Hi All! I received my second letter from BPF this morning, just updating me on what is happening. For all those with an BPF agreement here is what the letter said... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Mr Barnes Last week I wrote to advise you that Advent Consulting Ltd have ceased to trade. We are aware that this is very unsettling for you and want to keep you up to date on our progress in sourcing an alternative training provider to help you complete your course. We are currently speaking to a number of training suppliers. The reason this is taking some time is that we need to ensure that the alternative training we arrange is of the same standard as the training provided by Advent. Rest assured we are doing everything we can to appoint a new provider as soon as possible. We will contact you straight away, in writing to confirm details of your new training provider. In the meantime your finance agreement will continue as normal. We are doing everything we can to resolve this as quickly as possible and thank you for your patience. If however, you have a query on your account, please contact our Customer Services Department on 0844 811 9000. Yours sincerely Wilma Thomson Customer Relations Manager ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I know it’s probably nothing much but I'm glad Barclays Partner Finance have sent out an update letter. Russ

Cheers for the info Nic! I'm due to pay BPF £200 next Monday for Advent Consulting Ltd. Should I contact BPF and ask them to freeze my account or shall I leave it so my £200 goes out to BPF? The letter I received said the the agreement was still in place with BPF. Ta Russ

That makes two of us!!

I like how Advent were one of the "main sponsors" for Stourbridge Rugby Club! I wonder how many more things we'll unearth about this corrupt company. Check out the link below and scroll down a little...Ashley Jones from Advent is mentioned. Main Sponsors - Stourbridge RFC

I've had the letter as well from Barclays PF and I am very curious to find out who they use as the "alternative training provider". After all they are just a bank and I don't expect any surprises! I hope they can prove me wrong but all I can see is that Barclays (all banks) just want our money, so will try in vain to hang onto us students and convince us all that continuing with the alternative provider will be worth it. Also will we have to start from scratch as the new training company will probably have a different way of doing things. I so hope they scout out for job applications too!

Finally received my letter from Barclay's Partner Finance this morning. It didn't mention anything we don't know already! Just that they are sourcing another training provider at the moment and my agreement with them still continues.

A few of us didn't notice the email from advent, as it landed in our "junk mail" folder. Check the folder, the damn thing might be in there. The email came from the following address; [email protected]

Yes I have heard & read a lot about Barclays Partner Finance [bPF] finding an alternate provider to continue our IT training. I haven't yet received anything in writing from BPF to confirm what they are doing. I personally wouldn't be happy to accept the alternate training provider. We will have to see who they are and what they offer! Trust me I will be doing a lot of background checks with Credit Reference Agencies to see if the next provider doesn't go the same way. I'm not willing to travel to Glasgow and/or London to continue my training. I'd rather cancel my payments and forget the whole thing. We have all learnt a horrible lesson from this. In a way ADVENT promised a whole new world to us students "if its too good to be true - then it usually is!!" Russ

Danicu - I too have finance with Barclays Partner Finance (originally Clydesdale) I'm going to contact Barclays next week and see what they have to say and where this is all going. So I have seen throughout the posts on this forum Barclays are drafting up a letter to send out to all those who went with Barclays when they signed up. If you haven't done so already join the the facebook group.... Advent training Scammed Us - we want our Money Back! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=275300983566&ref=ts Here you will be able to keep up to date with any news. If I hear anything from Barclays Partner Finance I will let you know. [email protected] RB

Don't forget the lever-arch file as well! Has Barclays Partner Finance sent anything out in the post yet??

I have an Advent mouse mat and pen which I might sell on eBay to get some of my money back

I still can't believe we all received an announcement via email from the following address [[email protected]]. The address hardly looks professional! I'm glad I quickly check my "junk mail" folder each day as this is where the email ended up. Russ

Just logged onto the Advent website IT Training Courses for a New Career in IT – Advent Training UK and the official announcement has vanished from the main page! Whereas earlier there was a big explanation at the top of the site. Very odd! I'm so pleased to see Advent appear on the BBC website and The Sun newspaper. We must carry on and stick together. RB

I totally agree Luke! We've all got to stick together and let everyone know about this! The BBC Midlands news article estimates 6000 students but we know the number is going to continue growing by tomorrow morning. I wonder if we'll receive anything in writing. My standing order goes out on the 8th Feb so I don't know whether to just stop it. What do you think folks?

I'm from Leicester and after joining this forum late last night and watching and reading the news on the BBC I needed to add my name to the list of others affected by all of this. If anyone is in the Midlands area please, please contact the BBC Midlands News Room on 0121 567 6104 and they will take your name and number. They want to hear from you! Russell

I am so glad that everyone is getting it touch and posting on this forum! I have seen the news on BBC Midlands Today and on the BBC website. I woke up this morning after reading the email last night and it still hasn’t sunken in! It feels like a really bad dream and like others I feel so sick! I signed a contract with Advent and Clydesdale Bank. I don’t know where I stand and surely now that Barclays have taken over there is a clause in my contract somewhere. I’m still paying off the £9800 I took out on loan with Clydesdale.I have only paid £2000 back so far and don't want to continue paying with nothing to show for it!

Thanks for your post Advent Advisor! I really hope someone will step in and save Advent!

Hi All! I’m so glad I found this forum post! I too received a blunt email from Advent Training today at 17:01 stating that their funding had stopped and that an Insolvency Practitioner will be in touch. At first I thought it was a hoax email as the email address didn’t look right ([email protected]). I read the email several times and I feel so sick! I thought it was only me who received the email but after clicking onto the Advent website it has been confirmed. I like everyone else is interested in a career in IT and I wanted to boost my knowledge and so I began the MCSE course. At the time I was able to obtain finance from Clydesdale Finance which has been now bought by Barclays Partner Finance. I had enough trouble with the switch over of finance and now this. I have to pay back nearly £9800 now for this course - which I was hoping to complete and pay back ASAP. I’m lucky to have a job but I cannot afford to receive nothing in return for paying back nearly £10,000! I hope I won't have a black mark against my name now! I thought Advent seemed a solid company and backed by many partners. I am hoping something will be sorted and that we can somehow continue our training. If not then I don't know what to do. Please keep posting to keep everyone updated! Thanks Russell Barnes