Administrators from accountants and business advisers PKF in
Birmingham have confirmed the sale of the assets of Hagley-based
Advent Computer Training and Access 2 Careers, securing the future
for thousands of students.
The Worcestershire companies went into administration in
February, leaving students who had taken out loans to fund their
training facing an uncertain future. Advent provided IT training to
around 6,500 students across the UK, while Access 2 Careers offered
plumbing and electrical courses to more than 3,000.
Certain assets of Advent have been bought by West Midlands-based
Computeach, the UK market leader in IT training, while some assets
of Access 2 Careers have been purchased by OLCI Construction
Training, the nationwide provider of plumbing, gas and electrical
training.
Both Computeach and OLCI have been confirmed as preferred
training partners by Barclays Partner Finance, which provided third
party loans to students to fund their courses.
Administrator Ian Gould, a partner at PKF in Birmingham, said:
"The sale of the assets of the two businesses, allied with the
partnership arrangements with Barclays Partner Finance, should
enable the majority of students to continue their courses if they
wish to do so.
"The future of the students was always paramount during the
negotiations of the last few weeks and I am confident we have
secured the best possible solution."
The administrators would be contacting the small number of
students who had not financed their courses via Barclays to explore
ways of enabling them to continue their studies.
Computeach managing director Karl Parkinson said: "Barclays has
shown leadership during this uncertain time for students and we are
delighted to be chosen as their preferred training partner. We look
forward to working with the students in order to deliver new skills
and a real chance of securing rewarding and secure jobs in the IT
industry."
Philip Laniado, managing director of OLCI, said: "OLCI is
delighted to help these students out of an unfortunate situation
and to enable them to achieve their career goals. Being appointed
is testament to our hard-earned reputation as one of Britain's
leading construction training providers. We have earned this
reputation by helping to empower businesses in Britain with a
highly trained and skilled workforce."
Jon Orritt of Barclays Partner Finance said: "We are pleased
that our negotiations with the administrators and purchasers have
resulted in the students receiving the training they wanted."
Advent Computer Training, established in 2002, and Access 2
Careers, established in 2004, were operated by directors Ivor
Allchurch and Ashley Jones from offices at 5 The Mews, Hagley Hall,
Hagley, Worcestershire. They employed around 250 people and had a
joint annual turnover of £30 million.