I saw your YouTube video earlier and see you have a number of vehicles. I see your training vehicles are based in one location yet you advertise as a national provider. How does that work exactly if you say you are not a broker? Surely, in essence you are trading exactly as a broker, suffice for your one location.
So if I was based in, say Glasgow and wanted an assessment in one of your vehicles would I have to come to where your vehicles are located or would this be arranged at one of your supplier’s venues.
I had a good look at your Facebook page earlier too. I have watched with great interest recently how other brokers are now using social networking sites to promote their services. This is fine and perfectly legal but where on your website does it state you have training vehicles in only one location and you source training through other providers around the country? Not that you have to of course.
You see from an insider’s view you look and come across exactly as a broker, which is fine. But why try and deny the fact that you are.
I have also noticed other brokers are now purchasing training vehicles at one location to (I guess) promote the fact they have training vehicles.
You also say on your Facebook page you are affiliates of The RHA. Can you explain exactly what this means?
I guess this is the next step in the broker evolution. So does your company employ DIRECTLY DSA approved instructors?
Network HGV Have stated who we are and what we are and wont be drawn into the forum and online bickering…it’s very time consuming and my time should be attentive of that of our customers.
Should anyone require any additional clarity on what we do, I would suggest that you all keep a very close eye on us as a business. You will find that we are a reputable training provider who hides nothing…and I do mean nothing!!!
If you want any questions answered you are more than welcome to call me on 08444 105 878
Steven Manning:
Network HGV Have stated who we are and what we are and wont be drawn into the forum and online bickering…it’s very time consuming and my time should be attentive of that of our customers.
Should anyone require any additional clarity on what we do, I would suggest that you all keep a very close eye on us as a business. You will find that we are a reputable training provider who hides nothing…and I do mean nothing!!!
If you want any questions answered you are more than welcome to call me on 08444 105 878
Kind Regards
Steve Manning
Operations Manager
Network HGV
08444 105 878
I believe this translates as “you have just caught me with my pants down and have no idea how I’m going to talk my way out of it”.
I could be mistaken(but don’t think i am) the vehicles on the videos are those that used to be Three Counties Training - are we seeing something rising from the ashes of another company that went under
Steven Manning:
Network HGV Have stated who we are and what we are and wont be drawn into the forum and online bickering…it’s very time consuming and my time should be attentive of that of our customers.
Should anyone require any additional clarity on what we do, I would suggest that you all keep a very close eye on us as a business. You will find that we are a reputable training provider who hides nothing…and I do mean nothing!!!
If you want any questions answered you are more than welcome to call me on 08444 105 878
Kind Regards
Steve Manning
Operations Manager
Network HGV
08444 105 878
I believe this translates as “you have just caught me with my pants down and have no idea how I’m going to talk my out of it”.
Rob K…Translation Expert…If you would like an idea how I propose to " talk my way out of it then you are more than welcome to call me on above above number for that conversation!!
chevmac:
I could be mistaken(but don’t think i am) the vehicles on the videos are those that used to be Three Counties Training - are we seeing something rising from the ashes of another company that went under
Chevmac. You are correct! The vehicles are those that used to belong to Three Counties Training. As they did go under, another correct statement, we acquired them as we felt they would be perfect for us to set up to use as our own training vehicles. So far, so good.
Network HGV have nothing to hide…good luck to those that try to discredit us but we remain integral!!!
chevmac:
I could be mistaken(but don’t think i am) the vehicles on the videos are those that used to be Three Counties Training - are we seeing something rising from the ashes of another company that went under
Chevmac. You are correct! The vehicles are those that used to belong to Three Counties Training. As they did go under, another correct statement, we acquired them as we felt they would be perfect for us to set up to use as our own training vehicles. So far, so good.
Network HGV have nothing to hide…good luck to those that try to discredit us but we remain integral!!!
Thank you for your very prompt reply Steve - a simple yes would have been sufficient - as for discrediting another company I’m sure your not insinuating that was the reason for my question - as it was not
Rob K:
The fact that you are repeatedly saying “nothing to hide!!!” clearly tells me that you have.
2p.
Rob K you seem to have vast knowledge in the runnings of my company as you seem to know so much of my underlying meanings, which is laughable at best especially when all of you have nothing credible to represent what you seem to “know”. I would suggest this: Should anyone on here wish to pursue any wrong doing by myself, my company or anything else that Network HGV stand for then I suggest that you utilise your time in doing so. I have stated everything on here to be true and to be the best of my knowledge. If you find out otherwise then I suggest that you contact the appropriate authorities who I am sure will be more than happy to investigate myself or the company further. Should there be any libellous accusations on here about myself or my company then I shall contact my solicitor and leave the matter in his more than capable hands.
Rob K:
The fact that you are repeatedly saying “nothing to hide!!!” clearly tells me that you have.
2p.
Rob K you seem to have vast knowledge in the runnings of my company as you seem to know so much of my underlying meanings, which is laughable at best especially when all of you have nothing credible to represent what you seem to “know”. I would suggest this: Should anyone on here wish to pursue any wrong doing by myself, my company or anything else that Network HGV stand for then I suggest that you utilise your time in doing so. I have stated everything on here to be true and to be the best of my knowledge. If you find out otherwise then I suggest that you contact the appropriate authorities who I am sure will be more than happy to investigate myself or the company further. Should there be any libellous accusations on here about myself or my company then I shall contact my solicitor and leave the matter in his more than capable hands.
As there have been no “libellous accusations” made by anyone then I suggest that you take a chill pill, calm the [zb] down and accept that people are entitled to their opinions on a public forum. Frankly your overzealous replies in this thread are reason enough for me to never to do business with you or your company.
Rob K:
The fact that you are repeatedly saying “nothing to hide!!!” clearly tells me that you have.
2p.
Rob K you seem to have vast knowledge in the runnings of my company as you seem to know so much of my underlying meanings, which is laughable at best especially when all of you have nothing credible to represent what you seem to “know”. I would suggest this: Should anyone on here wish to pursue any wrong doing by myself, my company or anything else that Network HGV stand for then I suggest that you utilise your time in doing so. I have stated everything on here to be true and to be the best of my knowledge. If you find out otherwise then I suggest that you contact the appropriate authorities who I am sure will be more than happy to investigate myself or the company further. Should there be any libellous accusations on here about myself or my company then I shall contact my solicitor and leave the matter in his more than capable hands.
As there have been no “libellous accusations” made by anyone then I suggest that you take a chill pill, calm the [zb] down and accept that people are entitled to their opinions on a public forum. Frankly your overzealous replies in this thread are reason enough for me to never to do business with you or your company.
Opinions are opinions and the world over are entitled to them.
Me overzealous…no, just very protective of the hard work that myself and my colleagues put into each working day. If some of you will suggest untruths about me or my company then I will come on here and defend those untruths as I feel I am well within my rights to do so.
As for doing business with my company, overzealousness isn’t a reason not to do business with a company but you are entitled not to do so.
Somehow I am sure we will get by with or without you.
Rob K:
The fact that you are repeatedly saying “nothing to hide!!!” clearly tells me that you have.
2p.
Rob K you seem to have vast knowledge in the runnings of my company as you seem to know so much of my underlying meanings, which is laughable at best especially when all of you have nothing credible to represent what you seem to “know”. I would suggest this: Should anyone on here wish to pursue any wrong doing by myself, my company or anything else that Network HGV stand for then I suggest that you utilise your time in doing so. I have stated everything on here to be true and to be the best of my knowledge. If you find out otherwise then I suggest that you contact the appropriate authorities who I am sure will be more than happy to investigate myself or the company further. Should there be any libellous accusations on here about myself or my company then I shall contact my solicitor and leave the matter in his more than capable hands.
As there have been no “libellous accusations” made by anyone then I suggest that you take a chill pill, calm the [zb] down and accept that people are entitled to their opinions on a public forum. Frankly your overzealous replies in this thread are reason enough for me to never to do business with you or your company.
Opinions are opinions and the world over are entitled to them.
Me overzealous…no, just very protective of the hard work that myself and my colleagues put into each working day. If some of you will suggest untruths about me or my company then I will come on here and defend those untruths as I feel I am well within my rights to do so.
As for doing business with my company, overzealousness isn’t a reason not to do business with a company but you are entitled not to do so.
Somehow I am sure we will get by with or without you.
Right. So seeing as you have now been “drawn into the forum and online bickering” which you categorically stated would not happen and also claim to “have nothing to hide” why don’t you go ahead and answer hgvlgv’s questions for the benefit of the members here?
Chevmac I am not insinuating anything just stating mere facts. There are some of those on here that wish to pick the bones out of our entire operation which everyone is more than welcome to do.
The fact remains that I am a very open person and Network are not one of those companies that have set up to fleece the world and his wife out of their hard earned, I am a married man with children, so I understand that some companies promote HGV Driving as the b-all and end all of life. We are not a company like that as I have worked tirelessly over the past year to move the company away from being like that.
A few facts so you all know who we are:
Myself and James Swift are joint directors of Network HGV, we both used to work for a company called Pathway HGV who were the biggest of all the brokers out there, I worked there as one of their training co-ordinators for 18 months and was privvy to the false promises and dodgy dealings of some of my colleagues, Myself and James were of only a handful of people in the company who didn’t like the way the company was heading (It didn’t start like that when we joined in 2008). A lot of people assume because I worked there and booked a lot of trainees in on HGV Courses that surely I pocketed the money which I can assure you I did not. I left the company in August 2009 after tirelessly coming up against a brick wall in the way the company should be operated and with James set up Network HGV, I am the first to admit that with all of the bad publicity that HGV Training has had over the past few years with companies going under setting up under different names etc that it was inevitable that my name would be attached to some mud slinging. I remain as are most of you on here are which is being dedicated to offering drivers a reputable company to complete driver training with. If the company website (which I feel does need to be changed) insinuates that we are just “another broker” then I can see where most of you will be coming from in your damnation of the company. Just give us time, we are finding our feet and completing our drivers training and advising them right from the off the correct way on training from Initial CPC through to Periodic Training so the driver is fully legal on UK Roads. We wont be exempt from making more mistakes along the way, all companies make mistakes, it’s how they learn and better themselves from them, one thing I can say if mistakes are made by us, it wont be to the cost of the customer financially as we aren’t a sales company but a training company who are finding their feet in the first year and trying to move away from the companies ( we all know who they are ) who prey on the weak minded to part with their cash to line their own pockets.
If any of you feel that some of my comments have been rude, over zealous or anything other than honourable then I apologise but because I am trying to move Network in a different direction, i will be the first to admit that some things infuriate me when I know them not to be true.
I hope this satisfies some peoples questions on who Network HGV are and what we are trying to achieve.
Some of you seem to have a far greater knowledge of how to do things, so to show you all that I am open to suggestions, advise me what we should do as business to move away from being labelled as one of the “other” companies.
hgvlgvtraining here. I am not (or any other member) here to discredit your organisation but you have to see it from our point of view. When I say our point of view I am talking about those training companies and instructors that have spent years and years building up their training businesses that have excellent reputations.
We have seen in recent years our industry being exploited by so called “training companies” and it has given us all a bad name. Not only that, people who want to enter the industry for the 1st time have been fleeced left, right and centre. It quite frankly is not fair and if we don’t say or do anything then who will? We are not here to pick on you but by posting here you have to be open to opinions and views. This is a forum after all.
I did not know your background was Pathway who were one of the worst culprits for scamming students and training companies. A lot of us see your website and to be frank what else are we supposed to think? Your site replicates every other broker website out there.
A good reputation has to earned. You say you are not a broker or don’t operate like any of them and fair play to you for that. But saying it is one thing. Proving it over time is quite another.
I am only making a post on this subject because like yourself I have been through a fair amount of critism myself due to my involvement with previous companies, although not with brokers.
I can appreciate that you are making a genuine effort to do things differently to how you have seen things done in the past and most on here do recognise that. There is a natural dislike / distrust of brokers amongst most other training comapnies although some do say differently and have had good dealings with them.
The reason for this dislike is that the customer receives 0% benefit from using their services. They offer nothing that going directly to a training provider does not.
Do you really want the additional cost of marketing your services nationally when very few people will travel miles and miles to your own location. Of course this is entirely your own decision but it makes it seem as if you may be encouraging a type of brokerage service.
Anyway I think you done a good job explaining your circumstances when you did not have to.
Good luck with the business. Believe me I know how hard and lonely it sometimes feels.
Thanks for your replies, I will actually try to post on here a lot more as there seems to be a wealth of knowledge to be learned from posting on here from time to time. I’m glad I posted on here yesterday to ‘‘reveal all’’ as it were, it revitalised the way I think about the industry and can definitely see some of your opinions are valid as I agree that it is despicable for any company to take someones money and not provide the service they signed up for.
In regards to the website, I will definitely get this changed as it does look like a broker website and as stated that is not what we are trying to promote. I agree with what you said Sean that time will tell whether or not we stand by what we will do as a company, it is all in my hands and I will continue to work tirelessly to achieve the goal of being like a lot of you out there, a reputable company.
John I thank you also for understanding how tough it is, I don’t know who you are and haven’t read about your name as being linked with any bad companies, but as you say you are in a similar position and can understand what I am trying to achieve.
What I don’t understand is why isn’t the RHA or any other organisation, vetting these start up companies before they credit them with being an associate. We opened our membership with them last month and they seemed more than happy to just accept our membership fee and accredit us.
Surely it’s time now after all these ‘‘broker’’ years for there to be more of a process in stopping the so called middlemen fleecing the innocent. I suppose on the flip side and I have seen it posted on here that some of the local training schools do actually rely on the business of the broker, but again some really good companies have gone under due to the fact that the broker owed them so much money which hadn’t been paid via invoice after the trainee had completed the training. It’s a tough one which a real governing body should create tougher guidelines to ensure these sort of things don’t happen. I don’t see myself as a revolutionist but as I am trying to take my company in a different direction to that of the broker then surely there must be something that can be done to curb this otherwise the stigma attached to the industry will remain ongoing and will take years and years to repair.
We are just a small company who will remain in the industry for years to come as I remain committed to being as integral to the customer as possible as I couldn’t live with myself if I just took someones money and ran.
Maybe some of the fleecers out there will read these posts / threads and get a wake up call, but I seriously doubt it as most of them are more committed to purchasing a Ferrari and measuring their success in life through the materialistic things that most people crave.
Maybe they should commit more of their time and energy to that of the customer, the industry and to their business as a whole and then maybe they can finish a working day with their held high, which in my opinion will make you feel much better about yourself than jumping in some flash motor, trust me I’ve worked with these sort of people before, there isn’t any longevity in it and it will catch up with you in the end…You must ask yourselves this…Is it worth it■■?
Steve, for the record, no grumble from me either. Respect to you for stating your position on here - many wouldn’t have done. As Sean says though, the proof will be in the pudding whether you deliver on your words. Good luck and all the best in the future.
Steven Manning:
In regards to the website, I will definitely get this changed as it does look like a broker website and as stated that is not what we are trying to promote.
Hi Steven,
As already said, fair play to you for such clarity when you introduced yourself.
I’ve had a look at the website, and it really does look like a broker’s site!!
