Credentials

The following list of credentials should give you confidence that our services can be trusted:

• Qualified to [advanced] level 3 City & Guilds of London Institute (in Decorative finishing)
• Various additional certificates for [Decorating] trade skills, including decorative mouldings & cornice, design, spray painting/finishing [HVLP], and installation of digital ‘one piece’ murals ​
• Membership with ‘Dulux Select Decorators’; rigorously assessed for high-level workmanship
• Previously shortlisted for Dulux’s ‘UK’s most trustworthy Decorator’

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​To assist in understanding exactly what the above list means, here’s a brief summary to each entry: 

1. City & Guilds Level 3 is the level of a craftsman. Their office has informed me there is in fact a new rule now to have all members display the actual level they have achieved (known as a Descriptor), and that they are working together with Trading Standards to enforce these changes. This is a much needed alteration of policy as there are many independent [profit-making] training facilities around the country offering short term courses (just a few weeks in some cases) for a City & Guilds qualification/certificate; therefore giving licence to that person to advertise/display the logo. City & Guilds logos should have a “Descriptor” within the frame of the logo, to clearly state the level achieved and safeguard the consumer when choosing the right person for the job.
2. I. D Laidlow Decorating Services is committed to maintaining high standards and a good knowledge of current trends. Therefore at every opportunity accredited workshops and/or short courses are attended to gain improved and/or further skills in the trade & related fields. These have included: Interior Design, Decorative mouldings & cornices, wide-width vinyls and basic & advanced [HVLP] spray painting.
3. Being a member of ‘Dulux Select Decorators’ (DSD) is quite an accolade as it is reserved for Decorators of a ‘certain’ standard. Each member has been rigorously assessed, both on-site by a [decorating] qualified independent assessor and by way of direct contact with clients. This endorsement scheme is of course less well known than many of the multi-trade-directories that are frequently advertised in all types of media, and that is solely attributed to the fact it is a not-for-profit organization and therefore doesn’t generate the revenue to afford exposure comparable to others; I have been informed however that improved awareness is high on their list of priorities. Another important difference between ‘Dulux Select Decorators’ and other schemes is that it is specific to the Painting & Decorating trade, not the vast spectrum of others including hairdressing to hand-gliding.
4. In 2012, post a short spell back in the UK, Dulux informed me I’d been nominated by several [long-standing] clients for ‘UK’s most trustworthy Decorator’, and subsequently made the shortlist. A very exciting and flattering event indeed. However, with no plan [back then] to repatriate to the UK, after some thought I felt it fairer that I withdraw myself from the competition leaving it to those residing in the UK. *Of course, in hindsight it would now be very useful to have that on the CV!