ideas on training for work please?

Hello all,  we are after some ideas, thoughts and advice: 

My hubby has just been made redundant here in the UK, and we are hoping to move out in September, permanently.  He is able to acess £2,500 to gain training in the UK through government redundancy funding. We would obviously like to spend this on something which might pull in some work in Spain. Here are some of the options available to him: 

Tiling
Plastering & Dry Lining
Upholstery/carpet cleaning (I know there are generally no carpets in Spain, but everyone has furniture, and the course covers both aspects) 
Bricklaying
Forklift Truck (counterbalance, reach, rough terrain etc)
Slinger/banksman (For crane direction I think) 
Personal Trainer (He already works in the fitness industry, although is keen to gain a new skill in another field) 
Locksmith

He could also do any sort of IT training although he's more of a "manual" person and doesn't really like desk jobs. So, for those of you living and working in Spain, what do you think would be the best field of training to gain that may end up in him getting work?  The "Trade" courses are City & Guilds accredited, not NVQ.  He has expereince in "building" after converting our house into flats, ut no quals in it. We don't want to waste 2.5K on training that will get him nowhere, but seeing as we're not in Spain yet, it's difficult to see any niches in the market, or where the work is (if there's any at all, lol!) 

Please help us decide!! And feel free to add any ideas of your own that I haven't already listed! If you had that money to retrain in something in preperation for moving to Spain, knowing what you know now, what would you use it for?  ALL ideas are welcome - except those telling us not to bother, there's no work, blah, blah because we have the funding, are going to use it and we WILL make it work in Spain - somehow!!!
Thanks in advance

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Hi Jenna,

OK, I'm not going to be negative......but!  Up until about a year ago I'd have said anything to do with construction.  Construction has been what Spain's growth has been fuelled on for the past ten years and it's a huge employer and a huge part of the economy accounting for over 9% of GDP....and here's the but.  The residential housing market has collaspsed - much worse than it has in the UK and as a result the construction sector (and the Spanish economy with it) is in major decline with layoffs rising faster in this sector than any other.

So, in answer to your question I'd steer clear of retraining in that area.  One thing you mentioned was a locksmith which may be the best bet from your list as security is becoming a bigger issue all the time. If you could combine the locksmith with alarm installation, cctv and any other security services that would be better.

I like your attitude of we WILL make it work - stick with it, but be prepared for a long, hard slog for at least 2-3 years.

Good Luck,

Greg

GoCatalunya

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Why not have a look at Round Town News online.  You can view all the paper on line page by page.  Have a look at the ads and see how many people are advertising for any of the trades you are thinking of.

As you said you've got to find a niche in the market and there are a lot of people looking to do the same thing.

On my trip back to UK I was looking at the EasyJet magazine and two ladies were reporting that they had opened up a Fish and Chip shop in Barcelona.  Wasn't easy but it looked like they were succeeding.

Someone else opened up a cake shop on Costa Del Sol and has converted the Spanish to Bakewell Tarts.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Thanks for the advice, I've been looking into the construction industry in Spain, but as you said it appears that most of the work has dried up, so I don't think construction will be such a good idea. 

Over the weekend we've booked flights to come over next week (completion day on the 25th!!!) so we're going to have a good look around and do some research and hopefully we can come back with a clearer idea of what might be a useful course for him to do. The trouble is, the training must take place in the UK, and alot of courses are accredited and the quals are not recognised in Spain, or regulations are different.  

Gocat - we are telling ourselves everyday that we WILL make it work as most people around us seem to think we'll be back in 6 months - we have 2 years worth of money put by to make sure we can live in Spain for that long without work (although the plan is to be working well before then) - we figure if we're not working by that time, somethings gone very wrong and either Spain really isn't for us, or we're not for Spain.  

Off now to have a nosey at the Round Town News online - thanks for that one

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

It's the best attitude to have Jenna - I wish you all the best.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know