Davinder Singh set up DS Gas and Electric last July. Not great timing, he admits wryly, but actually things are going well.  His determination to give his learners the very best start seems to be at the heart of his success.

We caught up with him to find out what has made his Wolverhampton based business grow during the pandemic.

“I trained and worked as an electrician and gas engineer. Before I opened the centre I was a teacher and assessor for another company so I’ve got plenty of experience behind me.  I know what learners need. I never thought I’d have my own centre, but now I have. Everything has fallen into place”

Accreditation from LCL Awards

At the moment Davinder’s company focuses on electrical training and offers a wide range of qualifications from LCL Awards portfolio.  He says:

“I want to do what I do well, and LCL Awards offers a very efficient package. The courses are great and I like the fact that they cut paperwork to a minimum. The online assessment system is clean and straight-forward for the candidates and, lets face it, far less of a headache for me!  The other thing I like is that they live up to their promise of a quick turnaround once candidates have passed their assessment. Certificates are issued very quickly so there’s no hold up when people are looking for work.”

Flexible learning

Davinder is happy to accommodate the needs of his learners and believes his success is down to the flexibility of this approach:

“I appreciate how difficult it is for working people to train. Cutting your earnings to take a training course is not possible for many, so we offer flexible training – Monday to Sunday. People can come in at the weekends and also in the evenings, after work. We are happy to fit around them, to let people learn at their own pace.

“This is possible because we keep our classes really small. Ideally four, no more than five per group, whereas other centres work with groups of twelve or more.

“In a small group everyone has more time with the trainer and the trainer has a better chance to pace the course to suit the learners’ abilities. Concentrating on the learners like this has helped build our reputation locally, with many recommendations by word of mouth. We believe in quality not quantity and people appreciate that.”

Davinder has a sister company, DS Gas and Electric Contractors, where he’s able to offer his newly qualified trainees paid work to build their confidence and polish up their practical skills before they apply to join a Competent Person Scheme (CPS).

Keen to grow

Now that the electrical side of the business is growing, Davinder is turning his attention to Gas qualifications. Investing in the workshop space he’ll need to train learners on LCL Awards’ Managed Learning Programme or MLP. He’s also planning to diversify, to include the awarding body’s Electric Vehicle (EV) and Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) qualifications as he sees renewables becoming a larger part of his future picture.

It’s really good to hear that Davinder’s determination and focus have helped him get his business off the ground at such a challenging time. We look forward to developing our relationship with DS Gas and Electric and wish him well in the years to come.  

For more information about DS Gas & Electrical, visit: https://gasandelectrictraining.co.uk/