Meet the Trainer: Melvin Pugh
When Melvin Pugh teaches landlords about Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) he isn't working from a manual, he's a qualified electrician who put his skills to work renovating his own properties. He's now bringing his hands-on experience to our award-winning Training Academy, teaching courses in PAT, damp and mould and the Renters' Rights Act.
Melvin’s property journey began during the buy-to-let boom of the 1990s. He attended a course, saw what was possible, and built a portfolio from there. Now in his late sixties and semi-retired, he divides his time between managing his properties, consulting two days a week for a local council, and training landlords and agents on a range of subjects - including, most recently, the Renters' Rights Act.
From Yorkshire to the New Forest
A Yorkshireman by birth, he moved south for work 40 years ago - arriving as a procurement manager, but knowing he could always fall back on his skills as a qualified electrician. During those early days buying and fixing up properties, he quickly realised there was still plenty to learn.
"I went away and read up on everything I needed to know, joined networking groups, and got into that landlord mindset that way."
His electrical background proved invaluable as he renovated tired houses, brought them up to standard, refinanced and let them out. Along the way - prompted by properties with dry rot, damp and timber issues - he added damp-proof course installation and timber treatment to his skillset. It's exactly that experience he draws on when he stands in front of landlords on our condensation and damp course today.
Becoming a trainer
After spotting an advertisement for a regional representative role with NRLA legacy organisation the National Landlords Association (NLA) in Bournemouth, Melvin successfully applied - and when someone discovered he was also a qualified electrician and PAT tester asked whether he would be interested in delivering the PAT course? He said yes, and his training career began.
There is plenty of practical information in the courses Melvin teaches — but running through all of them are anecdotes drawn from years of working with properties in need of work.
"I think if they've got stories, people like that," he says. "When I do condensation and damp, I can tell them about dry rot - because I've had three houses with dry rot. It makes it less theoretical."
More recently, he has also been delivering some of our Renters' Rights Act courses.. With the raft of legislative changes, he has found it easy to empathise with landlords feeling the pressure, while always steering the conversation back to something constructive.
"I say to people, I share your pain. I'm a landlord, just like the rest of you. But having said all that - it's not a bad life, is it?
Still learning
It's a philosophy that extends well beyond the classroom. Melvin has recently taken up wing foiling and kite surfing - having learned to kite surf in Kenya for his 65th birthday — and he and his wife Bev, a yacht master, crossed the Atlantic together under sail.
"I love to find out about new things," he says. "As you get older, you realise how little you know. And the more you learn, the better your memory becomes."
Book your place on Melvin's PAT course or damp and mould awareness course here or why not look at our Training Academy to see all the courses our award-winning team offers.
