Diamond Training Group (Now Closed)

Hi......... Can anyone confirm whether Diamond training group of Arundal have gone bust or not...
Thanks in advance......

 

[Max@ableskills]

Hi Jim.

Sorry to hear you have suffered from the fallout of diamond training!
Click on our website www.ableskills.co.uk for tiling training or perhaps pop in and visit us as you are not that far away.

We offer weekend training and have had a few guys that had originally gone to diamond training to come and train at our facility, in fact i have one guy completing this week who originally went to diamond. I think some have left feedback on the forum.

Good luck

 

[charliejamesuk]

I completed at Able last week and can't recomend them enough. I don't even know why I bothered with Diamond in the 1st place!!

 

[andy8758]

Haven't posted on here for a while - and found this really sad post about Diamond Training Centre at Ford. All those who booked and did not get their training before it went bust have my full sympathy - I was a customer of a computer company that went bust 20 years ago - lost £100's and thats not funny - bad news is you guys will wait months possible years for compensation that will be nowhere near what you are owed.

What I have not seen here is a tribute for the really excellent instructors at the Training Centre. Sam and Paul instructed me earlier in the year - they were top blokes, excellent instructors, and I feel sorry that they have got mixed up in this. Can't say Danny impressed me - always struck me as a bit of a wide boy (that is only my personal opinion), and I was not impressed with the way he treated his own staff. However, the training was excellent, and deserved the many accolades they got. I know there were some rumblings more recently - anyone who trained during the summer may have wondered how much longer the Training Centre would continue.

I hope those who have paid for training they have not received get something back - losing money when buying a computer is a pain - losing the chance to train in a trade you want to pursue and not being able to afford replacement training is tragic.

 

[White Room]

Haven't posted on here for a while - and found this really sad post about Diamond Training Centre at Ford. All those who booked and did not get their training before it went bust have my full sympathy - I was a customer of a computer company that went bust 20 years ago - lost £100's and thats not funny - bad news is you guys will wait months possible years for compensation that will be nowhere near what you are owed.

What I have not seen here is a tribute for the really excellent instructors at the Training Centre. Sam and Paul instructed me earlier in the year - they were top blokes, excellent instructors, and I feel sorry that they have got mixed up in this. Can't say Danny impressed me - always struck me as a bit of a wide boy (that is only my personal opinion), and I was not impressed with the way he treated his own staff. However, the training was excellent, and deserved the many accolades they got. I know there were some rumblings more recently - anyone who trained during the summer may have wondered how much longer the Training Centre would continue.

I hope those who have paid for training they have not received get something back - losing money when buying a computer is a pain - losing the chance to train in a trade you want to pursue and not being able to afford replacement training is tragic.

My thoughts exactly, I first met Sam about 11 years ago before he was tiling and then met him when I went to Diamond for a geometric course...Is was the blind leading the blind on that....
Eventually went to Harlow for the day to learn some correct setting out on the geo floor, was'nt charged for that.

I found that the old tiles that were stripped off the walls with adhesive on the backs were re-used as such.

I left a leather wallet for A4 note paper in the training area which was'nt cheap, phoned up when I got home and spoke to Zoe on the reception and asked that if they sent it I would pay the postage.
Nothing, then phoned again and realised it had a new owner, not best pleased.

Never left feedback because I probably would been ooft of the forum as he was a sponser, now I have had my say on the matter.

 

[Dan]

My thoughts exactly, I first met Sam about 11 years ago before he was tiling and then met him when I went to Diamond for a geometric course...Is was the blind leading the blind on that....
Eventually went to Harlow for the day to learn some correct setting out on the geo floor, was'nt charged for that.

I found that the old tiles that were stripped off the walls with adhesive on the backs were re-used as such.

I left a leather wallet for A4 note paper in the training area which was'nt cheap, phoned up when I got home and spoke to Zoe on the reception and asked that if they sent it I would pay the postage.
Nothing, then phoned again and realised it had a new owner, not best pleased.

Never left feedback because I probably would been ooft of the forum as he was a sponser, now I have had my say on the matter.

You wouldn't have done and to be fair to us. And to be honest mate I need the inside info from the customers of the sponsors more than I need the sponsors. So please do in future tell me anything you have an issue with regarding a sponsor as it could affect their sponsorship. The bottom line is Diamond we're paying their bills with us and announcing their growth only 2 weeks before the member notified the forum with this thread.

Nobody knew what was going on. But if enough people told me the truth I'd have worked out soon enough that we need to change said sponsor. Especially given the fact I've worked in the training side of things and really want to make sure we have the right firms with us and a good range of types of courses etc.

I do need the feedback though. And a member giving it would be thanked, not removed from the forum. You know that, right?

 

[White Room]

Fair comment Dan, did'nt really look at that way of thinking....

I just saw what the guys were going thru on the training side, who knew no better to be fair, and really was,nt happy with Dan....

Sam was good but the poor guy was asked to jump, he asked how high..

Just a bad episode.

 

[Dan]

I wish I'd have known mate. Our whole training side to the forums are based on feedback and it takes a lot of time to cut out the crap, lies, unfair comments and even keep public the fair comments that are negitive towards any of the training centres, as it's that fact that keeps us trusted.

Now other than our feedback sections which we feel we're doing a good job of, we rely on feedback send in via email. And these are often the most trusted as they're 110% from a disgrunted customers. Though we don't act on anything until we've heard both sides and try to encourage a resolution between the customer and training centre, whether it's a sponsor or not.

But I tell you what, I think if I'd have heard this from you 6 months ago Diamond wouldn't have had more leads from the forum from then on. Wouldn't have stopped them leaving somebody in the lurch, and would have still meant a thread was posted about them, but at least less people would have been left in the lurch.

Thankfully AbleSkills.co.uk are already helping a couple of the guys to get back into training and on their courses.

I've often thought about vetting the centre's more than I do now. We make sure our sponsors have been trading for a couple of years, and have decent prices on their products and services, and we love active sponsor as they get to really get to know the forum and it's members, and diamond fit into all of those categories just fine. That was when Kenny ran it.

Danny of ETT contacted us regarding sponsorship and we said no, he responded and said he's taking over diamond and I wished him all the best, Kenny then told me the investment Danny was making and the promise regarding keeping all sides of the business going. The transfer went fine as far as I was aware and I was happy to let Danny sponsor us under the Diamond name due to that fact.

Perhaps bad judgement on my part but if I didn't back the sponsors, they wouldn't and couldn't back us.

I do my best to get the right sponsors and I couldn't have guessed diamond were suffering. I just wish I'd have had some feedback like this before mate.

 

[White Room]

Hinesite is a great thing, an e-mail would haved helped though

 

[andy8758]

I wish I'd have known mate. Our whole training side to the forums are based on feedback and it takes a lot of time to cut out the crap, lies, unfair comments and even keep public the fair comments that are negitive towards any of the training centres, as it's that fact that keeps us trusted.

....I do my best to get the right sponsors and I couldn't have guessed diamond were suffering. I just wish I'd have had some feedback like this before mate.

Dan, I appreciate the dilemma you may face, and my perspective on this is as a businessman as well as a tiler. A Training company does not get customers unless it targets markets where potential customers exist - your forum is a perfect market for all Tile Training Groups - they will work hard to get highlighted on this forum. You did not not get it wrong with the quality of training provided by Diamond.

My experience is that I chose to train with them because of the recommendations on your forum - I actually contacted 3 companies recommended on this forum. Of the 3, Diamond dealt with me the most positively, quickly and had the best feedback. Of the other 2 - one did not even return my phone enquiry, the other phoned 3 days later (and they are both still recommended on here). I started a 2 week course with Diamond to supplement my house renovation work in April. I was so impressed with the instructors Sam and Paul, and enjoyed tiling so much because of what and how they taught, that I decided to take up tiling full time and booked the remaining 4 weeks to make the full 6 week course. I also noted that other students I trained with were similarly impressed back then. I interspersed the training with my work, doing a further 2 weeks in June, the final 2 weeks in August and have been full time tiling now for about 6 months.

I and many other students of Diamond will tell you that the training was excellent. I did note a real lowering of staff morale during the 6 months - but it was not really my business. I did wonder how long that situation would continue, but with the benefit of hindsight, the money problems were looming and I believe the staff and the training suffered because of that.

So overall, I do not think you made a mistake allowing Diamond to sponsor the forum. They provided excellent tile training that only started to fall off during the summer - the quality of my tiling work is now professional standard, and I am already getting close to professional speed by applying tips and skills passed on by Diamonds trainers. Are you now only going to accept sponsorship from long established training centres? What constitutes an established training centre? That may ultimately leave you asking only local authority colleges to become sponsors, and with the public expenditure cuts that may be fraught with danger too!

I see the other private colleges making hay from the outfall of Diamond Training, but in this economic climate we (businessmen) are all facing potential dangers of going bankrupt - and sometimes it is necessary to take some risks to survive. It may be that Danny (who I described as giving me the impression of being a wide-boy) was a bad businessmen, but that is a very difficult conclusion to reach without detailed analysis of the business he was running.

There are many other folk out there who will explore this forum looking to buy tile training through this forums recommendations. Many will be satisfied. A few will suffer loss when another training centre fails (I do not think Diamond will be the last). By all means look at your system of accepting sponsors to ensure that folk are less likely to lose out, but don't be too hard on yourself.

 

[Dan]

Thanks for the reassuring feedback Andy. 🙂