Courses & assessments in electrical training, gas, plumbing, green energy and carpentry

Graham Caudrey - Turnpike

Turnpike a plumbing and heating company established in 1986 has a very close working relationship with ATL.

At present they have three members of the team at ATL, all at differing stages of their NVQ Heating and Ventilation apprenticeships.

Graham Caudrey at Turnpike says: “Training apprentices has enabled us to build our workforce with fully trained and qualified trades people. Upwards of 20 staff have passed through ATL as apprentices and they look after all our reassessments as required, as well as keeping us up-to-date with new technology. For instance we are currently booked to attend a comprehensive course on solar heating. Teaming up with ATL has enabled us to be one the best trained companies in the area.”

Andy Gordge – Remy Electric’s Ltd

Andy Gordge, proprietor of Remy Electric’s Ltd and a trainer with ATL explaines that “the college have genuine people with a real-life skills background to teach exactly what happens on site. I went in and I’ve got to be honest, I fell in love with it straight away.”

Andy, who splits his time between the apprentice training at ATL and his own business, continues to be impressed.

“ATL is going from strength to strength. The level of reinvestment to ensure the best trainers and the best facilities is amazing. ATL boast a dedicated electrical fault test centre, twenty eight electrical work bays, large computer suit and most important a training team that care.”

Remy Electric’s Ltd, established some twenty years ago operates with several large blue-chip companies. They solely work on a recommendations only system so the work has to be of the highest standard. And Andy’s praise of ATL is endorsed by the fact that, subcontractors aside, he only directly employs one other person, his youngest son Alex, and he is in his first year apprenticeship at ATL to become a fully-qualified electrician.

Andy says “there are other colleges in his area but none of them measure up to ATL. The problems elsewhere include overcrowded classrooms and the lack of hands-on experience. At ATL, Alex’s first-year class currently consists of four apprentices, and this ensures he gets one-to-one tuition. The facilities are also second to none, so the training he receives is not just textbook knowledge, but also applied knowledge.”

John Edsall – JP Plumbing & Heating

Since coming into contact with ATL some 14 years ago, John Edsall’s working life has been closely intertwined with the college, so much so he can proudly state he used to work with ATL as a lecturer!

John’s first contact with ATL came some 14 years ago when he was MD of plumbing and heating company, G Hardy & Sons. New gas regulations required all 36 of his operatives become fully gas qualified, and he turned to ATL to fulfil new legal requirements.

“As soon as the new regulations were introduced I needed an educational establishment that could deliver the right results at the right price, and ATL came up trumps.”

Following a further role with BSA Regal, John went self-employed in 2002 and set-up JP Plumbing & Heating where he not only grew his own business, but he found time in his schedule to pass on his knowledge to students.

“For five years I intertwined both elements as I wanted to pass on my knowledge and experiences. I know first-hand that ATL’s training and assessment facilities are very good, and the new assessment centre will definitely take the college up to another level. I also know that the lecturers put their heart and soul into giving the best possible training available.”

“The development and progression of courses and services from ATL continues to stay ahead of the pack, which is why I send my current apprentice there to learn exactly how jobs should be done. If they carry on building on this solid platform they can only get better and better.”