I feel compelled to post a reply in defense of some of the comments as I was the first person to have a negative view of Stapleford.
I went there to really make it work and it was with heavy heart that I left SFC and I didn't do it lightly. My parents live in Oxford so if I was going to go anywhere that was easy for me Essex wasn't it but no I liked the look of the place and wanted to go there.
I left after a myriad of different issues not just how the receptionists behaved but the surly attitude from Colin Dobney dribbled down to the instructors who thought that his example was acceptable behaviour. I was not the only one, there was a raft of other students in the summer of 2006 who felt they were being treated badly.
I left and went solo in two days with another instructor in Scotland, did the bulk of my license in the UK and completed it in San Diego. So I have had plenty of experience of other flying schools and at the time Stapleford was not being well run.
I had worked in the film industry for years as my day job before I started flight training and spent a year working for Michael Winner when I was 19, so I think I can take being called a c
t.
When you're paying over 45k somewhere you are at the end of the day a customer as well as a student. I appreciate the positive quotes that are here for the place and maybe they have learnt and turned a customer sevice corner? As I said my experiences were 3 1/2 years ago.