I have been in refrigeration and air conditioning for 30 years but never completed my BTEC course in the early 90s, so don't have any formal qualifications.
I am the only director of my Limited company turning over around £750k, with 2 guys very similar to me and use sub-contractors when we get bogged down. We have completed design and build for many projects using off the shelf equipment through to bespoke from our own workshops.
Needless to say I complete my F Gas every 5 years and this has been enough to carry on trading.
However, without any formal qualifications we cant renew our blue Skillcards, and therefore cant complete any work on a construction site. 1 of us has recently run out, another got a year left and I have a few years.
The Skillcard application states that a qualification is a must, so basically when mine runs out I wont be able to escort the other lads on site that will then only have green cards.
So we have a choice, simply walk away taking all our experience with us and work at B & Q, or in our 50s go back to college!
There appears to be something wrong with this, has anyone any ideas? Retirement isnt an option sadly