Training Solutions NI Marks 20 Years of Excellence with £800k training investment

Antrim based Training Solutions NI, Northern Ireland’s largest private training provider, is proudly marking  20 years in business with the acquisition of a £800,000 training site in Antrim, which will serve as a catalyst for future expansion and innovation in the delivery of education and training services across Northern Ireland.

As part of its continued growth strategy, Drew Davis has been appointed as the new Managing Director, with founder Jim Stewart CBE moving into the role of Chairman.

Founded by Jim Stewart CBE in 2004, Training Solutions NI has become a trusted partner in education, offering a wide range of accredited qualifications across sectors such as health and safety, construction, electrical, and bespoke vocational training. With a core team of six full-time staff and a network of over 40 expert tutors, the organisation supports more than 6,000 clients and 10,000 students annually.

Despite the severe problems in 2021 due to Covid-19 we still had a very successful year.  We had the highest turnover and profitability since we started the business in 2004.

Credit for this is down to the hard work and commitment of the excellent staff that we have. I also want to recognise the excellent team of tutors that we have.

We continued with the Covid control measures and had reduced numbers in the classrooms with all students seated at an individual desk.  We also went through our fair share of antibacterial gel and maintained the 2-metre rule far as possible.

All categories of training have performed well. Nebosh and City and Guilds were particularly strong throughout the year. Our City and Guilds 18^th Edition and 2391 courses were very well attended, and both the Nebosh Certificate and Diploma were strong.

We were able to maximise the numbers on the courses as best we could according to the restrictions on the number of desks per room.

We also provided on-line training for IOSH Managing Safely, COSHH, Risk Assessment and the Nebosh General Certificate and Diploma.

We also offered students the opportunity to join training on Microsoft Teams when they had to isolate at home.

I am particularly pleased with the students’ performance on the National Nebosh General Certificate. Our April cohort of 24 students run in two groups, had a 100 % pass. Credit goes to our tutor John Wright. John Wright is an exceptional tutor and is very committed to help students.

With the roll out of the ‘Open Book Exam’ and new syllabus by Nebosh we introduced their new range of courses during the year. We started the New Nebosh Diploma, new Nebosh Construction, new Nebosh Fire and new Nebosh Environmental. Our tutors quickly adapted to the new syllabus and gave the students a good experience. It is very satisfying to say that we had a 100% pass in the Nebosh Construction course. Credit here goes to the tutor Jim Sloan. Jim has significant knowledge and experience in teaching health and safety.

We renewed all our accreditations and added Construction NVQ Level 4 with NOCN and the City and Guilds NVQ 2346 to allow experienced people with a good electrical background to become qualified.

Our IOSH courses were also in high demand especially the Managing Safely and Safety, Health and Environmental for Construction Site Managers. We ran some courses on-line and arranged for students that could not attend class because of Covid to login on-line.

We also added the IOSH Health and Wellbeing course.

We were also audited by Nebosh for our Gold Partner Status and for our ISO 9001. I am pleased to say that both renewals were approved with a 100 % compliance.

We continued our philosophy of investing for quality. During the year we upgraded our IT suite with new PC’s, and we added additional and upgraded the existing 2391 Inspection and Testing test panels. This was to satisfy the large demand for this City and Guilds course.

Looking forward to 2022, I am pleased to say that we have added two new members of staff. Ingrid Napier has joined our team as a Health and Safety Manager. Ingrid has a wealth of knowledge and experience in health and safety and construction.  We also welcome Karen Brown to the team. Karen has significant administration and finance experience and will be a great asset to the team.

Finally, I would like to thank all our staff for their commitment and dedication to make Training Solutions the company that it is.

Jim Stewart CBE

Managing Director

From November 2021 we will be offering the Level 4 NVQ Diploma in Construction Site Supervision – Building and Civil Engineering.

This qualification is for students who are currently CSR Site Supervisors and or looking to become an CSR Site Supervisor.

Why do students need to complete it?

Current CSR Supervisors

From December 2024 any cardholder who does not hold an NVQ Level 3 or 4 in Construction Site Supervision will not be able to renew their CSR Supervisor card.

NEW CSR Supervisors

In order for a supervisor to obtain the CSR Supervisor students must complete the NVQ Level 3 or 4 along side the 4 day CSR Site Supervisor course.

How do you obtain your CSR Supervisor card?

Current CSR Supervisors
• Complete the 1 day Site Safety Refresher course
• Hold the Level 3 or 4 NVQ Diploma in Construction site supervision – Building and Civil Engineering
• Complete the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test (Touchscreen test)

NEW CSR Supervisors
• Complete the 4 day Site Supervisors Course
• Hold the Level 3 or 4 NVQ Diploma in Construction site supervision – Building and Civil Engineering
• Complete the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test (Touchscreen test)

If you have any questions about the CSR scheme please get in touch below

Email – info@trainingsolutionsni.co.uk

Phone – 02894488100

When we look back at 2020, our thoughts will be filled with memories of the Corona virus, the significant number of deaths it caused, the pressure on the health service, numerous lockdowns and the marathon of the Brexit negotiations.
Hopefully we will still be able to think of some positives that happened in 2020 too.

In Training Solutions, we started the year with a new leaner management structure. This worked magnificently. Our staff rose to the challenge and did a great job. This new structure was also a big advantage to us when we entered lockdown with all staff being furloughed.

We had a very good start to the year with all our courses having good numbers. The Nebosh and City and Guilds electrical courses were very highly populated and as usual we had a great number of CSR, ILM and IOSH courses. With mounting pressure from the Virus, we entered a lockdown on the 23rd March that was expected to last for three or four weeks but ended up with us completely closed until the end of June. Our Nebosh and other examinations were cancelled.

In preparation for a start up we developed a full Covid Risk Assessment including new operating procedures and classroom and building modifications.
This ‘new world’ of operating added significant workload to the staff but they fully accepted it and did a sterling job that allowed us to return to training in a safe and effective way. This included the 2 metre rule, masks and hand sanitiser.

From the start up in June to the end of 2020 we had excellent turn outs for our classes. In the ‘new structured rooms’ we were fully booked out in Nebosh, City and Guilds, CSR and IOSH courses. We also secured significant contracts for Safe Isolation and Basic Electrical and Mechanical that resulted in the workshop being fully utilized from August until December.
We have a great team of associate tutors. Their dedication and support was paramount in making this happen.

We added new customers, renewed our ISO 9001 award, added the 2919 City and Guilds Electrical Vehicle Installation course and invested in our IT Suite with new pc’s. We also secured a contract with PSI platform for Chartered Institute of Insurance and other on-line examinations.
We also added new tutors in a range of areas.

So for us here at Training Solutions NI, 2020 was not all gloom. Considering the unprecedented times we found ourselves in, we had an excellent year thanks to the commitment and dedication of a great group of staff and tutors.

I would also wish to thank all our existing customers for their ongoing support in this difficult year. I hope that we did not let you down. And to the vast number of new customers that we added throughout the year, welcome to the Training Solutions family. Forefront in our business strategy is that ‘The customer is the key to business success’. We will strive to do the best we can to satisfy your needs.

We are now in another lockdown to stem the spread of the virus until the vaccine can do its job. We have a significant number of advance bookings for 2021 and we are hoping for a new normality to appear in the near future.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Jim Stewart CBE, Managing Director

We are delighted to welcome Ursula Walsh to our team of tutors.

Ursula is currently a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Health at Ulster University.

Previous to this Ursula was a HSENI Health & Safety Inspector and also worked as an Environmental Health Officer.

From January 2021 she will be delivering our Nebosh Environmental course.

Jim Stewart CBE our Managing Director said “We are delighted to welcome Ursula to the Training Solutions NI team, her knowledge and experience will be a significant asset moving forward”

Ursula will be the fourth former HSENI Health & Safety Inspector that will tutor with us.

At Training Solutions NI we pride ourselves in trying to provide the best quality of training, facilities and learning experience possible.

We are now approved to deliver the Electric Vehicle Charging Point Installation course (2919)

In case you are wondering if its safe to come to train with us during these uncertain times, we want to reassure you of the usual and extra measures we are taking right now.

We are monitoring the situation extremely closely and on a day by day basis.  At the present time, we are operating business as usual and are running our normal  range of training events.

We are checking with our staff daily to ensure that they are healthy and well, and have not been in contact with anyone who has been infected with the virus or  has travelled from the worst affected Covid 19 areas.

Our staff are being very vigilant in ensuring that the required sanitary regimes are being carried out and we are disinfecting work stations/desk, reception area and door handles at regular intervals throughout the day.

Please do not be offended when you arrive for training with us to be asked to wash your hands at regular intervals during the day.

If you are displaying any symptoms of the virus, firstly we are sorry to hear that.  And secondly, we would ask that you let us know and kindly reschedule your training so that we can see you when you are back feeling fighting fit.

If and when the time comes that we need to take extra measures, we will do so in the most responsible way as advised by the appropriate authorities.

Thank you for your cooperation in this very difficult and constantly changing environment and please feel free to contact us if you would like any further information.

Jim Stewart CBE

Managing Director