I'll be back soon when I've saved some penny's & can be bothered with the 432 mile round trip but I'll not be staying at... "The Inkford hotel, please wipe your feet on the way out!"
LOL, you had the best room also. Dont worry, the Inkford is being flat packed in March. Dont moan at me tho, you had a luxury boat to stay on but you kept driving to the Inkford every night. Bonus for me is i had a load of beers in the boat fridge for you i have now taken home with me.
My work in the training bay would have been a lot better if I hadn't had 8 pints the night before & went to bed before 1:30 am lol I would like to say a big thank you for having me Matt & it was good to finally meet you.
It was a pleasure to have you with us mate. really, banter aside , it was great to have you with us. your defo one of the top installers i have had with us. Hope to see you again soon. (im back up your way in a couple of weeks so will have to meet for a beer)
Ha ha It was my idea you **** ??? Which I had in FloorSkills ! Did it work then ? or are you pulling my ****er ?
Just come back from Floorskills after doing a Carpet fitting level 2 course and wanted to say a big thank you to Matt and especially Daniel for a fantastic 5 days. The amount of in depth knowledge available on the course is absolutely excellent and thanks to Daniels' expertise, patience and good humour is delivered in a first class way. I didn't have much experience in carpet fitting (and it showed) but with Daniels' help I feel a whole lot more confident about it now. Even if you didn't actually fit carpets it is good to know how fitters should actually be doing their job the right way. I met a great set of lads on the course and although some of them were experienced fitters they all said they benefited from the training and learned something new and that it was well worth the cost. There's also the added bonus of being able to call on them for future advice. They also employ an excellent catering company.
Hi John, thanks for the feedback. As always we always welcome negative feedback so we can improve and address any issues. As i always say "if we dont know, we dont know where to improve" John do you have any suggestions on how we can improve so we can adapt for future courses? How do we compare in quality of training centre, trainers, catering etc to other courses you have been on ?
The most important criterion of course is to have someone on top of their game and with Daniel you have that. On other courses I have been on, trainers show you their way, talk about the tools they are using and show the materials they are using. They also mention there are alternative ways and leave it at that but with Daniel he showed the alternatives eg. different methods of fitting gripper to baulk out a bullnose on a hand sewn bullnose installation and not just saying there are better gripperods available but going and getting some to show what they looked like and what to look for. The facilities at the centre were excellent with plenty of tools available (I've had to wait to share on previous courses) that are up to date. Perhaps it would be helpful if back rails could be fitted to the bullnose and winder dummies to prevent them moving when stretching - likewise some anti skid pads to the bases of them. I don't know if the material used under rugs to prevent movement would work or the material they use on the Festool guide rail? I happened to be the lowest common denominator on the course (well almost!!!) and I had a little difficulty in taking in and remembering (probably my age) the stages we were shown (I don't think the more experienced lads did) but help was always there when I needed it. It could be difficult but perhaps some sort of pre-course assessment on the capabilities and knowledge of the people who are attending the course might be helpful so the ones like me didn't hold the others back. A lift would be useful - but you can't have everything! (Oh, I forgot you have a fork lift truck) As I said before the food was great and plenty of it. Course notes would be useful as a reminder for someone like me although I know I can always contact for advice when needed. All in all a first class course to be recommended.
Hi John, Many thanks for the feedback. You might be pleased to know we are already addressing your feedback. Sadly we have been delayed in doing so due to the extension next door. We was supposed to move in on 1st of January but as you witnessed , the tenants in the unit next door and are still in there ! We have been waiting for the last 4 months (well actually its the last 8 months to move in, we was originally supposed to move in back in September) When we are finally able to move in the below is happening - Additional 3600 sqft of training area Warehouse being moved next door Additional conference room Larger kitchen / catering area Subfloor prep are will double in size with mini house bases being built showing dpc/dpm etc Dedicated stair area (bolted down BN, winders, straight stairs etc) An additional 10 bays for vinyl install only. The front area (where you was) will be dedicated carpet only (so not shared with vinyl like at the moment) Wood area will be getting be getting a massive face lift Dedicated tool stations to be installed at the back of every bay. Course notes, we have held back on us giving out course notes. Reason for it is, we expect you to take your own notes rather than FloorSkills to do it for you. We are not a manufacturer so we don't issue loads of documentation on products etc. Working for manufacturers in the past i always felt that you was being given documentation and people was presuming they didnt need to make notes, but when they referred to there so called course documentation they ended up with a load of info about a product and not how to install. There is also the issue that people will simply copy our course notes and give to other fitters. Problem is other fitters will read it and try and copy what its telling you. This can led to many mistakes. However floorSkills has decided it will release course notes in the future. Im not sure i 100% agree with this but i need to listen to feedback and address it. If people want course notes then that's what we will do ! Anyway, i hope the above planned improvements cover your feedback to make us better. I would like to thank you once again for attending and your very helpful feedback in helping us meet the standard that people expect. Without feedback we can not improve so thanks again. Regards Matt
That all sounds great Matt. I'll definitely come down on another course when it's all done ( lvt or wood) unless you have an age limit!!
Not being a floor layer but a contract manager I wondered whether or not the course would be of any benefit, having been in the industry for 20 odd years and been on most manufacturers courses I thought it would be the same old same old. How wrong can one be, the Floor preparation course that Floor Skills offered me was very informative but also non biast (this I found very refreshing) and put across in an understandable way (never new how technical this industry was). From my experience the 'Brand Leaders' in this industry could learn a lot from how courses should be ran. So many thanks to Matt and Dan for an enjoyable and educational day. I hope to and get some of my colleagues to return.
I think you raise a very good point there blinker. I wonder how many store managers and even business owners actually know the correct installation methods of floor coverings. (Or indeed care) How do they know the way their fitters are doing the job is in fact the right way if they haven't been shown themselves? They could do worse than go on a fitting course themselves. Having said that since I've been on the carpet course I know my fitter isn't doing it the right way although I've had no complaints......will I do anything about it......?
