Olci

[edy]

Hi does any one know if OLCI has been brought out or was it a question of having to be brought out ?

 

[Alanc]

Do u mean bought?

 

[helpsy]

This is the letter that has just arrived.

 

[steadyon]

Looks like it went into administration as insolvent, and was bought from the administrators by a group which included ERR.

 

[kirkgas]

So anyone who's paid for a course will lose their money, but the new company will sign them up again I suppose :-(

 

[marvoni]

“After suffering an extended period of financial losses, OLCI was unable to meet its commitments to creditors and in early April had a winding-up petition presented against it. The directors took the decision that insolvency was unavoidable and consulted KPMG to help find a solution that would best protect the interests of students, creditors and employees. KPMG conducted an accelerated sales and marketing campaign and the pre-pack sale secured ensures the best outcome for all parties.”

Source

Also OLCI Construction Training has gone into Administration

 

[village idiot]

Where is that nice lady from OLCI (Adriana or whatever her name is)? Is this not an opportunity for her to present the true story?

BTW, if the story is true, then Dan may have to consider removing them as SPONSORS of the forum, well after the agreed contractual time runs out I suppose. I just hope they do not go down the route of that other plumbing firm that was based in Chessington? What were they called again???

 

[Irish]

btsc you use them vi ?

 

[village idiot]

btsc you use them vi ?

I do not work for them I am afraid. Just that I know many people were sharfted by them according to post that had been posted in this forum. I believe most lost their hard earned (well, borrowed) cash

 

[Irish]

i meant did you use them ,but i know a few guys that used them got their quals though ,but said they learned f all !! they had max cliffords endorsement as his nephew got qualified there, bad omen

 

[Dotty]

I have sent Alana a message to confirm or deny this, also to tell any affected members of their options.

Dan has received a copy of it.

As far as ripping people off, to give Alana her due, when she read of any instances and asked people to contact her, those cases were sorted out fairly quickly and to the members satisfaction.

 

[village idiot]

I have sent Alana a message to confirm or deny this, also to tell any affected members of their options.

Dan has received a copy of it.

As far as ripping people off, to give Alana her due, when she read of any instances and asked people to contact her, those cases were sorted out fairly quickly and to the members satisfaction.

I bear no grudge against Alana. Just hoped she will enlighten us of the situation.
Come to think of it, if the company has been taken over, the new owners might decide to downsize the staff/work force. If they tell Alana she has no job, then there is not much she can do. I HOPE SHE KEEPS HER JOB AND THE SPONSORSHIP DEAL WITH UKPF STAYS, or the new owners may swear her to secrecy and require her not to divulge any information to third parties

 

[marvoni]

I'm not sure if the contracts will be honored for people who've already paid for courses in advance or those part way through courses. Guess time will tell. There's a thread on the electrical forums also running here that interested parties might want to keep an eye on for developments and further info.

 

[Dotty]

Cheers Marv, I dare say you're right unfortunately but she's got the right to reply.

 

[Easy]

ERR,,mmmmmmmm I was owed some certs from another company that they took over new career skills, I got the said letter saying they would honour everything ,,,blah blah blah and the admin number I got is just well,BAD ,, still waiting,,,, seems you have to threaten with legal action to get anywhere. even having rang Mr Conway and seems its not doing much, its hit or miss I think ,some students ive stayed in touch with have had good results some have just given up trying ,,so good luck people

 

[markadams]

I don't understand this, how can a company charging £5K + for a 4 -6 week course which has 8 + people attending at any one time make a loss???

Am I missing something?

 

[kirkgas]

I don't understand this, how can a company charging £5K + for a 4 -6 week course which has 8 + people attending at any one time make a loss???

Am I missing something?

If they don't have people coming through the door, the staff and bills still need paid, and once behind they need a lot of bums on seats to catch up, next thing you know they have shut down as they have debt they can't pay, then a "new"companies come in and take over the business but not the debt, happened to me once when I worked for a private centre, they told us one day they were shutting down and stopping trading, then they said "if"a new company set up would we work there, as a worker you need a job so we transferred, (they didn't have candidates out of pocket, as they honoured all the ongoing contracts) but tax NI VAT utilities etc all lost out, it's not right but it's not really my business

 

[chris watkins]

Its a real shame for all those involved i.e. students trainers & admin staff. but really how many more times does this have to happen before people realize you can't learn a trade just in a training center even if they have a 3D computer house where you can bend a piece of copper using a joystick!!!!

You say it is not our business kirkgas but I believe it most certainly is !!!
1. The loss of all that tax & revenue to utilities means I/we have to pay more &
2. They give the impression that by paying a small amount of money over a sort amount of time that anyone can do what it takes most of us years & years of hard work to acquire & that is wrong !!

Am I going to be allowed to post on the plumbing course / training forum or will it remain locked ?????

 

[Dotty]

I've put a request forward for you Chris.

 

[kirkgas]

Its a real shame for all those involved i.e. students trainers & admin staff. but really how many more times does this have to happen before people realize you can't learn a trade just in a training center even if they have a 3D computer house where you can bend a piece of copper using a joystick!!!!

You say it is not our business kirkgas but I believe it most certainly is !!!
1. The loss of all that tax & revenue to utilities means I/we have to pay more &
2. They give the impression that by paying a small amount of money over a sort amount of time that anyone can do what it takes most of us years & years of hard work to acquire & that is wrong !!

Am I going to be allowed to post on the plumbing course / training forum or will it remain locked ?????

Chris, my point was poorly written, yes it matters when a company folds, as and debt "written off" is actually transferred to the rest of us, but I was trying to cover the point that no candidates lost out, which seems to have happened in a lot of the pooper run places, I've only ever done CAT 2 & 3 courses in private centres, CAT 2 being qualified plumbers doing gas theory in the centre and doing a portfolio of evidence with a contractor,
CAT 3 is different as it is opened up to anyone and the one that requires a decent vetting process, I've done the course in colleges and the vetting is strict whether it's privately funded or funded by the DWP, which up here is quite a high number per year, in private centres there is probably a less stringent vetting process, but we did knock people back as unsuitable (most of the time unsuitability wasn't that we couldn't teach them, more that they seemed to think a 26week course was the end of the learning rather than realistically that it was the start, ) I tended to say theta the course was a bit like the driving instructor we would teach you to a level where you knew the law and what you should do, but like us all getting a driving licence is only the first part, it's then you need to go out and learn to drive in the real world, some embraced that and learned and worked hard, some had a bad attitude and just tried to make money any way they could (which is the same as many many time served people I've met, so isn't just a trait of short course candidates
I didn't serve my time doing gas, I'm a plumber and had to learn it quickly and I think I have done ok, because if have a very good attitude to learning something new and worked very very hard to get where I am, so it isn't correct to say because you aren't time served in gas you can't do it as well as those who did the trade 4-5 years, some candidates were experts in another engineering field far more complex than gas, so trying to teach an aero engineer about a baxi 401 was easy, same with people who came from electronics industries who worked on and designed machinery and equipment that cost £millions to design and build, so it's all down to the individual rather than than where or how you learned

 

[chris watkins]

I don't disagree with a word you have posted kirkgas & like you I am a plumber doing gas & electrical.

As usual people assume I am for entering the trade via the apprentice route only, which is not the case.
But answer me this - how many of your expert aero or electronic engineers would seriously believe that someone using a virtual world would enable them to master there jobs ?

ERR limited (scroll down & watch it !!)

You have got to call into question the intent & integrity of any company that thinks that you can train plumbers in such a way!!

All I have ever suggested is that persons entering this trade should be realistic about the requirements & the skills needed before they are let loose on the public to earn their living at it.

Time & again it is portrayed as something that can be acquired for around £5K & anything between a few weeks & a couple of years part time, after (or even during) which you will be able to make a comfortable living which we both know is just not possible or realistic. Yet the dream (or nightmare if you are a paying customer) continues to be peddled.

 

[snowhead]

Must be a bit of a shock when you get onsite and realise you can't lift a floor with the click of a mouse.

 

[chris watkins]

or fix the leak or bend the copper those are the ones that get me !!!

A loverly bit of software & great if you are a manufacturer & want to show someone how your WC pan should be installed for example instead of loads of paper instructions.

 

[kirkgas]

or fix the leak or bend the copper those are the ones that get me !!!

A loverly bit of software & great if you are a manufacturer & want to show someone how your WC pan should be installed for example instead of loads of paper instructions.

I've never used any software etc for the gas courses, of course we use power points for training regs etc, but they do hands on in the workshop, doing pipework, installs, service and (some) repairs, we go through miles of pipe and boxes of fittings, not like plumbing apprentices where we reuse compression fittings with new olives, 95% of gas is done in end feed! but we also show them compression and trac pipe etc.
I do know of the distant learning courses, but haven't seen any of their stuff, I've always said it's hard enough to learn it in 14 weeks class/workshop and 14 weeks placement, how you are supposed to do self learning modules then go to the centre for a full week every now and then does bother me greatly
I keep in touch with a few of the foundation guys and girls I trained and a lot of them are working doing social housing service work, as they know it's the stepping stone to getting experience, they earn £23k for their 39hrs doing repetitive servicing, and then move onto 2nd line repairs (after the part has been diagnosed and ordered by first engineer) this agin builds up experience they then move onto first line visit, some sink, some swim, there are also a few of them who have added gas to their already fairly busy contractor business doing kitchens and bathrooms, we all know being SE isn't all about the technical bit, it's very much about being business savvy, and a lot of them could teach us all a thing or two about running a business, they then adapt that skill to running a gas business, and are making a very healthy living from it