Croydon company closure leaves students short-changed
6:10am Thursday 13th May 2010
By Harry Miller
Redwood Futures, a training company working with jobseekers, has closed down its Croydon office, leaving with dozens of people’s money, and their hopes of gaining a qualification.
Paulina Farganus, 32, applied for a web design course with Redwood Futures in May 2009.
The course cost her more than £2,000, and she completed the first stage while still working as a receptionist.
Once she finished the first stage she contacted the company, asking for the second part of the course.
She called Redwood at its AMP House headquarters, but found the phone line was disconnected.
Becoming suspicious she went to the building, but was told the company had left and she needed to contact the police if she had a contract with them.
Miss Farganus said: “I was looking forward to passing the course and getting on with web design.
“It was something I wanted to get a qualification in and go on to do, but they have taken my money and now I don’t know what to do.
“I have sent letters threatening to take [Redwood Futures] to the small claims court but I have heard nothing.”
Martin Brown, 33, from Kennington, paid the company £2,300 for an electrical course, he said: “I wanted a total career change so I used the redundancy pay from my last job to pay for the course.
“Now I am going to have to quit the job I am doing now to go on the dole so I can get the course paid for.
“I have been speaking to more than a dozen other pupils who have lost out too and we are getting together to work out what can be done.
“The police told us it’s a civil matter so we are pretty stuck.”
The company’s website claims it is a market leader in “training and identifying market shortages”.
It also states the company offers “fast, easy and quality training for employers in London and across the UK”.
However, dozens of students, some of whom have paid more than £4,000 for a course, have been left with nothing after the company upped and left in April.
The company’s registered address is at an accountants in Woking, which said it had been called repeatedly by concerned students, but it had not heard from the company since April.
Redwood Futures offered courses in bricklaying, carpentry, tiling, bookkeeping and e-commerce, but has since disappeared.
A Croydon Council spokeswoman confirmed it had received a number of complaints about the company and advised anyone who has lost money to get in touch with trading standards.
Redwood’s directors were unavailable for comment.
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