Business Advice Direct (BAD) delivers training and advice to businesses; their owners, employees and potential recruits. We also specialise in providing e-learning to individuals looking to improve their skills.
Julie Joyce is looking forward progressing in her career thanks to qualifications she has achieved at BAD Leicester.
Julie, who is 33 and has two children aged 14 and 11, works full time as an unqualified teacher at a special needs school, and in order to retain her job had to achieve literacy and numeracy qualifications. (more…)
Health problems led to Anthony Furniss leaving his strenuous career as a Fire and Flood Operative and he decided to retrain and find office-based work.
He explained: “My former job involved going into damaged properties and removing ruined furniture and sodden carpets, which was heavy work.”
Married with five children, Anthony joined Kettering learndirect centre, provided by Business Advice Direct, in January 2007 to study basic skills. (more…)
Former factory worker Dean Hall gained the CSCS card at BAD Leicester but the training helped him realise that he was not suited to construction work.
So Dean stayed on at the centre to learn as much as he could! He went on to achieve L1 Numeracy, L2 Literacy and Food Hygiene and he is now taking the ECDL.
Now Dean has secured a job as a catering assistant at a local hospital. (more…)
Prejudice against her trans-gender status meant that Georgina Ford from Derby found it difficult to retain employment – but studying at BAD Derby boosted her CV and changed her life!
Just three and a half months after joining the centre she left with L2 Literacy, L2 Numeracy qualifications and a full ECDL. Georgina went on to achieve Level 3 Expert/Advanced IT course at a Pitman Training Centre and was invited by the college to help with IT administration and IT support and is also instructing learners in IT. (more…)
Tom Harley from Stalybridge is battling both dyslexia and a lack of basic qualifications to gain skills to help him back into employment.
Aged 26 and with three small children, Tom was laid off from a demolition site and has been unemployed for nine months.
‘I didn’t get qualifications when I was at school because my parents moved around a lot and I was unable to complete any course work in Years 10 and 11,’ he explained. (more…)
Single mum Vicky Cash has boosted her work prospects at the AA in Cheadle by gaining an NVQ in Customer Service.
And now her skills are being used to train new recruits!
Vicky, who is 29, works full time at the AA in Cheadle, where she started as an administration assistant in the statistics department.
She progressed at work to the warranty department which involved taking phone calls and dealing with customer queries, and Vicky felt that some extra training would enable her to do her job even better.
‘I found out about NVQs online and asked whether I would be able to do this and the company agreed,’ said Vicky, who studied at Stockport learndirect centre which is provided by Business Advice Direct. ‘The course usually involves two days at a learndirect centre, but I managed to complete the work in one day and then the rest of the training is done at work and at home.’
Since gaining the NVQ Vicky has been praised at work and feels more confident in her role. (more…)
Treating patients as customers is all in a day’s work at Brinnington Health Centre in Stockport.
Manager Paul Ansbro, responding to changes in general medical practice culture, encourages non clinical staff to undertake continuous professional development and is delighted that receptionist Sharon Williams recently gained an NVQ in Customer Service.
‘This is a time when medical practice is moving into new areas and customer service is very important,’ he said. ‘General practice has not always seen patients as customers and it is a new thing for receptionists to see them that way.
Sharon, who works full time at the health centre, was also keen to achieve a relevant qualification and improve her ability to do her job. She studied for two days at Stockport learndirect centre, which is provided by Business Advice Direct, and the rest of her learning was undertaken at work with the full support of her employer.
‘The course made me think more about my role and more aware of what patients need,’ she said. ‘It has been very helpful in my day to day work and enabled me to improve the way I undertake certain aspects of the job.’
She added: ‘It was really good to get a qualification and I was lucky because my manager was very supportive and actively encouraged me to train while at work. I feel that it has been very worthwhile.’ (more…)
Twelve lone parents from Sheffield have gained skills at their local learndirect centre to help them find work during the last six months – thanks to a chance meeting on a bus!
Jane Ward, formerly a lone parent herself, works for The Lone Parent Engagement & Activity Programme (L.E.A.P.) and while travelling on a bus she overheard learndirect tutor Richard Bayly talking about his work.
‘He was advising a lady who wanted to upgrade her skills and I was eavesdropping!’ said Jane. ‘I asked him where he worked and went to see him and find out how they operate at the Sheffield centre, which is provided by Business Advice Direct, and now whenever I can I direct people to learndirect in Sheffield.’
Launched in September last year, LEAP helps lone parents of any age or sex to overcome barriers which prevent them from moving on and becoming ready to be employed. Jane knows how hard this can be for single parents who feel isolated and vulnerable as they struggle to cope with childcare and daily pressures on their own.
‘The barriers can be housing prices and debt, but also learning problems, having no qualifications or just needing to get their brains working again – and this is when I send them to learndirect,’ said Jane. ‘Many lone parents have left school with no qualifications – regardless of their age – and many have no friends. Going to the learndirect centre gives them the confidence to communicate with other people.’ (more…)
Five years after arriving in the UK and working as an au pair, 24-year-old Pavlina Kratochvilova from the Czech republic has started training for her dream job – with the help of learndirect!
Pavlina, who is taking an Advanced Diploma in Adult Nursing at Sheffield Hallam University, said: ‘This is a dream come true for me.’
Although she enjoyed working with children, Pavlina felt she needed a change and found employment in a hospital – first as a ward assistant and then as a support worker.
‘The new role gave me more responsibility and it was while I was working closely with patients and nurses that I realised nursing was what I really wanted to do,’ she said. ‘I applied for the course at the university but, although I had ‘A’ levels from the Czech Republic, I was told I needed to gain a maths qualification in this country if I was to be able to join the course.’
When Pavlina arrived at Sheffield learndirect centre, which is provided by Business Advice Direct, she was a woman in a hurry. She needed to get the qualification under her belt within a short time in order to take up her conditional place at university. The staff at BAD Sheffield helped to speed her through the course which she passed and she finally started her university course in January. (more…)
Derby student Michelle Baillion gained an NVQ in Customer Service at her local learndirect centre recently.
Michelle, who works as a receptionist at the RTC Business Centre Derby and for a company called Office Care part time in the afternoons, studied at the centre in Derby which is provided by Business Advice Direct (BAD). She spends her working day dealing with customers and found the NVQ training invaluable.
Her certificate was presented to her by BAD Derby tutor Tony Goodman. (more…)
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Business Advice Direct operates its own network of learning centres which offer learndirect training.
For information about other learndirect centres, visit www.learndirect.co.uk