Luis Michael Training

My eldest is not the most academic person you’re likely to meet. And, on occasion, he can be a lazy little sod. But by-and-by he is a well-mannered lad and trying to do the best for himself and his family. So when he made an effort to join a course that would (hopefully) open up career opportunities I was pleased for him.

Sadly, it didn’t take long for the alarm bells to ring. This so-called ‘apprenticeship’ would only last 16 weeks – not exactly a firm grounding in a trade then. Next the first month had to be worked for free. Then, when eventually he should start getting paid, the training company, Luis Michael Training (LMT), couldn’t be reached. Phone calls and emails were ignored. Eventually, after several emails and my mentioning the legal ramifications of trading if insolvent LMT made an interim, but sadly insufficient, payment and proffered a pitiful excuse about bad weather preventing payment. Perhaps mobile phones don’t work in Newport, Wales where LMT is based.

Anyway, in the New Year things got worse with kids effectively working for nothing and LMT dodging contact like Superman can dodge bullets. Now I kicked into full journalism mode and could see the potential story. The company is run by former Welsh international footballer Mark Aizlewood and endorsed by Liverpool legend Ian Rush. Enquiries lead to the revelation that colleges had terminated their contracts with LMT for reasons so serious they were subject to legal action and could not be discussed. The Insolvency Agency has also been asked to investigate LMT activities in encouraging youngsters to sign up for their courses when they lacked the funds to cover wages. Several media were contacted.

Two local papers ran the story, Dagenham Post - http://tinyurl.com/6xjupyj (page7) and Wales on Sunday- http://tinyurl.com/66c4c8k. Depending on which version you believe LMT has left either around 1,000 or 250 kids out of pocket. The Sun newspaper also took an interest but I guess given their track record with Liverpool they didn’t want to upset Scousers any further.

Realistically, it’s unlikely my son’s group will get their money, and judging by the so-called training provided by LMT (sweeping Dagenham and Redbridge Football Club and restocking their bar) the qualification, should they ever get it, probably won't be worth paper it’s not yet written on. But hopefully my son has learnt a valuable lesson and the news coverage may prevent others youngsters from having their dreams crushed at such an expensive price.