Interviews

Last time we spoke to Sean, he had just started his NVQ Level 2 in Fitted Interiors (along with three of his colleagues). This month we caught up with him again to find out how he got on with his qualification.

NVQs done your way is partly inspired by the way we try to adapt every qualification to the needs of each individual learner. Today we’d like to give an example of what we meant by that.

We collared Jody for ten minutes to quiz her about work and find out what her magic formula is. She’s very modest and wouldn’t let us use a photo with this blog post (but rumour has it you can find a pic of her on the About Us page of this website).

Among the many companies who receive NVQ assessment from DMR is Johnsons 1871, a Cheshire-based removal firm specialising in a range of services including logistics, furniture installation, hygiene and project management.

Last month we caught up with Pete Leyland of Leyland Forrest for a Zoom chat about the post-Grenfell firestopping industry, staff qualifications, waste reduction and sustainability.

When experienced kitchen fitter Lewis Steinborn first contacted us last summer, he was working with his dad, had no qualifications and was worried about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on his immediate future.

When Luke Wainwright first enquired with us about doing a plastering NVQ in 2019, he was vexed that he wasn’t on the same pay rate as other plasterers at the firm where he worked. Despite diving head first into the plastering trade when he left school at 16 and then working full-time for five years, Luke was earning less than the going rate.

The last time Wayne Swinbourne completed a bricklaying qualification, Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, Aston Villa were European champions and Larry Holmes was the best heavyweight in the world.

One of the latest construction industry workers to benefit from our government-funded NVQ assessment provision is Darren German, a hard surface repair technician from Manchester. He works on various sites across the region repairing and restoring a range of surfaces from worktops and window frames to porcelain tiles and UPVC doors.

We dragged Jess away from her desk and into the boardroom for a quick chat about cobras, bingo, hot air balloon rides over Maasai Mara, and the accidental demolition of private property.