New CPD big International project- We need your help!

We are currently working on a massive new project.
We intend to publish an in depth report (The most in depth report ever written) on Training Providers.

The finished product will be the first thing newcomers to the industry should be reading before investing in training and we will make sure the document that comes out offers the biggest possible amount of help to the reader.

We will be choosing the top 20 training providers for:

- Close Protection
- Maritime Security
- Advanced Driving
- Medical training
- Surveillance

The project will be international and won't list only UK providers, it will list also training providers abroad.

Feel free to add under this topic the training provider you would like to see on the finished document.
We need: NAME OF THE TP, Country of Operation, and feel free to add why you want to see this TP on the document.

The Close Protection Domain Mod team will do its utmost to investigate fully every company named, we will take into account members views, views on other forums and open source websites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, ratings on other websites and the general reputation of the TP.

Good initiative Ted!

A few training providers I would like to see on the list is:

Medical: Exmed UK Ltd, because it's a course provider who sell the right to use their name to other course providers (MIRA) wich I feel is an indicator they have a status of their own.
SOS group UK and Guatemala. PPA International Denmark, Croatia. Merit training Ireland & Malta. This three TP because they provide EMT-B courses which many CP (FPOS-I) Medics upgrade their skill and quals for.

Surveillance: ISS Training UK Ltd. because it's one TP that always come up when surveillance training is mentionned.
The Surveillance Academy because all that came up about them/their instructor on another thread here at CPD and it should be clarified if anyone should think twice before training with them. Also I have read on another forum that they are associated with a certain "Baron" James Short which is not something a serious TP should be :)
Argus Europe UK and The Surveillance group UK Intelligent Training UK, because they are big names in Surveillance training which could interest many.

Close Protection: Of course the well established UK TP's CRG, Phoenix, Ronin, Longmoor. butt I would be more interested to see the new commers such as Galahad Associates UK wich I had a very good impression of from reading the owners ambitions and would be curious to see if it was only empty words.
G7 Training (Slovakia?) Would be interseting to read more of because they claim they go further than others and have pre course tests.
Ronin South Africa, because they are really expensive and all I heard about them as TP is really good, but everyone I know who trained with them work with something else....
Max Security Israel. Very expensive TP who don't follow any SIA guidelines which makes them interesting for that itself.

Firearms: It is not on your list of subjects but since many CP and Maritime guys work armed it would be good to see what TP ther is on the subject. Eurotactical in northern France is one I keep recomending to people so if there will be a Firearms TP I would like to see them on it.

If you need an extra hand on the project, I would be more than happy to help.

Rikard

Great post Rikard!

I agree with all the providers you have listed and was considering all of them on the report.

-CRG
There isn't much info out there or said about the CRG CP course, is it that busy?
The great thing about CRG is that they have hundreds of tasks across the globe 

-Longmoor
The head of training used to be Chris Brice but he has now left. I don't know who is behind it now.

-Ronin
Need we say anything at all, no report on the best TP's could come out without mentioning Ronin SA (You do mean Ronin SA and not Ronin Concepts headed by Geddes?)

-Phoenix 
This course is G4S, not heard much on that one….

-Max
Great Israeli company, most staff served at government level in the Shin Bet I think (used to be the case)
Yes they aren't cheap… But which Israelis are cheap   

There is also G7 as you say, 3RG, Galahad, Perseus, The PBA, Surity and many more… Its going to be a tough job choosing the best CP providers and its going to be an interesting task that will take weeks of intel.
It will be interesting to see if we can find US training providers who have courses longer than 5 days :-)

We plan on bringing out the report before September 2014.
We thought about making it into an Ebook but then changed our minds, we need this report to be free for all industry newcomers, it would just get passed about as an Ebook anyway.

It is going to be a tough job finding out all the training provider information and we hope the TP's will cooperate fully, it will be for their own benefit as the finished product will be worth its weight in gold and if all newcomers read this, they can only choose a provider listed in the document!!! 

We will be reviewing everything about the TP in full:
CEO name, company information, location, training grounds, contact information, time on the circuit, instructors, instructors backgrounds and experience, number of instructors, length of the course, course content, quality of the food and accomodation, pricing, job prospects after the course, TP follow up on past students once they have finished the course etc etc….

As I said, nobody has ever have gone so much in depth on training providers and the report will carry the whole of the CP, MarSec, SV, Driving, and medical training industry inside it.
And the great thing is its international, we won't be listing UK providers only just because this forum is British with a British mod team, we will base the report on standards across the globe.

What a fantastic idea! good luck Ted.

Actually I would like to see both Ronin concepts (Geddes) AND Ronin SA on the report.

CRG What I hear, a student who does well on their course normally get employment oportunite with CRG and as you said they got mission everywhere. Friend did their course and he works for them now so it seams to be true.

Longmoor, Head of training is called Keith Wright.

Max Security, Spot on Ted  

In the US I'v read about TP who do courses of more than a week: http://www.trojansecurities.com/trojan-advanced-bodyguard-close-protection-psd-training.html word on other forum says it's Britts who runs it, I have however never looked deeper in to them.

Rumour has it that quite a few Facebook groups are already talking about the report.

I would like to clarify a few things.

The report can't base itself solely on student reviews.

For example we can clearly say it is rare for students to do more than 1 CP course therefore their review will be completely biased as they won't have another course to compare their course to as they would have done only one.

Every single student is going to say his course was the best course and that his TP is the best.

Of course, we need student reviews to get information from the inside such as accomodation, food, instructor attitudes, job prospects after the course, does the TP contact students after the course to ask how they are doing or if they need help etc…

We will assess the instructors backgrounds and experience, instructor to student ratio, content, duraation, pre course criteria and selection.

Excellentia is not mentioned.
When I carried out my research for the best CP course to do, Excellentia looked brilliant.
I would like more information on this outfit.

Hi T0xikdreemz, 

We still don't know if Excellentia will be put in the report.

We have started writing the training Provider Assessment and Review report.

Hard work but should be finished before the end of summer.
We could write in fast but that isn't the aim, we will go as much in depth as possible.

We are narrowing it down to the 10 best TP's for:
-CP
-SV
-MarSerc
-Advanced driving
-Medical
-Weapons

A factor that is very important when selecting a training provider is how much operational experience do they have, if any? Granted, most TP's are not operational companies, and that's OK, but wouldn't it be an advantage to learn from instructors who ALSO work operationally and have current methods, tactics and knowledge? For example, one company (and a shameless plug!)  (US) that offer both EP/CP and training had over 600 operational days in the first half of last year alone!

I agree with you Hoepoe, I have talked about it with many professionalsI and other providers, one thing that keeps coming back is length of the course, course length isn't the only important factor in determining a great course and people forget this...

If the company is operational and successful then its obvious the course will be up to date and relevant to current times.

If the company is not operational we need to determine the age of instructors, their background and operational experience.
If a 70 year old is teaching, he will probably be past the sell by date, and although its great advertising that he served in 22 sas or a gov cpu, doesn't make this person right for today.
You also don't want a young instructor with no operational experience that just did an sia cp course....

My point is, you can have a company advertise a 6 month course, doesn't mean it will be worthy of being named on the report! If complete idiots are teaching it they can keep the students 6 years it still won't make a difference... 

I agree wholeheartedly Ted. All TP's, however are in it to make a profit, which is absolutely OK. To roughly categorise the market (on a global scale): those that are starting out, those that are transitioning from HRE and those that are seeking continued education.

1. Those that are starting out usually do not have the finances to support a 2, 3, 4 or more week course without any income; this group also, for the most part does not know how to select the right course for the market vertical that they want to work in (HNW, Corporate, Celebrity etc.). Basically, for the most part, they don't know enough to know what they don't know.

2. Those transitioning from military or PSD may have the funds, abd the time, but will not want to spend such a long time training, as they perceive (for the most part) they they don't need it)

3. The professional already working understands the importance of continued development, has the money, but does in no way, have the time to take off more than a few days at a time for training, if that.

That leaves the training provider in a quandrum, insist on all or nothing (were nothing will prevail) or  potentially sacrifice beliefs in standard to make the $?

I think both objectives can be accomplished (because i do it), but this is an important factor when researching the training market on a global scale; sure we all want to teach, and take 6 month government level courses, but is it realistic?

Can one learn CP in a few weeks? Hell no, but a few weeks FOLLOWED up by more training WITHIN a short time may be plausible. I my opinion, a modular approach, from a market perspective attains the goals of quality, profit and no compromise for the serious practitioner. Again, i cannot stress enough that current content is key. Does a practitioner need to learn shooting for 10 days at the expense of preventative methods if they cannot work armed? What is the value of learning all the ninja, emergency tactics before understanding the routine (day to day) preventative measures? Keep in mind that routine, day to day is what 99.9999% of CPO's will do in their career - not belittling emergency tactics, rather illustrating that prioritising and balancing gains must be considered when selecting a training provider.

Just my .02 pence.

H

hoepoe wrote:I agree wholeheartedly Ted. All TP's, however are in it to make a profit, which is absolutely OK. To roughly categorise the market (on a global scale): those that are starting out, those that are transitioning from HRE and those that are seeking continued education.

1. Those that are starting out usually do not have the finances to support a 2, 3, 4 or more week course without any income; this group also, for the most part does not know how to select the right course for the market vertical that they want to work in (HNW, Corporate, Celebrity etc.). Basically, for the most part, they don't know enough to know what they don't know.

2. Those transitioning from military or PSD may have the funds, abd the time, but will not want to spend such a long time training, as they perceive (for the most part) they they don't need it)

3. The professional already working understands the importance of continued development, has the money, but does in no way, have the time to take off more than a few days at a time for training, if that.

That leaves the training provider in a quandrum, insist on all or nothing (were nothing will prevail) or  potentially sacrifice beliefs in standard to make the $?

I think both objectives can be accomplished (because i do it), but this is an important factor when researching the training market on a global scale; sure we all want to teach, and take 6 month government level courses, but is it realistic?

Can one learn CP in a few weeks? Hell no, but a few weeks FOLLOWED up by more training WITHIN a short time may be plausible. I my opinion, a modular approach, from a market perspective attains the goals of quality, profit and no compromise for the serious practitioner. Again, i cannot stress enough that current content is key. Does a practitioner need to learn shooting for 10 days at the expense of preventative methods if they cannot work armed? What is the value of learning all the ninja, emergency tactics before understanding the routine (day to day) preventative measures? Keep in mind that routine, day to day is what 99.9999% of CPO's will do in their career - not belittling emergency tactics, rather illustrating that prioritising and balancing gains must be considered when selecting a training provider.

Just my .02 pence.

H

What a post. superb.
Indeed we can't compare government level CP training to the harsh realities of the commercial training circuit. Simple as that.
We will point that out on the report.

What about firearms trainers :) There can be only two!!! Us, and Eurotactical :)
(no animals were harmed in the posting of this post. Oops, just kicked the dog)

Yes we will be in touch with you Brian.

These are the TP's we will be looking at for Close Protection:

- 3RG, UK
- AS SOLUTION GLOBAL, USA
- G7, UK
- CONTROL RISKS GROUP, UK
- GALAHAD ASSOCIATES, UK
- GROUPE 9 ACADEMY, FRANCE
- MAX SECURITY SOLUTION, ISRAEL
- PERSEUS RISK MANAGEMENT, UK
- RONIN (SA) , SOUTH AFRICA
- RONIN CONCEPTS SECURITY ELITE, UK
- SURITY LTD, UK (Northern Ireland)
- THE PROFESSIONAL BODYGUARD ASSOCIATION, UK

We are fully aware the Surity course has not yet been tried and tested but it deserves to be on the report and put under assessment as it seems to be a good course that goes above and beyond SIA standards.

We may also consider Excellentia (UK) and Trojan Securities International (USA)

We tried to add Excellentia on LinkedIn a few times but they have never accepted our request and it seems they just aren't interested in being on the report or giving information about their course.

Nothing is definite yet but that is the list of providers that stand out worldwide.

waiting for further info

We would also like to be considered, happy to share any infomation.

BOBELITE wrote:We would also like to be considered, happy to share any infomation.

Please provide all the required information regarding your course and why you think you should be included in the report.

Best,

Ted

Will do Ted,

Roger

Email sent to the CPTPs.

You have been selected as one of the Top Close Protection Training Providers Worldwide.

We have decided to write a report on the best worldwide Training Providers for:

- Close Protection
- Maritime Security
- Surveillance
- Advanced Driving
- Medical 
- Weapons

Our report will be coming out before September 2014 and the end product will be in PDF format and will be passed on to all industry newcomers.

Nobody has ever attempted to write such an in depth report on training providers and we think every single industry newcomer in the future will be reading the report before choosing the provider he goes to.

Would you please be so kind to reply to us before the 1st of May 2014 with the answers to the following questions :

Training Provider General Information

Company Name:
Company Number:
Country of Company:
Office Address:
Phone Number:
Email:
Website:
Company CEO and background:
Head of Training Department and background:

Close Protection Course Information

-Response: Do you try and respond to a trainee email request fast (What is your usual response time)

-Location(s) the course is conducted in:

-Facilities at the training grounds: Give as much detail on the course grounds  ie: number of classrooms and their facilities (wifi, projector etc..), gym, martial arts dojo/Boxing ring, shooting range, driving track, running track, fitness facilities, swimming pool etc etc…

-Course Contents:

-Course length (in days): 

-Pre course selection: Do you conduct security checks on trainees/Are they asked to provide a medical certificate/Are they tested psychologically and physically before getting the green light to attend the course/
Is your course open to all civilians or only to ex Police or ex Military? Do all students need to provide a drivers licence?

-Course price: (inc vat)

-Accommodation (Is this included in the course price): describe the type of accommodation in full and give as much details as possible

-Meals (Are they included in the course price):

- What is provided on the course? (ie equipment, pens and paper, learning books, list all the things included for trainees)

-Maximum number of students allowed on the course:

-Number of instructors (Instructor-student ratio):

- List of equipment: What do students need to bring with them on the course?

-Instructors backgrounds: (What is the background of each instructor, you may or may not name them)

-Monitoring and Assessment: Is the trainee constantly assessed and monitored for progress during the course? If a trainee is behind and lacking compared to others will he be taken to the side by instructors and his weak points worked on until he gets to the same level as others?

-Pass/fail: Is the CP course a pass/fail course or is it an attendance course which means every trainee that attends receives a Close Protection certification regardless of their abilities to carry out the job correctly?

-HECP: Is your CP course a full CP course which includes Hostile Environment CP tactics and procedures and weapons training in order for the trainee to come off the course feeling confident he can work in CP worldwide.

-Certification: What certificates are given at the end of the course? List all the qualifications the trainee gets. 

-After course: Do you keep in touch with students after the course? Are there any special groups that have been created for ex trainees (ie Facebook Closed groups, Yahoo Groups, LinkedIn, BBM)

- Job Prospects after the course: Are you operational and do you provide work for ex trainees that display good skill and attitude on the course? Do you provide job tips for your trainees (how to write a CV and cover letter)


Please give as much information as you can and don't hesitate to add anything else you would like to and why you consider your company to be the best training provider?


Close Protection Domain
www.cp-domain.com

Following our email sent out to the selected CPTP's the first to respond with the information are Ronin South Africa.

This is not surprising really, Ronin are on of the oldest going CPTP's.
Their name comes up time and time again as being the best CP training course.

They are on the ball alright!

Fast responses and getting things done is what sets the pros apart from the amateurs and we will definitely be mentionning this on the report!

We also sent out a request for information to Excellentia.

2 other providers responded very fast:

AS Solution and Perseus Risk. We are awaiting the information from these providers.