Hi everyone!!
I'm toying with the idea of doing a  professional dog grooming course, has anyone had experiences of courses in the north west and could advise me please x

No not the North West but in my area It costs £100 day for example on how to groom your own dog to £1000 for a 10 day course to be able to start your own business.

Where in the North West?

I'm in between Bolton Wigan and Chorley pretty much,  x

As where you train will dictate how your career will progress, a bit like buying a puppy, I would suggest that you travel to the best place to learn rather than go to one on your doorstep. :)

if your serious about it then you want the best training! I travelled an hour and 20 minutes each day but I was licky and I went past three colleges to get to where I was trained because the teacher was the best at the time!!

its worth its weight in gold if you have a good teacher! pay the money and learn...google different courses...do LEVELS not parts.ie;part one part two you'll still need to qualify in level one even though you've done it in part one...
colleges have open days so have a good look round and go to an open day...trust me its the best way to start off...

OK, a friend has just completed a course at Newton Rigg, has been very pleased with the training and is now in process of starting up a business ... too far for you though. Have you looked to see what Myerscough College are doing? Good luck finding a suitable course though :-)

I would also recommend finding a grooming school rather than a college that has a grooming course.

My friend did her course here, rated them very highly.
http://www.firtreegrooming.co.uk/default.htm

im starting my c&g level 2 next month, i got the last place and went for an interview in june. im in lincoln

I wanted to do an intensive pro course I think they're five weeks or similar, there's a vet practice that as a grooming franchise I was pondering about but wondered what others recommended x

i think most want a recognised qualification like the city and guilds, which has examinations etc. to prove that your able and have all the relevant health and safety know how.

I think that you're probably right Louise but although I worked at a training school that was a C&G testing centre, I refused to take my C&G exam because they wanted me to clip a Westie and a Cocker - well shave it actually because the brief was that it had to last for 10 weeks - and I refused to do that.
The training school taught you to either pass the C&G exam or how to run a successful business - the two methods of grooming were very different. :)

Food for thought ladies! The course is a recognised diploma,covers all health and safety and such like, I need to pay them a visit to see in person, thankyou x

I only did a day learning to trim my own breed, but I can thoroughly recommend Look North http://www.looknorth.net/

Myerscough are accrediting training locally at Canine Health and Hydro, Howgill Farm in Pendle http://www.caninehealthandhydro.com/meet-the-team/