we would be happy to direct you to the option most suitable for your needs and experience. Whether you're changing careers or starting from scratch, our professional, experienced staff can offer you a great insight into both the skills required and the industry itself, allowing you to step into your new career with knowledge and confidence.

If you would like to speak with one of our advisers about the range of courses on offer, get in touch with us today!


At Access Training we strive to deliver first class trade training courses. We have successfully trained hundreds of people who have no previous trade experience to become experts in their chosen fields and equip them with all the skills necessary to enter into the world of trade work. Many of our students aspire to become self-employed and we at access training can help.

Interested in enrolling on a course? Read the Access Training Reviews left by past students below:

Steven Walker – who completed a plumbing course with access training told us that he “had no previous experience of plumbing before” and that he found the course particularly helpful because “the course simulates real life situations” he also went on to say that “being a self-employed plumber is the best job he has ever had”

Students, who attend the courses provided by access training, come from all walks of life. Some or our students, like Anthony Blundell did not have any professional experience when he enrolled on one of our carpentry courses. We asked Anthony about his time spent with Access Training, Anthony replied by saying “I enjoyed the course because it was delivered at the right level” he also mentioned that he hasn't stopped working since he has finished his training course, and that he hasn't had to do any advertising because all of his opportunities are made by recommendation.

Scott Daily also didn't have any professional experience when he enrolled on one of our Electrician courses. After becoming a fully trained electrician he informed us that “[this] course has led to me becoming self-employed as an electrician.” He also added that with his new qualifications he was able to expand his families building and roofing business.

Before Alex Dyer enrolled with us on a gas engineering course, he was already working as a self- employed builder he later told us, “The qualifications I received have opened up new avenues if work for me”.  

After reading these access Training reviews you feel that you want to know more about the training courses we have to offer, you can contact us by calling 0800 945 7492.

Learning how to fit a bathroom is a vitally useful skill in the trade industry, and is equally as useful to people of a non-professional background. While sourcing the materials is easy, it takes knowledge and skill to achieve a desirable finish, regardless of experience in similar fields and examples from online tutorials.

At Access Training, we provide a comprehensive Bathroom Fitting Course and a combined Bathroom and Kitchen Fitting Course, which both take your through the many aspects of work involved in completing a successful bathroom renovation. From producing pipework, to installing toilets, baths and basins, we will guide you through the process of a achieving your new portfolio of skills, allowing you to achieve a City and Guilds certificate in recognition of your achievement. This will allow you to complete bathroom fitting work unsupervised, and will also allow you to progress onto more advanced units if desired. 

Here are some of the people who may benefit from learning how to fit a bathroom:

Property Developers 
If you're just embarking on a future career in property development, or are looking to keep the costs of labour down in current projects, it could be immensely useful for you to learn how to install bathroom fittings without the need for additional help. 
While you may possess some previous skills in home improvement, you may not have the knowledge or practical experience required to fit a new bathroom successfully, and this lack of experience could result in a less-than-perfect finish. Completing our course will allow you to fit bathrooms that you can be proud of, adding to the value of the property and lending an air of professionalism to the job.

Home Owners 
If you're looking to improve your own home without the need to hire labourers to complete the job, then it could be equally as useful for you to familiarize yourself with this trade. If you choose the combined course, you will not only learn how to fit a bathroom, but will also gain kitchen installation skills; both of which will prove to be incredibly useful in carrying out home improvement projects for years to come.

Job Seekers 
Home improvement tradespeople are always in high demand, to undertake work with larger companies as well as independently. If you're looking to kick-start a brand new career that will allow you to work flexibly and according to your own contractual preferences, then this could be a great place to start, giving you the opportunity to start earning straight away, or progress onto more advanced courses. 

For more information about this or any other of our courses, get in touch with us today!

If you're interested in this course but are unsure if it's exactly what you're looking for, you may wish to consider the following similar/complimentary courses:

One outstanding young tradesperson will win a trip to Barcelona, plus £1,000 worth of new tools!

Britain's workforce is getting older, and with the ongoing skills shortage causing major problems for the UK construction industry, skilled young tradespeople are an extremely valuable resource right now. We're all trying to encourage more young people to learn a trade and turn professional, but at the same time, it's equally important to recognise the young people who are already doing great work across the country.

To that end, British builders' merchants Jewson have launched a new competition that's strictly for UK-based tradespeople under the age of 30. The title of Young Tradesperson of the Year 2016 will be awarded to "a hard worker with the skills, ideas, and passion required to be a true success"; in addition to gaining a great new accolade for their CV, the successful entrant will also win a weekend in Barcelona (including tickets for a football match), plus £1,000 worth of new tools!

If you think you could be Jewson's Young Tradesperson of the Year - of if you'd like to nominate somebody else for the award - here's what to do...

How to enter/nominate

Remember, entrants must be under the age of 30 to have a chance of winning!
  1. Go to www.jewsontools.co.uk/shed/young-tradesperson-of-the-year.

  2. Type your details (or the details of the person you're nominating) into the online entry form.

  3. Explain why your nominee deserves to be crowned Young Tradesperson of the Year. Use no more than 100 words.

  4. Upload up to 3 images to accompany your entry - these might be photographs of an outstanding job, or a before/after picture.

  5. State whether you're nominating yourself or somebody else and click Send nomination.
The competition closes on Monday the 29th of February, so don't wait around - get your nomination in now!

Be sure to follow Access Training on Twitter and Facebook for all the latest trade news and insight.

 

(Image via bradleypjohnson on Flickr)

The UK’s media channels are often rife with horror stories of cowboy tradespeople. People watching programmes like “cowboy builders from hell” on channel 5 or “watchdog” on BBC1 will certainly develop a negative image of the trades men and women in the UK. In fact a staggering 60% of people said that it is fair to label tradespeople as “cowboys” or “rogue traders” and 20% of people said that they’re afraid of being ripped off when they need work done.

Follow these simple steps to avoid being labelled as a rogue trader:

Build relationships with your clients: Take care of little jobs free of charge. This will help increase customer loyalty. When someone is happy with your work, they are more likely to recommend you to their friends. A survey conducted by imperial finance revealed that 37% of people feel that having a relationship with their trades person is important, and 14% of people were referred to their trades person by a friend or family member.

Clean up after yourself: This might seem obvious but it is often overlooked by tradespeople. If you are working on a leaking sink and you spill water on the floor – make sure you mop it up. If you have had to take things out of cupboards to access pipework, make sure you put it all back before you leave.

Make yourself as easy to contact as possible: leave people with a copy of your flyer, business card, or a fridge magnet with your telephone number clearly printed on them, remember to take the visually impaired into consideration. Make sure that you always have your mobile switched on, if you can’t take the call, make sure you call them back at your earliest convenience.

Keep in contact with your clients: after you have completed the work, call the client back, ask them if they are happy with the work – or if they have ran into any complications. 55% customers leave because they have had no contact from you and are indifferent. After Job Service is often more important than the job itself, this is where you can really start to build relationships with your clients and go above and beyond your call of duty.  Loyal customers spend on average 33% more than people who are non-loyal and can refer up to 107% more customers than non-loyal customers.

Make it easy for people to get references:  set up social media sites, and encourage people to review your business online – this is effective because people buy from people if someone has a something bad to say about your business then people are less likely to hire you to do the work. Make sure you leave them with nothing bad to say! Set up a website to showcase your qualifications, and show people that you really are an expert in your field. This will give people confidence in your ability as a trades person.

Make sure you are fully trained for the job: again it might seem like an obvious point, but if you are not correctly trained for the work don’t take it on. Leaving the work half way through or doing a bad job can damage your reputation.

You can’t start a career as a skilled trades person until you have received expert training. No matter what career you are considering Access Training can help. We offer courses for beginners looking to learn a new trade through to more experienced tradespeople who are looking to expand their service offering.

To find out more about the courses we offer at our state-of-the-art training centres you can contact us by calling (Freephone) 0800 345 7492 or by filling out the enquiry form here.

 
We have delivered countless plumbing courses to hundreds of people over the years, and we have seen that some students have a hard time achieving their qualifications because of their lack of basic plumbing knowledge.  

Here at access training we developed the professional plumbing course, this course has been designed so people who have no previous experience or knowledge of plumbing can get trained up to a professional standard, and for people who have taken a break from the industry and are looking for a fully comprehensive refresher course. 

To become a fully trained professional plumber requires a lot of intensive training. But don’t worry – We have you covered! 
Our professional plumbing  course not only covers a wide range of topics, such as, electrical principles, central heating, drainage, sanitation, maintenance, bathroom installations, water regulations and more. You will also work towards getting the following City and Guilds Qualifications:

  • City & Guilds 6035 Level 2 Plumbing – This Qualifications the installation of bathroom suites, radiators, waste pipes, external guttering, and hot and cold water storage tanks. 
  • City & Guilds6189-57 Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Plumbing and Heating – Gaining this practical qualification will set you apart as a fully-qualified plumber. You will be assessed in a “live” scenario, with the assessment possibly covering bathroom installation, and various other repair, installation and maintenance tasks. 
  • Unvented Hot Water Storage Systems Certificate – with this certificate you will be qualified to install/maintain energy-efficient hot water storage systems. 
  • WRAS (Water Regulations Advisory Scheme) Certificate – with this certificate you will be granted the status of “approved contractor”. 
After completing our professional plumbing course you will have gained all the necessary skills to become a professional trades person. However many of our students choose to stay with us and undertake one of our bathroom fitting courses or a gas engineering course to broaden their service offering when they become professional trades people. 

At access training we accept students of any age, gender or nationality, and we offer flexible training programmes that can be taken on a full time or a part time basis. 
 
If you would like to find out more about our course, visit the Professional Plumbing course pageAlternatively you can contact contact a member of the access training team.
 
Image source: MoToMo on flickr

The first quarter of 2016 looks as if it will prove to be an exceptionally busy period for the UK's tradesmen and women. If you work in the construction industry, you may already have noticed a surge in demand since the start of the year, and there's every reason to believe that the need for competent, professional tradespeople will remain high for the forseeable future.

So why are tradespeople run off their feet at the moment?
  • Flood damage. If you switched on the TV over Christmas, you're probably aware of the flooding that affected certain parts of the UK recently. While the flood waters have now receded (at time of writing, no severe flood warnings are in place), people are still dealing with the aftermath; the floods caused a lot of damage, and the necessary repairs will reportedly cost billions of pounds. According to simplybusiness.co.uk, tradespeople from "right across the board" can expect "a busy first quarter", with homes throughout the UK requiring all sorts of different repairs. Structural damage, ruined electrical systems, rooms ravaged by flood waters...all of these things will need to be put right by experienced professionals.

  • Cold weather. Even in years without flooding, winter tends to be an especially busy time of year for the average tradesperson. Plumbers are kept particularly busy during the colder months, with low temperatures leading to burst pipes and other problems. Gas engineers are also in high demand - the weather has been abnormally cold of late, which means that Britain's boilers are working overtime right now!

  • A shortage of competent tradespeople. As we've mentioned previously, Britain is currently battling a major skills shortage - there simply aren't enough qualified tradespeople to go around. Supply is falling desperately short of demand, and this problem will only be exacerbated by the cold weather and the widespread flood damage.
Demand for qualified tradespeople is higher than ever right now; wages have skyrocketed, and many workers are actually turning jobs down because their schedules are so full. While this could be a big problem for Britain, it does mean that now is a great time to learn a trade and turn professional - whether you choose to become a plumber, a bricklayer, an electrician, or something else again, you're unlikely to have any problems finding work!

Would you like to retrain and become a professional tradesperson? If so, please contact Access Training Academies today - we'll help you to book your course and gain the qualifications you need to succeed!

Get in touch to learn more about our training courses!

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