 Gas Certification Company Limited was incorporated by George Loudon in July 1997.
George joined Scottish Gas as an apprentice engineer in 1966. Gaining valuable experience from his time on ‘the tools’ as a gas engineer, George progressed to various supervisory and training roles until he was appointed Training Centre Manager at the British Gas Training Centre in Glasgow.
In 1997 British Gas decided to concentrate its training at Leeds and closed the vast majority of its centres. While George had the option to relocate he realised that there were gas engineers in Scotland who still required training. He took the opportunity to form his own training company, initially operating as a training consultant until he was in the position to open Gas Certification Company’s training centre at Blantyre.
While George took responsibility as Managing Director, he was assisted by Elaine Loudon who initially worked within the Company before accepting the position of Financial Director in 1998. Elaine’s background in accountancy and administration meant she was ideally suited to this role and she plays an important part in ensuring the smooth running and operation of the Company. It was through Elaine’s efforts that access was gained to the Scottish Enterprise Construction Grant Aid Program – grants funding up to 30% of the training costs are now available to gas engineers.
Influenced by George’s experience it was decided that the company should be user friendly for the self employed engineer while carrying the infrastructure to meet the demands and requirements of the major corporate operations. In recruiting the training staff the emphasis was therefore placed on finding individuals of high quality who could adapt to a flexible approach to training. This approach has proved successful with engineers returning to the centre time after time for further training.
As part of the ongoing service, the company offers a technical consultancy service. Any engineer that is faced with an unfamiliar situation and who has previously used the services of Gas Certification Company, can phone for help & advice. Not only has this service proved popular with engineers, it also highlighted the high level of expertise available to Gas Certification through a committed staff.
To utilise the skills and knowledge of the staff to the full, it was decided to diversify the company’s operation to offer an independent Gas Safety Audit facility. Providing fully comprehensive reports and supported by a £2,000,000 professional indemnity insurance Gas Certification is now the recognised auditor for several Housing Associations and Local Authorities.
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History |
| July 1997 |
Gas Certification Company Limited incorporated. Training was delivered by utilising Zurich Certification’s mobile workshop and privately hired meeting rooms
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| Sept 2000 |
Entered into lease agreement to rent
Industrial Units 20 & 22 Evans Business Centre, Blantyre Industrial Estate, Blantyre.
Planning permission was obtained and work commenced in converting the industrial units into a 2250 Square foot Training Centre
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| Dec 2000 |
Premises inspected and approved as an authorised Zurich Certification training and assessment centre.
First course delivered at new centre, CCN1
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| Aug 2001 |
Expanded operation in the Evans Business Centre taking over 2 office premises for use by Administrative staff.
5 full time employees plus 2 self employed Trainers/assessors working under contract.
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| May 2003 |
Purchased industrial premises at
Unit 37, Block 5 Third Road, Blantyre Industrial Estate, Blantyre.
Work commenced in converting unit into a 5,143 square foot customised designed training centre.
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| Feb 2004 |
New centre opened. Consisting of communal training workshop and 3 individual assessment areas along with 3 lecture rooms. Premises at Evans Business Centre retained as an annexe to provide 2 training workshops and 2 lecture rooms.
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| Feb 2004 |
Business Excellence award from Scottish Enterprise as ‘Best Performing Business’ with fewer than 25 employees in Lanarkshire.
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| Sept 2004 |
Achieved ‘Investor in People’ status
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| July 2005 |
Achieved ‘Safecontractor’ certification status
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| Sep 2006 |
Finance Director appointed as a Director to the board of Lanarkshire Chamber of Commerce | |
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