I’ve been offered a class 2 job at Jewson
they provide full HIAB training, but there is a catch i’m not sure on, so i need some advice…
Course cost by company (£2,200)
100% - 1-6months
75% - 6-12months
50% - 12-18months
25% - 18-24months
0% - 24 Months
These are the times in which, if you leave the company you will be charged for the percentage which corresponds to how long you’ve worked for the company before you leave
so if i was to work for the company for 6 months, and hate it, then leave, I would be charged the full price of the course, would they just withhold my last months wages, or would they actually send an invoice and bill me for that amount of money?
Thanks
Ask Jewson…
They’ll be able to tell you.
You can get a hiab course for ~£500. Less, in some cases. If it’s what you want to do, do it yourself with a local training provider and then you can likely walk into the job with no tie-in. TBH, that cost they’re quoting is ridiculous, though I wouldn’t go and work for a builders merchant anyway - you’ll be run-ragged. Though, it’s a job.
As for whether they can ‘enforce it’ - if it’s in your contract / you’ve signed a training agreement, then yes they can recoup the cost. As for whether they will or not is anyone’s guess.
HTH.
Edit: If you have a class 1 license, enquire with Wincanton. They’ll give you Crane and/or FLT training, there’s a tie-in, but it’s much less:
<3 months 100%
3-6 months 50%
+6 months, 0%
Evil8Beezle:
Is a HIAB course 2k? 
Is it ■■■■! I got mine half-price from Ritchies in Glasgow, then had a £200+vat training voucher. £155 i think it cost me!
Evil8Beezle:
Is a HIAB course 2k?
Not usually, but doing it via Jewson, they send you away for 5 days to a training centre, hotel, meals, expenses all included.
Provided by the company sounds great, but with a 2-year tie in… not so much?
Cazzum1337:
Evil8Beezle:
Is a HIAB course 2k?
Provided by the company sounds great, but with a 2-year tie in… not so much?
Indeed. Who do they think they are, FirstBus?
No, seriously, go do it with an independent training co - it’s a handy thing to have anyway. Jewsons don’t exactly pay a premium rate for having it!
Evil8Beezle:
Is a HIAB course 2k?
It is if you take it with Jewson. … 
Chris1207:
Cazzum1337:
Evil8Beezle:
Is a HIAB course 2k?
Provided by the company sounds great, but with a 2-year tie in… not so much?
Indeed. Who do they think they are, FirstBus?
No, seriously, go do it with an independent training co - it’s a handy thing to have anyway. Jewsons don’t exactly pay a premium rate for having it!
they pay more than travis perkins 
Goldfinger:
And a FIVE DAY COURSE■■?
Surely not FFS…■■?
Did mine in one day.
The Jewson 5 day course is more than just HIAB. You learn crap such as defensive driving, fuel economy and you Learn how to load and secure etc etc. That was over 10 yers ago I did that with Jewsons.
My current HIAB (Lorry Loader) was done at CITB, Bircham Newton. It is a CPCS card and cost a nice £1300
Cazzum1337:
I’ve been offered a class 2 job at Jewson
they provide full HIAB training, but there is a catch i’m not sure on, so i need some advice…
Course cost by company (£2,200)
100% - 1-6months
75% - 6-12months
50% - 12-18months
25% - 18-24months
0% - 24 Months
These are the times in which, if you leave the company you will be charged for the percentage which corresponds to how long you’ve worked for the company before you leave
so if i was to work for the company for 6 months, and hate it, then leave, I would be charged the full price of the course, would they just withhold my last months wages, or would they actually send an invoice and bill me for that amount of money?
Thanks
If they’re offering you a nice new truck and crane (they tend to use MAN trucks with manual gearboxes with HMF cranes) then it might be worth considering; if they’ll want you to use a battered old DAF with an equally battered Atlas crane, it might not be such a great deal. But my HIAB course cost about a quarter of that, and I’ve worked (through agencies) for branches of Jewson’s since. The school I did my training with (Wallace, in London) offers a 3-day course for hook and brick grab for £525 (inc VAT) or £400 for one or the other (for Jewson’s it’s usually a brick grab). That’s an ITSSAR certificate; some companies require an ALLMI certificate; I’m not sure whether that’s more expensive than ITSSAR or not or if that’s what Jewson’s are offering.
Keep in mind, if they sack you, you’ll have to pay as well. (Bus companies that subsidise training put the same condition on.) Last time I worked for a branch of Jewson’s I had a run-in with a customer who blamed me for something that was the branch staff’s fault; that time, the branch sided with me, but you might not be so lucky.
msgyorkie:
Goldfinger:
And a FIVE DAY COURSE■■?
Surely not FFS…■■?
Did mine in one day.
The Jewson 5 day course is more than just HIAB. You learn crap such as defensive driving, fuel economy and you Learn how to load and secure etc etc. That was over 10 yers ago I did that with Jewsons.
My current HIAB (Lorry Loader) was done at CITB, Bircham Newton. It is a CPCS card and cost a nice £1300
All them in RED, surely would come under your DCPC anyway wouldn’t it…?
So even at £1300, that’s still on the high side…? 
Cazzum1337:
I’ve been offered a class 2 job at Jewson
they provide full HIAB training, but there is a catch i’m not sure on, so i need some advice…
Course cost by company (£2,200)
100% - 1-6months
75% - 6-12months
50% - 12-18months
25% - 18-24months
0% - 24 Months
These are the times in which, if you leave the company you will be charged for the percentage which corresponds to how long you’ve worked for the company before you leave
so if i was to work for the company for 6 months, and hate it, then leave, I would be charged the full price of the course, would they just withhold my last months wages, or would they actually send an invoice and bill me for that amount of money?
Thanks
They didn’t make me agree to this 8yrs ago but it makes sense if they’ve been ‘stung’ by drivers walking away after a few weeks.
Jewson’s suffer from an incredibly high proportion of drivers walking away after a few weeks.
My course was a 5 day residential in a fairly decent hotel in Bradford (also owned by St. Gobain) and qualified for 21hrs DCPC.
Whether you’ll enjoy working for Jewsons is all down to the branch. I worked for a small but busy branch with a decent & close knit team, most branches are staffed by the clueless & witless who can’t get a job in a good independant merchants !
You’d be much safer to sign up as an area driver thru an agency like Manpower (also owned by St. Gobain) & scout out the good branches before committing.
How much are we getting paid once we are qualified ?
Goldfinger:
msgyorkie:
Goldfinger:
And a FIVE DAY COURSE■■?
Surely not FFS…■■?
Did mine in one day.
The Jewson 5 day course is more than just HIAB. You learn crap such as defensive driving, fuel economy and you Learn how to load and secure etc etc. That was over 10 yers ago I did that with Jewsons.
My current HIAB (Lorry Loader) was done at CITB, Bircham Newton. It is a CPCS card and cost a nice £1300
All them in RED, surely would come under your DCPC anyway wouldn’t it…?
So even at £1300, that’s still on the high side…?
Yeah sorry I was telling a slight porky. I have remembered that it also included a slinger/signaller course as well for that price on my current job.
The Jewsons 5 day course was learning how to work the Jewson way. This was before Dcpc days.
I suppose you also have to add in the Hotel cost for 4 nights, 3 meals a day, 2 pints of beer in the evening, a car hire and petrol to get me to Swindon for the course…all paid by Jewson so it all adds up.
Dork Lard:
Whether you’ll enjoy working for Jewsons is all down to the branch. I worked for a small but busy branch with a decent & close knit team, most branches are staffed by the clueless & witless who can’t get a job in a good independant merchants !
This 100%. I worked for a branch full of sales retards. Always on the phone chasing. They once rang me 2 mins after leaving the gate asking when I was going to be back for the next run…that was the final straw for me and a few choice words was said to the monkeys.
I lasted exactly 1 year and to be honest the job itself was an easy little number spoilt by the branch staff.
When I left I had a phone call from St Gobain head office HR asking for feedback on the job and why I had left. The lass admitted that retention was a major issue and they were concerned at the cost of training staff only to see them leave after a few weeks.
Dork Lard:
Cazzum1337:
I’ve been offered a class 2 job at Jewson
they provide full HIAB training, but there is a catch i’m not sure on, so i need some advice…
Course cost by company (£2,200)
100% - 1-6months
75% - 6-12months
50% - 12-18months
25% - 18-24months
0% - 24 Months
These are the times in which, if you leave the company you will be charged for the percentage which corresponds to how long you’ve worked for the company before you leave
so if i was to work for the company for 6 months, and hate it, then leave, I would be charged the full price of the course, would they just withhold my last months wages, or would they actually send an invoice and bill me for that amount of money?
Thanks
They didn’t make me agree to this 8yrs ago but it makes sense if they’ve been ‘stung’ by drivers walking away after a few weeks.
Jewson’s suffer from an incredibly high proportion of drivers walking away after a few weeks.
My course was a 5 day residential in a fairly decent hotel in Bradford (also owned by St. Gobain) and qualified for 21hrs DCPC.
Whether you’ll enjoy working for Jewsons is all down to the branch. I worked for a small but busy branch with a decent & close knit team, most branches are staffed by the clueless & witless who can’t get a job in a good independant merchants !
You’d be much safer to sign up as an area driver thru an agency like Manpower (also owned by St. Gobain) & scout out the good branches before committing.
WHAT!!■■? :evil:
No wonder I got shafted! And only lasted 3 weeks! Bunch of C U Next Tuesdays!
Stay where you are…do the course yourself for a quarter of the price…then re-apply…or forget it altogether…i believe its good for the company to offer this course…but its too expensive for my liking…but understand what theyre trying to do…or others will use this company just to gain an extra licence…like they did with a psv years ago.
msgyorkie:
This 100%. I worked for a branch full of sales retards. Always on the phone chasing. They once rang me 2 mins after leaving the gate asking when I was going to be back for the next run…that was the final straw for me and a few choice words was said to the monkeys.
I lasted exactly 1 year and to be honest the job itself was an easy little number spoilt by the branch staff.
When I left I had a phone call from St Gobain head office HR asking for feedback on the job and why I had left. The lass admitted that retention was a major issue and they were concerned at the cost of training staff only to see them leave after a few weeks.
I liked the job itself, but not Jewsons.
Driving the HIAB for a builders merchants can be an awesome job. You have tha craic with the regular builders & then they send you to the odd DIY’r . . . & my God some of them are odd indeed.
I liked that everyday was the same yet everyday was somehow different. Only those who’ve dunnit will understand “we’ve had bigger than that in here driver” & “can you lift that steel beam for us? We’ll chuck you a tenner”.
I enjoyed almost every minute. But it’s the piddling, middle management at Jewsons that kills the job.
Don’t start me on Travis ‘f’kin’ Perkins . . . there’s a Co’ that has gone ■■■■ up big time !
I reckon they invented the training fee tie in 'cos the only daft lads who’d drive their HIABS were soft lads who wanted to escape out of the yard.