Vanquish® In 2016
As with 2015, a lot happened this year at Vanquish. I feel that after 5 long years we are really starting to head in the right direction. January was going to be the first close protection course and we had 4 people booked onto it. This course was written so that it would start off in Manchester with the last days being spent in London. Because of this, we had to pay for the candidates’ travel. The other problem was that we didn’t take any deposits and completely relied on the agreement that we had made with the candidates the months leading up to it. The course started as normal (5 Day Surveillance Course first) so there was no real issue at that point, on day 6 which would have been the start of the CP element, no one showed up. I later decided to change the idea of training in two separate locations during one course and to have it only in either London or Manchester.
In March we announced that to attend the Vanquish® Close Protection Course, you could no longer simply book onto it, you had to apply. It was labelled “The World’s First Application Only Close Protection Training Course”. This had both positive and negative affects but I believe that as a long term strategy, it was a good idea. http://www.vanquishacademy.com/single-post/2016/03/18/The-World%E2%80%99s-First-Application-Only-Close-Protection-Course
In March we also learned that we could no longer hold training courses at our offices due to prolonged requirements of certain areas within the building which forced us to find new premises. After a lengthy search, we found expensive but suitable 49 Queen Victoria Street. This was a great location for training as it was right in the heart of the City of London and would give us the ability to train in a central and realistic environment and we moved in to hold our first ever Open Day on Saturday 4th June. The open day was an opportunity for interested course candidates to come and learn more about the course itself and Vanquish as an organisation.
On 9th April Vanquish Training Academy became a company in it’s own right. Prior to this, all payment for training courses were put through the investigation company as we were only running surveillance courses at that point. It was around this time that I created MedicalTraining.Academy where members of the general public could book onto first aid courses.
In May we were notified that our application for a trademark had been successful. This means that the word Vanquish could no longer be used by anyone in the context of Security Services, Investigation Services or Training/ Education, without our permission. It was from this point onward that we could use the symbol ® next to the company name.
On 6th June, the first Vanquish® Close Protection Course was held at the new offices in London. We had a 9 candidates in total which became very apparent very quickly that it was simply too many. www.vanquishacademy.com/close-protection-training
It was not long after this that we decided to make the classes smaller reducing them to between 4 and 6 candidates only. At the same time I decided that Vanquish® Security should also adopt a policy that the investigation side of the business had adopted years before which was to only recruit from our own training courses. This would achieve two main things; 1. Ensure that our operatives trained to a good and level adhering to our policies and values and 2. Potentially generate more interest and sales for the training academy. We made the announcement and on 6th August, the last interviews for security operatives were held in London. http://www.vanquish-security.com/single-post/2016/05/21/The-Final-Interviews
Later in the year we decided that the courses would become even more exclusive by releasing only 3 dates per year.
To make up for the losses of only accepting a maximum of 18 candidates per year, I created TheSecurity.Academy which would help increase revenue by holding close protection courses whereby anyone could book onto them by paying a small £100 deposit but had no affiliation with or presented no opportunities to work for Vanquish® Security.
On 29th September I finally managed to have the fake, negative reviews removed from Google. This was probably one of the most memorable moments of the year for me and from learning so much about this area over a two year period, we decided to list the service of Reputation Management at - http://www.theprivateinvestigators.com/reputation
Full article can be read here - http://www.theprivateinvestigators.com/single-post/2016/10/15/Reputation-Management-Services-Coming-Soon-1
In October, I changed the 12 Day Close Protection Course to 15 Days after analysing feedback from candidates. Up to the end of 2016, this is the only course advertised on The Security Academy www.thesecurity.academy/close-protection-training
In the summer I had an idea which I’ve been told by numerous people both in the security industry and otherwise is probably one of the best ideas I’ve ever had. Unfortunately I can’t disclose it as it is considered a corporate secret but let’s just say that it benefits the company and it’s staff and anyone who chooses to jump onboard with Vanquish® via the training academy.
I started my own blog MichaelChandler.Online. I also signed a contract to train people in Ghana. This then later evolved into potentially training the national police force across the country in covert surveillance techniques.
November - Massive issues with our bank. A complete farce. No more words on that subject.
The business model for Vanquish® Investigation Services has changed drastically.
Throughout the year the following websites have undergone massive improvements:
I will continue to work with the team at Vanquish to improve our services and performance and very much look forward to another productive and interesting year in 2017.
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