2008-08-28 13:56:52 - The Affinity Training/Wave Training/Kirsten Student saga takes a new twist with new revelations from Affinty's employees

London

In ancient Phoenician mythology, the Phoenix was a bird who before it died would build a nest and ignite it, a new Phoenix would then rise from the ashes

The complex dealings that have taken place in relation to Affinity Training and its "Phoenix" company, Wave Training (Website: www.wavetraining.co.uk/ ) not forgetting the partner company in the

Philippines of Kirsten (Website: www.kirstenstudent.com/2.html )has now taken another turn.

For more Philippine News: www.balitapinoy.net

Former employees of Affinity have been contacting Balita Pinoy in their droves to tell the truth of the situation from their side, and it is very, very ugly indeed.

What needs to be stated at the outset is that all of Affinity's victims, the Filipino students that is, must contact the liquidators Leonard Curtis as soon as possible. This is so as to register their interest as creditors. Do phone, but esentially, it must be done in writing, preferably recorded/registered delivery.

(Paul Masters and Alan Clifton of Leonard Curtis are the joint administrators of Stourbridge based Affinity Training Limited.
Leonard Curtis
Bamfords Trust House
85-89 Colmore Row
Birmingham
B3 2BB
Phone: 0121 200 2111
Website: www.leonardcurtis.co.uk/news/affinity_training_limited_administr .. )

Although the liquidators themselves have said it is unlikely students will get their money back, what is of more interest is their portfolios of work completed in relation to the qualifications they were studying for.

We understand that liquidators Leonard Curtis are supposed to contact Affinity's students, but this has not happened in all cases. It may be that the liquidators were not given all the details of the students. In view of what Balita Pinoy has discovered in the past 36 hours, that is not surprising.

Affinity appear to have run a "boiler house" almost akin to selling dodgy stocks and shares rather than being in charge of a training establishment. They started with one floor at their original building in Stourbridge, and because of a massive expansion of staff took over a second floor.

The personnel at Stourbridge were there to sell, not to be tutors. The whole philosophy at Affinity was to sell, sell, sell to clients (students). Get their money at all costs. In the weeks leading up to Affinity's collapse, students who recently entered the UK and had signed agreements to pay their fees on an installment basis were shocked to be hit with a sudden demand to pay all the money in one lump sum.

Fear of deportation or cancellation was high in student's minds, especially those who had recently arrived in the UK. This is not only for Filipino students; Indians and Nepalese are among other nationalities who signed up with Affinity.

They even screwed their own employees, both directly employed and freelance. Employees were told to keep selling the "services" of Affinity right up until they decamped from the Stourbridge office block moving to the posh offices at 3 Brindley Place in the center of Birmingham with the company now being renamed Wave.

The lies that have come out saying that Wave Training have taken over some of the work of Affinity to safeguard jobs and help students is now totally exposed by the timings, and by the fact that the director of Wave Training, Neil Crawford, was employed as a consultant from early spring of this year by Affinity.

On the 15th of July, staff of Affinity attempting to contact the office in Stourbridge were unsuccessful as phones were not being answered. The next day, the 16th of July, they were told that all Affinity's staff had indeed been out of the Stourbridge offices as they were admiring the "beautiful new offices" in the center of Birmingham they would be moving into. So the outside staff had no cause for alarm, or so they thought.

Some outside staff were indeed told about the possible move on the 4th/5th of July. However, no mention was made of the "Phoenix" situation, or that they would be left holding the baby and explaining to the students that they had been screwed.

The situation regarding the outside staff becomes more evident when taken into context with the timings. Some freelance assessors were dispensed with around the 16th/18th July. Those directly employed were dealt with in an even more underhand way.

They were not told they were to be "dispensed" with until a few days before the liquidation. Naturally, they were not told that Affinity were going into liquidation. They were told around the 25th/26th July they were fired, that they would be paid for July, an extra month's salary as long as they signed an agreement they would not try to take Affinity to court for any other employment violations.

They would all receive the money at the end of July!

There was a similar situation in respect of the freelance staff from April/May of this year when concerns were being raised that they were not getting paid. The explanation for this [they were told] was that an audit had brought some problems to light, invoices were being checked. Some staff were told to re-submit their invoices, but they were not to worry, all invoices would be paid at the end of July!

A large number of creditors of Affinity were apparently not disclosed to the joint administrators including many assessors engaged by them.

That many of those engaged by Affinity as assessors etc. were not informed of the liquidation and indeed had been encouraged to under take new students less than two weeks before the liquidation.

Were there problems with the books and accounts of Affinity or was the information provided by Affinity to the joint administrators just incomplete?

Why did someone engaged by Affinity, apparently to restructure the company, become the managing director of a new company, Wave Training Ltd 2008, which acquired some of the assets of the former Affinity?

The fact that the managing director of Wave was so engaged by Affinity is apparently known to the joint administrators but they appear only to be pleased to state that Wave has saved some 30 Affinity jobs.

That many students of Affinity who have completed various courses have not had their certificates and are having great difficulty in recovering their completed portfolios. There is concern that some portfolios may have been ‘lost' in the liquidation process. Many of those who have had portfolios returned by the liquidators have been disappointed to find that the portfolios were nothing like the portfolios submitted to Affinity with much of the work missing and the papers in total disarray. With many not even in their original binders.

Many of the Affinity students were not registered with the governing body which has made it very difficult for these students to recover their situations.

During the run up to the administration date 30th July 2008 a number of Affinity employees were dismissed with immediate effect and told not to tell anyone.

Whilst others querying the delay in payment of invoices were told that subsequent to the change in payment method in May there had been an audit and that payments would be made before the end of July and they were encouraged to continue working and take further students on thereby incurring further losses.

A number of Affinity staff were subsequently employed by Wave Training. It is understood that these employees were paid what they were owed by Affinity. Did the money come from within Affinity, did they receive preferential treatment?

Many of the former assessors engaged by Affinity have at their own expense endeavoured to assist those students who had completed their course and were awaiting certification from Affinity by arranging for other accredited centres to have the portfolios EV'd and certificates issued but even here there will be further expense for the students as these centers have to incur charges etc.

Some assessors have also tried to assist those students who had not yet completed their course by trying to arrange their enrolment with accredited centres to continue their studies but these students will incur further expense but hopefully not as much as they would have if they had to start from scratch.

Kirsten's in Manila are still claiming on their website that in fact they are dealing with Affinity, that there is nothing wrong. These claims are belied by the experience of some potential students who have paid Kirsten's for placements and who are still waiting to leave the Philippines.

Kirsten's have been telling them that they are just waiting for suitable accommodation for these students who have already got their visas. However, inquiries have shown that several care homes in the UK who expecting these students to start are waiting for them to appear.

Kirsten's also seem to be [illegally] holding onto passports of several students.

(Previous stories on Affinity/Wave are on the OFW - UK/Ireland Channel of Balita Pinoy)