Essex guard firm AA Security and the Metropolitan Police are among 32 finalists from Greater London in the 2005 National Training Awards.
Nationally there are some 223 finalists from 25 industry sectors, chosen from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and nine regions across England, will take part in the final stages of the National Training Awards.
All finalists will now attend the awards ceremony for Greater London at the Banqueting House, on October 27, to discover if they have won a Greater London Training Award, a National Training Award or if their entry has been highly commended. The National Training Award winners will then be invited to a UK gala ceremony at the Guildhall in London on November 29.
Background
Wilson Chowdhry, based at Green Lane, Ilford, invested one term’s student grant to start AA Security with his brothers, while studying for a degree in early 1994. The £1,500 bought some uniforms, signboards and some photocopied literature, and Wilson began cold-calling. As his was a 24-hour service, he often had to answer calls in the middle of the night and his university studies often suffered as a result. He recalls: "By the time I had completed my degree in 1994 I had already decided that due to its potential I would continue working for AA Security. I contacted the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), applied for funding and started my learning journey.”
Key Worker
With the LSC funding, Wilson joined the Key Worker programme, a City & Guilds qualification at NVQ level two, which also gave him free consultancy – "my only feasible option for management training," he recalls. He followed this with the CIEH Certificate in Basic Health & Safety and City Guilds 3680, to ensure his company could meet its legal obligations. As a result he sent all his staff on a first aid course. Three more qualifications – Personnel Screening and Vetting, Management of Security Personnel and Training and Presentation Skills – helped Wilson create a quality manual and a training and development and Health and Safety culture in his business. Last year he continued learning in line with his business needs. He gained a certificate as a trainer for Door Supervisors, Static and Patrol Guarding, Retail Security, Exam invigilation and conflict management – allowing him to provide classroom tuition and set up a company academy and training service open to other security service firms and staff alongside those of AA Security. The service is accredited by industry regulators and City & Guilds, and is an NVQ course provider. He is doing a teacher training qualification so that he can teach English and numeracy. He has started an Advanced Supervising Health & Safety course and is doing a distance-learning graduate course in Risk and Security Management, and this year completed a St John Ambulance first aid at work course. Five years ago AA Security had a five-figure debt. Today it turns over more than £1m and has more than 100 staff. Wilson has achieved East London and Essex Businessman of the Year and Outstanding Young Person awards.
What they say
The awards are managed on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills by the UK Skills organisation. Dr Graeme Hall, Chief Executive of UK Skills, said: “Training must be seen as a business priority and the link between training and business success must be made. The reality is that it is people that make a business work and the skills of these people that make a business flourish. Put simply effective training will help create a more effective, productive and flexible workforce. The message to UK Plc is simple: invest in training to gain a true competitive advantage.”
