expert opinion: - OPERC - Off-highway Plant and Equipment ...

Introducing C&G Services
Jon joined transport and industry
training specialist C&G Services aged
just 26, winning the position because of
his diverse interpersonal and academic
skills and importantly his plant
experience and machinery operating
certificates. Jon told of the great
respect he has developed for Managing
Director, Bob Oldmeadow, who has
not only become his much respected
mentor, but also his father-in-law as
Jon had previously met his daughter
Lisa, to who he is now married!
At the time that Jon joined C & G
Services, the company was
predominantly logistics-based, working
with forklifts and cranes, but Bob
saw that Jon could add value to the
company by giving it a new training
dimension. Jon initially worked as
a trainer and as contracts grew
within the utilities sector he moved
out to Cheshire where he dealt with
training in the northern region and
across into Wales for Welsh Water.
Jon Young with his wife Lisa
Jon built up
considerable
experience and
knowledge as a
construction plant
trainer during this
period, and when he
moved back down to
Gloucestershire to
work with companies
such as Thames
Power stations, he
started to manage
bespoke and
specialised ‘tailor
made’ courses for
customers. The
aim was to give the
customers value
added service
which was focused
on their particular
work, environment
and procedures.
As a technical
manager, Jon
quickly built up an
impressive portfolio
of experience in
building legitimate courses mapped
against legislation and standards.
He also created an auditable trail to
support course design and delivery
which is now audited via ISO standards.
He said: “Using training files, we build
courses to fulfil customer needs,
including many bespoke specifics such
as working procedure and how this is
implemented. As part of the process,
we take various BSIs and/or the
National Occupational Standards (NOS)
and build these into the course. Then
the paperwork to support delivery is
produced and a portfolio of knowledge
is mapped against individual training
provider skills and knowledge. Only at
this stage do we offer a pilot course –
having a desk top assessment is one
thing, but you ideally need to run the
course in front of individuals to see how
it works, how it’s received and whether
any further fine tuning is required in
agreement with the customer. The
aim is to achieve course consistency
and the Mellor Loop contained in
OPERC’s Best Practice Guide for
Plant Instructors is of great use.”
SPECIAL REPoRT
Jon has much to be proud of, but
his flare and passion for business is
best exhibited by the fact that during
his four year tenure as a company
director, C&G Services has grown from
strength to strength, now achieving
up to circa £1.5 million turnover.
The importance of training
Clearly training and competence
development are at the heart of Jon’s
professional interests and to underpin
this, he told us: “From my own point
of view, training is a way of portraying
the right image of a company - highly
trained, skilled and competent especially
if the company is public facing. Through
effective training you should see an
increase in productivity (provided you’ve
selected the right people), a reduction
in accident rates and an increase in the
levels of motivation. Well trained people
are generally more motivated and the
training gives people a greater ability to
problem solve because they understand
the mechanics of their job better and
this makes them more responsible.
“C & G Services is a people business
and we’re a very diverse little company.
We’ve worked for all sorts of companies
and industrialists, take for example
AIRBUS, designing very specific
courses, such as in this instrance
moving composite wing skins for
the A400M, which is the Hercules
replacement. We’ve trained some very
important and prestigious people over
the years but the common denominator
is that they all acknowledge that
training is the key to success.”
C & G Services headquarters
June 2011
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