Selling In The Motor Trade

Hosted by Simon Bowkett

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Oct 2026

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Simon Bowkett, from Symco Training, shares tips and ideas on selling in the motor trade from a sales and aftersales perspective, as well as interviews with industry leaders sharing some of their best practices. To find out more visit www.symcotraining.co.uk

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November 5, 2026Episode 1028 min

How To Handle the Objections That Kill Prospecting Calls

This is episode 300 of Selling in The Motor Trade. Thank you to everyone who has listened, shared an episode or come on as a guest along the way. Nobody picks up the phone and hears, "I'm speccing up my new car. You must be a mind reader." You will get an objection on almost every call. Simon Bowkett's view is that the salespeople who win on the database have a planned answer ready for that objection. Too many say "okay, no problem." In this episode he shows how to fight for the objection with a simple three-step technique. He then covers what to say when a customer swears off a brand or your dealership. He also tackles inflation head on. Customers who set their monthly payment three or four years ago now face a higher figure, and Simon shows how dead money and fuel savings can close that gap once you get the customer face to face. What's covered: • The three-step answer that works on most prospecting objections, ending with "it's never going to be as cost effective as it is right now" • How to find out what went wrong, apologise and use feel, felt, found with an unhappy customer • Why you should never ask "what do you want to pay this time?" and what to say about pre-inflation money • How tyres, windscreen cover, roadside assistance and the MOT add up to dead money a customer can stop paying • Why customers trust a fuel saving sum they watch you work out, and how AI does it in seconds • The gap in fuel consumption you need for the savings argument to stand up • How staying in touch from the day of the sale lets one of the best prospectors Simon has seen open a call with "what colour do you want this time?" Simon Bowkett hosts Selling in The Motor Trade and trains dealer sales teams through Symco Training. On his courses the team makes live prospecting calls, so these techniques come from the phone and the showroom. He admits the phone still gets heavy for him too. If your team keeps saying "no problem" the moment a customer pushes back, this episode gives them better things to say. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

October 29, 2026Episode 940 min

Why Your Closing Ratio Looks Better Than It Is

The easiest way to push up a closing ratio is to log fewer customers. Tim Hargraves agrees, and he has a red work story to match: a site that booked customers' clutch jobs as red work and reported 100% conversion. In this episode, Simon Bowkett asks Tim, a former head of business turned KPI coach, what managers should do with the numbers once they know them. Tim names the three KPIs he'd check daily on day one, explains why a long workshop lead time is an opportunity a head of business is missing, and shows how pushing productivity on its own can drag utilisation down. He also takes on group stock, the Skoda sitting on a Jaguar Land Rover website, and a MINI handover where the customer got a bow on the car and no number plates. What's covered: Labour sales, red and amber work and lead time: Tim's three daily numbers Why technicians earn you more than they cost, and what that means for a long lead time Inbound enquiries, conversion and used car days in stock for the aftersales manager stepping up How a faster technician can leave you with longer breaks between job cards Why the internal rate protects margin in aftersales Why sales managers keep non-franchise stock, and why Tim would move it as an MD How a six month order turned into a rushed month end registration Tim Hargraves has sat in the sales manager and head of business chairs and now coaches people preparing for a head of business role. He says it's hard to read the label from inside the jar. If you run a dealership on KPIs, listen to this one and then go and check how your team is recording theirs. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

October 22, 2026Episode 833 min

The £20,000 Hiding in Your Work in Progress

Your service department might be carrying two-year-old job cards in work in progress. Tim Hargraves moved from sales manager to head of business with the aftersales lingo off pat, then inherited a commercial vehicle workshop holding three times the work in progress of a passenger car workshop twice its size. He puts the write-off at about £20,000. Tim tells Simon Bowkett why he thinks most heads of business come from sales, why the people hiring them keep choosing candidates who followed the same path, and what he believes that costs dealer groups. He also takes apart the four-week service diary that looks healthy while diagnostic customers drive to the specialist independent down the road, and says no service department has ever quoted him a figure for how many enquiries turn into bookings. What's covered: • How sales managers talk their way into head of business roles on aftersales vocabulary • Why recruiters who came up through sales keep hiring sales managers to run dealerships • A £350,000 work in progress figure defended because it used to be £750,000 • Why writing off old jobs feels painful and why your first loss is your best loss • The engine management light customer who waits a couple of weeks while a routine service gets in within two or three days • A booking call where the customer heard a price with no value built in, asked for the service manager and gave up • Why service advisors should go through the main dealer journey as customers themselves Tim Hargraves spent 21 years at a family-run dealer group in Suffolk, rising from sales executive to head of business. He now works with managers moving into head of business roles and the people already in them. Heads of business, aftersales managers and anyone signing off a service department's numbers should hear this one. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

October 15, 2026Episode 734 min

How Craig Walker Uses His Workshop to Buy Stock

Customers still walk into used car dealerships expecting to get stitched up. Craig Walker decided to let them in before they arrive. In this episode, Craig talks to Simon Bowkett about Dealership Diaries, the YouTube channel where the whole team films behind the scenes, mistakes included. Craig explains how pointing out every mark on a car calms a nervous buyer, how a customer flew up from Kent to buy an F-Type after watching the channel, and how a £24.99 a month service plan brings buyers back to the workshop. Craig puts take-up at around 40%. The conversation also covers using the workshop to buy stock, treating the appointment as the new sale, hiring for personality and running KPIs through Claude straight from a DMS export. Craig finishes with the challenge still to crack: finding a number two. What's covered: • Why Craig puts 'disarming the customer' in the brand book and how the team does it on every car • How Dealership Diaries got the whole team on camera and what it has done for sales • The difference between active and passive customers, and how to stay in front of both • Running a £24.99 a month service plan at break-even, and the take-up of around 40% that Craig reports • Using the workshop and service advisers to spot cars worth buying in • Why Craig sees the appointment as the new sale, and why trial closes matter after the test drive • Hiring salespeople for personality and training everything else • Dropping a DMS CSV into Claude to track KPIs and stock turn, plus Simon's tip for recording sales meetings with Wispr Flow Craig Walker runs The Walker Motor Group, which owns Culloden Cars on the outskirts of Inverness, and co-owns the Top Car Services workshop with business partner Liam Grant. Craig says the group employs 17 people, and that the workshop, which started with three ramps, is moving up to seven with an MOT testing station. Craig still loves being in the weeds of the business. If you run an independent or manage a used car or service department and want more repeat business out of every customer you sell to, give this one a listen. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

October 8, 2026Episode 632 min

Craig Walker on How He Bought a Dealership with No Cash

Craig Walker bought into a car dealership without putting in a penny. The deal: turn a struggling business round, get the owner his money back, and take half the company as payment. Two years later, he had it. Now he runs Culloden Cars in Inverness with 45 to 50 cars in stock and 55 to 65 going out the door every month. That's more than 100% stock turn, on an independent's cash, where every unprepped car behind the workshop is money that can't buy the next one. In part one, Craig tells Simon Bowkett how he got there, what he'd do again, and the convertible that cost him a fortune. What's covered: • Why being made bankrupt at 19 became the thing that drives him every day • The letter to every Inverness dealership that got one reply, and the unpaid month that followed • The no-money-down deal: turning a business round to earn half of it • Why closing a business he'd grown from six cars to 30 was the right call • Being the bottleneck: what happens when the owner tries to be in two places at once • Stock turn vs margin, and why he wants both • Getting cars online fast: washed, photographed and listed before they're fully prepped • Buying at the door, using TikTok and YouTube to tell local sellers 'We'll buy your car' Craig Walker is the owner of Culloden Cars, an independent used car dealership in Inverness. He spent years in franchise sales management before moving to MotoNovo Finance, where he saw first-hand how independents win and lose. He then bought his way into ownership without capital, and now runs one of the faster-turning independents you'll hear about. If you've ever said 'I'd run my own place if I had the money', listen to this before you say it again. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

October 1, 2026Episode 528 min

Royal Marine Gareth Timmins on What Keeps You Going When the Motivation Goes

This week we revisit the final part of Gareth Timmins interview. Everyone talks about setting goals. Very few people talk about what happens when the motivation disappears halfway through, and that is the honest bit of this conversation. Gareth Timmins, former Royal Marine and author of Becoming the 0.1%, sits down with Simon Bowkett to pull apart why big targets on their own do not keep anyone going. There is a great story in here about the book Simon could not finish for nearly four years, until someone broke it down into 500 words a day and started chasing him every Monday. There is also the flip side, the flat feeling that shows up after a record month or a big win, and what to do about it. Practical, honest and relevant whether you are chasing a sales target or building something of your own. • The difference between an outcome goal and a process goal, explained properly • How a 60,000 word book became 500 words a day, and why that worked • Focusing on failure instead of success, and why it kept Gareth in training • Why the flat spell after a big win catches out good managers and good people • Four or five small wins a day, and preparing today to set up tomorrow • Sticking to what you believe when the feedback is not kind • Why one bad review gets all the attention and what to do with it • The books that changed Gareth's thinking, including Outliers and The Slight Edge Gareth Timmins is a former Royal Marine, author of Becoming the 0.1% and founder of the 0.1 clothing brand. His second book lands next July. He speaks at conferences and events on discipline, goal setting and what it takes to keep going when it stops being enjoyable. Worth a listen on the drive in if you are working towards something this quarter and need it to still be alive in six weeks. Gareth Timmins signed his first professional rugby league contract at 15 and was playing on television by 16. He left the game and joined the Royal Marines at 20, passing out as a commando at 21. His book, Becoming The 0.1%, is the diary he kept through the whole of training, and a second book on building culture inside organisations is due next year. Whether you run a dealership, a sales team or a service department, there is plenty here to take into your next team meeting. Simon Bowkett, or Skippy to most of the trade, founded Symco Training and has been coaching service advisors and sales teams in UK dealerships for years. Everything covered here comes from air conditioning programmes Symco has actually rolled out inside dealer groups, not from theory. Service advisors, service managers and heads of business will all get something out of this one, so share it with your team before your next department meeting. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

September 24, 2026Episode 434 min

Ten Hours Sleep in Two Weeks: What Marines Training Does to Discipline

This week we revisit the first part of our interview with Gareth Timmins. What does Royal Marines training have to do with selling cars? More than you would think. Gareth Timmins joined up at 20 after a career in professional rugby league, passed out as a commando at 21, and wrote in a diary every day of the process. That diary became his book, Becoming The 0.1%, named after the one in a thousand who get through. In this episode he takes Simon through the parts that surprised him most. The sleep deprivation. The routines that kept him going when the motivation had gone. The strange rules that only make sense years later. And the moment at week 15 when he decided to stop fighting it. Honest, practical, and full of things you can take straight into your own team. • What the first 15 weeks of commando training are really designed to do • Ten hours of sleep in two weeks, and what that does to a person • Why your routines matter far more than your motivation • The gym rule about touching your face, and the reason behind it • The night the training team threw everyone's kit down the stairwell • Cultural architects, cultural assassins, and how culture gets rebuilt • The sacrifice to life ratio, and how to use it on a goal that feels overwhelming • Simon and Gareth on standards, straight lines and why retail is in the detail Gareth Timmins signed his first professional rugby league contract at 15 and was playing on television by 16. He left the game and joined the Royal Marines at 20, passing out as a commando at 21. His book, Becoming The 0.1%, is the diary he kept through the whole of training, and a second book on building culture inside organisations is due next year. Whether you run a dealership, a sales team or a service department, there is plenty here to take into your next team meeting. Simon Bowkett, or Skippy to most of the trade, founded Symco Training and has been coaching service advisors and sales teams in UK dealerships for years. Everything covered here comes from air conditioning programmes Symco has actually rolled out inside dealer groups, not from theory. Service advisors, service managers and heads of business will all get something out of this one, so share it with your team before your next department meeting. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

September 17, 2026Episode 324 min

Tyres Will Not Replace Your Oil Sales. Air Conditioning Servicing Might.

It is plate change month in the UK, and Simon is in the studio rather than a dealership for this one. The subject is a question a lot of aftersales people are quietly worried about. When oil sales go, what replaces the income? Peter Smyth at Swansway Group rang after the tyre sales episode to ask exactly that, and this episode is Simon's answer. Tyres are worth doing, but they are a retention and trust play more than a profit play. Air conditioning servicing is the one that carries real margin, and most dealers already have the kit sat in the workshop. Simon walks through the full process, the knowledge your team needs, the objections they will hear, and how to price it against the cheap regas down the road. • What Peter Smyth at Swansway asked about replacing oil income, and why the number worried them • Where tyre sales genuinely help, and where they fall short as a profit replacement • Air conditioning servicing versus diagnostic work, and why the difference matters to your comeback rate • How often it should actually be done, and how to get one consistent answer across your whole department • The five touchpoints where air con can be introduced, from pre-call through to the follow up • The 'I hardly use it' objection, and the boiler at home explanation that lands with customers • Why customers cannot feel the air con getting worse, and why they notice straight away once it is serviced • How to compare your full service against a £99 regas without getting dragged into a price fight Simon Bowkett, or Skippy to most of the trade, founded Symco Training and has been coaching service advisors and sales teams in UK dealerships for years. Everything covered here comes from air conditioning programmes Symco has actually rolled out inside dealer groups, not from theory. Service advisors, service managers and heads of business will all get something out of this one, so share it with your team before your next department meeting. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

September 10, 2026Episode 214 min

97 Brands Fighting for The UK Next Year. What Should Dealers Be Talking About?

Selling In the Motor Trade is closing in on 300 episodes, and Simon Bowkett wanted to mark it properly. That means a thank you to everyone who has listened since the early lockdown episodes, and a question back to you about where the show goes next. Along the way he shares the numbers that put the milestone in perspective, including the fact that only 6% of podcasts ever reach 100 episodes and fewer than 1% get to 300. He looks back at the guests who have made the biggest impression, from US sales trainers to dealer group leaders here in the UK, and he is honest about how the topics have moved on. Agency has faded. Chinese brands, a crowded franchise market and replacing oil revenue have taken its place. Then he opens the floor to the audience. • The story behind the show and why it started in the first lockdown • Podcast statistics that put 300 episodes into perspective • The guests who have stuck with listeners, from US trainers to UK dealer group leaders • How the trade's biggest questions have shifted since 2020 • Chinese brands and a UK market with around 97 badges competing next year • Replacing oil revenue as service departments look further ahead • Why competitor trainers are welcome on the show, and the rising tide argument behind it • How to suggest a guest, a returning guest or a subject, and what you get for it Simon Bowkett, or Skippy to plenty in the trade, is the founder of Symco Training and the author of Words That Sell Cars. He has hosted this podcast since the first lockdown, interviewing sales trainers, dealer principals and industry leaders from the UK, the US and Australia. This episode is a solo, and it is as much a thank you as it is a plan for the next 300. Worth a listen if you follow the show, then send Simon a message on LinkedIn with the name you want to hear on it next. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk

August 27, 2026Episode 127 min

One Line to The Gatekeeper That Gets Your Call Put Through

Ever been told to go and prospect local businesses and thought, right, where do I even start? This one is for you. Simon Bowkett takes a client question about local business users, the buyers who are not quite fleet and not quite retail, and turns it into a step by step approach you can use this week. It begins with a business you already look after. From there you find their competitors, use that connection to get past the gatekeeper, and give the decision maker a proper reason to meet you. Simon also shares the referral question that gets customers introducing you themselves, the voicemail messages that actually get returned, and a simple idea sitting in your own accounts department that almost nobody uses. Practical, honest, and built for a busy week on the forecourt. • Where to start when you have been told to go and prospect local businesses • How to use AI to build a list of a customer's direct competitors • What to say to the gatekeeper so your call gets put through • How to ask for a referral in a way people actually answer • Why your dealership's supplier list is full of easy appointments • Three voicemail messages that get a call back • Handling the "we already have a supplier" brush off • Why face to face still beats email and LinkedIn for this buyer Simon Bowkett is the host of Selling in The Motor Trade and the founder of Symco Training, which coach sales and aftersales teams across UK dealerships. He runs a small business himself, so he knows why these buyers go quiet and how to bring them back. The whole episode is built around a real question from a client. Share it with anyone on your team who has a local business patch and is not sure what to do with it. About Symco Training: Symco Training was founded in 2000 by Simon Bowkett and it was his belief that the business had to offer its clients something different. That difference was clear to Simon from his days in the dealership when he experienced many sales trainers who had all the answers, but were unable, unwilling or both to actually show the delegate how they could be implemented. It remains the ethos of the business today. You see, Symco only employ trainers that are committed to delivering not only in spiring and insightful training, but are equally as happy to demonstrate these skills and techniques with real customers in your own showroom. We believe in order for sales training to be effective and in Simon's words 'real world', it needs to be tried and tested in the only place it matters the showroom floor. There is no room for theory when your goals are for your team to sell more cars, hours or parts and retain more profit. In dealerships around the world the focus applied by many of the sales executives is to try and sell a deal. Symco specialise in getting your teams to focus on selling themselves, the product and then supporting this with the deal. To find out more visit: www.symcotraining.co.uk