An inspirational story of how Stephen Dovey, owner of FTW Training in Skelmersdale, overcame adversity to become a successful multiple business owner…

In 2008, Stephen was made redundant from his position working in a factory for the same company as his dad, which he explained he had applied for because he knew there was no requirement to read or write. Stephen has dyslexia.

On applying for jobs, Stephen would limit himself to apply only for positions in factories where he wouldn’t need to read or write. A lady called Karen Burns, from Liverpool Jet Service, suggested Stephen undertake a fully-funded forklift truck training course in a bid to make himself more employable.  He wasn’t confident, but went along to the training anyway.

He knew he would struggle with the English and Maths test that would be part of the training and almost left. One of the instructors, Robbie, convinced him to stay and explained he would help and support him throughout. He reluctantly decided to stay, and a few weeks later Stephen walked away the proud owner of a forklift truck licence.

Robbie saw huge potential in Stephen and encouraged him to apply for an instructor licence. After managing to secure some funding for the course, Stephen went ahead with the training, but failed the exam. The training company went on to offer Stephen an entry-level office job, which he snapped up.  Putting everything he had into the new job, he eventually worked his way up to office manager, then to contact manager. In this time his confidence grew, and eight years later Stephen had not only achieved the position of National Business Development Manager within the company, but he had also passed his instructor course, and achieved a PETALS teaching qualification.

Stephen realised that although he was working extremely hard, he wasn’t being financially rewarded. When he requested a pay rise, he was told indirectly that because of his dyslexia they wouldn’t consider any pay rise and he was soon made redundant.

It was from here, in 2017, that Stephen and his uncle, who is a doctor, decided to set up on their own company called Dovewell Training. This training company specialised in the care industry and is still running successfully to this day. In December 2018, Stephen was approached to take over FTW Training, and so following his passion for forklift trucks and training, he decided to take it on and has worked tirelessly since to grow the company to what it is today.

Stephen’s story demonstrates that even if you are faced with adversity there are always new opportunities out there to grow and develop in your career. Stephen is proud to offer training courses for those who are in need of help to get them back into employment. Ten years ago, Stephen never imagined that he would end up owning two widely successful businesses, yet here he is, unable to read and write but a great success and an inspiration for anyone who is looking to train and get back to work.