Do Clearway have their own training vehicles and instructors or are they just an agent (I think most folks would use the term ‘middlemen’) like Clearstone were 
(apart from the Rollright section)
JTWhalley:
Clearway LGV have appeared from the ashes of Clearstone LGV.
Hi JTWhalley, May we see some evidence to support this allegation please
JTWhalley:
My mate had a course and called the number…
How did I miss those immortal words (On second thoughts, don’t answer that )
JTWhalley:
he did a search and found Clearway LGV (who just started to appear today).
Presumably, you can reassure us that you’d checked previously and found that Clearway LGV’s website didn’t exist before “today”
JTWhalley:
Think its the same company with a subtle name change.
How did you come to “think” that
Some evidence would come in handy, given Rikki’s assurance below 
JTWhalley:
The old Cleartone site http://www.clear-stone.co.uk has gone and http://www.clearwaylgv.co.uk has sprung up in its place.
I don’t know how websites are placed on the Internet, so is there any evidence to support your assertion of “in its place”
Rikki:
NOTICEWe have had discussions with the owner of ClearwayLGV
Clearway has been trading since 2006 and there is no indication what so ever that they are connected in anyway with Clearstone. Rikki
That’s a fair point Rikki, and thanks on behalf of all concerned for acting so swiftly, but let’s see what JTWhalley has to say, if anything, because it’s only fair that he/she has the opportunity to answer the questions I’ve put.
In the meantime, and fully accepting Rikki’s assurance above, I’d like to apologise to richard david for any (unintentional) slight he may feel I’ve made toward his company by my error in missing the words “my mate” above. With the benefit of hindsight, I should have asked the above questions FIRST. Sorry Richard
Right hand tentatively extended horizontally toward Richard
Apologies for any confusion - but I was only passing on what I was told. I have a friend who was sent away by the training company he was booked to train with. He was told that Clearstone had given way to Clearway. Apparently (according to the instructor at the school), Clearstone went bust once and re-appeared as Clearstone II - with a slightly different name, so he assumed they had done it again. I’ve done my research this time and found that was 100% true:
http://www.roadtransport.com/Articles/2008/02/05/129715/clearstone-closes-its-doors-once-again.html
We both booked our training at the same time - I ended up at EP and he went through Clearstone. The instructor obviously heard wrong and believed that Clearstone were now Clearway - so I posted the info thinking I was helping out.
Apologies again for the confusion.
JT
Richard David of Clearway is an ex-employee of Clearstone. That’s where the confusion has arisen from.
Isn’t it Richard?
JTWhalley:
Apologies for any confusion - but I was only passing on what I was told. I have a friend who was sent away by the training company he was booked to train with. He was told that Clearstone had given way to Clearway. Apparently (according to the instructor at the school), Clearstone went bust once and re-appeared as Clearstone II - with a slightly different name, so he assumed they had done it again. I’ve done my research this time and found that was 100% true:http://www.roadtransport.com/Articles/2008/02/05/129715/clearstone-closes-its-doors-once-again.html
Many thanks for coming back and answering JT. Having heard something like that from an instructor, IMHO and on the face of it, most people would take that as a credible source. However, if the instructor is an employee, then he’s possibly repeated what his boss has told him to say without knowing the full picture himself.
IMHO, that could happen to any employee or contracted instructor.
JTWhalley:
We both booked our training at the same time - I ended up at EP and he went through Clearstone. The instructor obviously heard wrong and believed that Clearstone were now Clearway - so I posted the info thinking I was helping out.Apologies again for the confusion.
JT
It’s interesting that you mention EP. Is that EP Training of Great Bookham?? If so, I’d have no hesitation in saying that IMHO they’re first class as a training establishment and that they have an enviable reputation in the field of dangerous goods.
I’d like to ask you just one more question JT: Do you know why your mate didn’t just go to EP in the first place
We booked at different times and he was nearer Guildford than Leatherhead - so he was going off there. Also, Clearstone offered a ‘buy now pay later’ - which ended up saving him as the loan company are re-imburisng him. So next time I’ll advise him to head to EP.
It is EP in Bookham and they are great! I was sent there by another company (not Clearstone) but the price was good and so far the instruction has been first class (even though I failed!..all my fault though!)
JT
Mike H:
Richard David of Clearway is an ex-employee of Clearstone. That’s where the confusion has arisen from.Isn’t it Richard?
Hi Mike H WELCOME 
[Having learned from above ] I’d like to ask whether you have anything to support your assertion
This is interesting…
burnie1:
Have you ever worked for Clearstone?
IMHO, burnie1 has asked a perfectly reasonable question, so could you clear that up please Richard
I might have a question or three for Richard, but they can wait.
Richard now has an opportunity to transparently explain whether, in any way, he’s **ex-**Clearstone in any of its former guises.
Since Rikki’s notice is written in the present tense, a simple clarification from Richard seems to be needed at this point.
****NO criticism intended Rikki, as I mentioned, you acted swiftly. ****
ROG:
Do Clearway have their own training vehicles and instructors or are they just an agent (I think most folks would use the term ‘middlemen’) like Clearstone were
I may have answered my own question
pathwaylgv.co.uk/Your_next_steps.htm
- Take the Practical Training Course: Once you have passed your Theory Test, we will arrange the 5 day training course, with a local training centre. Courses run on consecutive weekdays and finish with the test of the last day.
So… here we go again, a short eight months since the first Clearstone (or was it the second, third, or fourth…) went bust, those lovely shiny new Private Equity owners have decided to become the next lot of rats to abandon the sinking ship, leaving suppliers, staff and customers high and dry yet again!
So who wins from this sorry debacle? Yes… that’s right… the insolvency practitioners! The snouts are still in the trough from the first Clearstone, with the professionals hoovering up in excess of £50000 of someone else’s money to date and now they’ve got a chance to tuck into another hearty feast already. So with them charging £100+VAT an hour for a filing clerk and £400+ for someone with a few letters after their name you can guarantee that they’ll string the festival out for as long as the creditors’ cash lasts… not that I’d suggest they’re doing anything illegal, of course… all perfectly within the law…well, they can afford the lawyers’ fees, can’t they?
So Big Dave, AC and hundreds of others are left floundering in the water while the rats nick the lifeboats…
The big question is, will any of the directors at Clearstone hold their hands up and admit they hadn’t got a clue about how to run either a training or a recruitment company■■? The list of suspects is quite a short one, baldly obvious to anyone who’s had dealings with them. No, I agree… why would any self-respecting rat hold his paws up when the safer option is to scuttle back into the darkness from whence it came ready to pop its head out again when the coast is clear…
So let’s make sure the rotten Clearstone corpse is banished once and for all. Don’t think for one minute that screwing down the lid of the coffin will be enough; they’ve had plenty of experience of screwing things (staff, customers, suppliers) so why give them the chance to try unscrewing something for a change■■? Let’s just get a drop of derv and a box of matches and cremate the fetid remains of Clearstone once and for all.
And if anyone sees a rat crawling out of the ashes you have official permission to whack it several times around the head until it says sorry…
There… that’s better…I’ve been waiting to get that off my chest ;-0
Welcome twofingersup 
Were you connected with clearstone in any way
Hi,
Unfortunately, I am a Clearstone victim. I am currently half way through my Class C training - I live in London and was using Rollright at Enstone as I wanted Saturday training as I don’t get much holiday at work.
I paid up front for the full course and have actually received 2 of the 4 lessons, plus I passed my theory test via Clearstone etc. So, I have lost out on 2 Saturdays of training and my test.
I actually drove all the way up to Rollright in the depths of Oxfordshire very early yesterday morning from London as nobody from the Administrators/Receivers etc had bothered to contact me to advise me what had happened.
I live in Canary Wharf and am now looking for a good local training school in East London/Essex type area who can help me finish my Class C, preferably via Saturday training.
Any suggestions/recommendations gratefully received.
Cheers,
Steve.
dieseldave:
Mike H:
Richard David of Clearway is an ex-employee of Clearstone. That’s where the confusion has arisen from.Isn’t it Richard?
Hi Mike H WELCOME
[Having learned from aboveThis is interesting…
burnie1:
Have you ever worked for Clearstone?IMHO, burnie1 has asked a perfectly reasonable question, so could you clear that up please Richard
I might have a question or three for Richard, but they can wait.
Richard now has an opportunity to transparently explain whether, in any way, he’s **ex-**Clearstone in any of its former guises.Since Rikki’s notice is written in the present tense, a simple clarification from Richard seems to be needed at this point.
****NO criticism intended Rikki, as I mentioned, you acted swiftly.
And the answer was “No Reply”
Well clearway lgv is an agent looks I think he’s working from his bedroom…
I learned with rollrite just after they had sold out to clearstone and funnily enough BigD was my instructor. I have nothing but praise for BigD but did get the feeling of slap dash from the company.
I passed my test with a clean sheet thanks to BigD
Thank you again BigD sorry to hear that you got shafted.
Its always good to here from previous candidates - thanks for your support turborange.
myself and a coleague Chris have been at rollright every morning since the closure and have listened to all the sad stories including meeting Steve B on saturday.
you would think that someone from the recievers could at least turn up and break the news to candidates - what do they do for there money ?
Looks like an investigation has started into a major fraud taking place at Clearstone!
Lets hope that if somthing illegal has taken place the ones responsible are brought to justice!
Are affected Clearstone rollright students still benefitting from J Coates kind gesture to allow them to use their wagons? Reason I ask is because I did spot a Coates merc atego artic with a student or two on Friday on the Abingdon test routes. I know from when I was looking for C+E training that Coates do not normally use Abingdon DTC unlike other Berks based schools like React and Big wheelers.
I’m in the process of booking my class ‘c’ I very nearly went with Qualitas Training LTD■■? aka Stirling Training (same 0845 number), in Essex, but after digging a little deeper (at Companies House website) I found they were dissolved but still using LTD in their literature. Very naughty! These companies appear to be run along the same lines as Clearstone.
The attraction was “FREE” C+E after passing C and operator CPC’s for only £1300. But fortunately I started to smell a rat and did some googling and found posts and blogs by peeps who’d passed the cpc and rigid but the C+E training wasn’t honoured.
I’ve decided to go with Hargreaves in Leeds, my old man did his PSV with them many years ago, a bit more expensive than Qualitas but my cash is going to a face I can see/ pummel if it goes missing 
BTW the Companies House website is quite useful for checking companies who are receiving your hard earned cash.
Welcome MADBAZ
Glad you had your eyes opened early
Try the link in my signature for some training tips etc 
Thanx for welcome Rog
I’ve been skulking around for a couple of days, and gained some valuable knowledge, fantastic site
I haven’t been taken in by the “promises” of £550 p/w and £35k per year as advertised by some companies, I’m very wary of where my hard earned cash goes.