Matthew Ramsell and Gareth Hassall set up Staffordshire Training Services last year. They both have years of experience working as freelance trainers and realised, when they were forced to spend time at home during the COVID lockdowns, that they were tired of travelling and being away from their families.

Helen Knowles joined LCL Awards as an External Verifier and Technical Specialist last December. Based in North Devon, she supports our centres across the country and is really enjoying her new role.

Amandine Guiguet has been a familiar face at LCL Awards since 2019, when she joined the company as a Senior Administrator.  This January she took up a new role, as Quality Assurance & Support Co-ordinator, assisting Tracy Harker in supporting LCL approved centres.

Mark Krull, Director of LCL Awards, recently joined Jerry Whiteley, Technical Manager of CIPHE, Martyn Bridges, Technical Director of Worcester Bosch and Mark Wilkins, Technology and Training Director for Vaillant in a webinar delivered as part of Installer Magazine's Net Zero Festival.  The session was about LCL Awards’ Level 3 Award in Low Temperature Heating and Hot Water Systems, which has recently launched.

Due to the closure of the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (DRHI) on 31st March 2022, MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) announced at the end of January this year two new standards to replace MIS 3005.

Jon Grocock and Gary Jackson, who have run Rebus Training in Staffordshire since 2010, have recently been certified to deliver LCL Awards’ Level 3 Certificate in Installing, Testing and Ensuring Compliance of Electrical Installations in Dwellings qualification.

Making a career change later in life can seem daunting, but for one woman living up in the Highlands in Scotland, a bold decision to flout convention has turned out to be a step in a very positive new direction.

LCL Awards’ Level 2 NVQ Diploma in the Installation and Maintenance of Plumbing and Heating Systems has been recognised by JIB-PMES as a suitable supporting qualification for the CSCS Plumber Blue Card Scheme, putting the qualification firmly on the plumbing map.

Sometimes, when you’ve got a dream, you just have to follow it. Father and son team, Sezai and Tolga Aramaz had ambitious plans to set up a training centre and decided that the COVID pandemic wasn’t going to stop them!  Tracy Harker caught up with Tolga recently at his vocational training centre Learn Trade Skills, in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, to find out how he and his father are getting on.

"Both the present and future is bright for gas installers. Yes, big change is coming within our industry and we are already starting to see shifts in the heating mix, from oil and gas to greener alternatives, such as electric heat pumps and hydrogen.