Pros
I echo everything said in the review of 22nd Dec 22 and have copied below:
Cons
In addition the review of 22nd Dec 22, I would highly suggest that you avoid this Avado / Arch / Blenheim Chalcot like the plague. It is a ticking time bomb that has self-destructed to the point of no return. It won't be operating for long. If not because there are no staff left for it to run (or the good ones have gone or are going) or because the ESFA has shut it down. AVOID. I echo everything said in the review of 22nd Dec 22 and have copied below: "Where to start? Flat hierachy equates to Blenhiem Chalcot, (Avado owners), inserting their own leadership team into a failing company, to assist it in going over that final edge through dictates, arrogance and fear, or is it being prepared to be sold off? Leadership unable apparently to carry out any form of critical thinking, risk assessment or analysis and certainly do not understand the requirements of being an apprenticeship provider from even basic ESFA stand points or really much of an understanding of OFSTED requirements, let alone looking at the way in which learners are treated. Genuinely no concerted effort or real engagement with knowledgable and willing employees who want to help the business try to succeed. Leaders are stuck in an echo chamber where decisions are based on "let's just see", or a race to the bottom in terms of costs and output. Systems for learning that are not fit for purpose, cause learners confusion, frustration and real anguish for some, especially those with SEND requirements, as online learning is not always an effective medium for learners with high dependancy needs. Systems are simply introduced without employee or learner consultation, are usually sub-standard, cheap and poor quality versions of potentially good systems, but the business won't pay for the features and controls of the better version for sake of literally penny pinching. As for getting data out of these systems, well, you'll find out how good these systems are when you want to get your certfication at the end of your qualification. Constant errors, poor data availability, human error, limitations of these systems, and many more issues beside create a perfect storm where the learners are constantly chasing the certifications with the awarding bodies and Avado, with both parties blaming the other for the issues, but leaving the learner without their certifcation. Check out Trust Pilot for this common complaint! If you choose to work here, what can you expect, well, as previously mentioned poor leadership for sure... Lack of communication, transparency, involvement and reward. You will find things that affect your work equally poorly planned, you will likely experience a lack of systems that work effectively without huge amounts of manual work-arounds, and when things are 'done to you' and they will be, you should also expect nothing less that the worst execution possible, and be prepared to face into a barrage of complaints, issues and disgruntled learners with management and leadership support vanashing like Scotch mist! "Over to you pal, your job to sort it out, we did the decision making, but you need to make it work in the real world!" Add to the mix the constant changes, u-turns, and sporadic poor decisions and execution and you have a recipe for what can only be described as the 'Avado Way'. Frustration, confusion, absence of accountability or ownership, regular costly errors, lost custom, clients leaving contracts and employees leaving all over the place. Many 'restructures' this year already and lots of talented people and skills have gone entirely from the business, but are being rehired in India and South Africa, so not everyone has lost out. So how does Avado make it's money? Strong sales team, selling the dream, whatever it takes. Chasing govenment funding relentlessly, apprenticeship levy, skills bootcamps, digital skills bootcamps, etc, nothing innovative, nothing that adds value, just chases the Government funding to prop up stale and out-dated catalogue of worn out online trainings and courses. In my opinion the ethos of this company is to do good business through bad choices, bad decisions and bad business practices, which surely makes bad business sense? Only time will tell, but the clock is ticking, tick-tock, tick-tock..."
