Times are a changing and after being ignored by far too many for far too long, the importance of quality training and certification is finally starting to be recognised in the chauffeuring world.
With standards falling to what feels like an all time low, getting properly trained and qualified is the one sure way to stand-out from the crowd and make yourself more employable or your service more attractive to potential customers.
To find out just what’s on offer, thechauffeur.com in conjunction with the Chauffeur Network UK Facebook group is taking a closer look at a number of market-leading courses over the coming weeks. We’ll be asking some of the training providers what their courses entail and how what they’re offering will benefit the industry.
We’ll even be experiencing a couple of courses for ourselves so we can tell you exactly what you can expect for your money, as well as explaining what the different levels of qualification actually mean in the real world.
To kick off our series, Andy Dubberley looks at why training has always been such a dirty word in the chauffeur industry for so long and how everyone has the opportunity to develop their skills-they just have to want to.
The inquest into the death of a highly respected company director has heard that an ‘unjustified over confidence’ and lack of ability displayed by his chauffeur were to blame for the fatal accident in July last year. James Smith, the millionaire boss of one of the UK’s most successful manufacturing companies was killed instantly when John Jones, whose services had been hired by the popular chief executive, lost control of the luxury S-Class Mercedes near Guildford.
Coroner Simon Archer said that he was shocked to find out during subsequent investigation that no formal driver training was required to become licensed as a chauffeur and shockingly poor skills on the part of Jones, 54, had undoubtedly being a very strong factor in the collision but would not comment further ahead of any possible trial.
