Turning your hand to something different

If you’re aged 21 or over and thought it was too late to ‘get a trade’, here is how you can become a qualified Gas Safe Engineer.

Training Developments Scotland – recognised throughout the industry as Scotland’s leading gas training group – has been helping adults change their career from 2011. It is the only company in Scotland that can guarantee a work placement across the whole of Scotland, which is a mandatory requirement for anyone looking to train as a gas engineer.

The deregulation of the utilities sector in 1996 and public spending cuts have caused a downturn in available apprenticeships, causing a major skills shortage for qualified gas engineers across the UK.

Training Developments Scotland has become a solution for some of Scotland’s largest gas engineering employers by providing a pipeline of skilled engineers who are available for full-time employment. This has led to many of its trainees being offered full-time employment while they are still in training, pending successful completion of their ACS assessments.

Training Developments Scotland’s course is accredited by Logic Certification but TDS focuses on much more than just getting you certified; it has tailored its course to focus on skills that are vital for working with employers, such as basic plumbing, essential electrics and fault finding, central heating system design, customer journey and intelligent heating controls. These additions to the curriculum make its course the UK’s most comprehensive gas training course.

Once qualified, candidates will be able to work on the following domestic appliances: gas central heating boilers and water heaters, cookers, fires and meters.

Here’s what a previous candidate had to say about TDS:

“I attended Training Developments Scotland’s Gas Foundation, which finished in February 2017. I was previously a taxi driver and didn’t come from a ‘hands-on’ background, which was tough but achievable by doing some homework at night.

“Prior to joining I did my research and visited a couple of training centres. The staff and facilities at TDS were head and shoulders above anyone else. TDS were also working with all the major players in the gas industry, so going with them was a no-brainer.

“I got an interview with a local employer not long after my certificates came through, which was successful. I would recommend this course to anyone as it has totally changed my life and I’m earning a lot more than before.

“PS I’ve finally got an excuse for my wife to buy a new motorbike now. Your ‘top trainee’ – Jim Boyd.” For further information on how you can change your career, request a free information pack by visiting www. trainingdevelopments-scotland.co.uk.

TDS has seen many of its trainees offered full-time employment.