Graco winner collects his prizes

Dulux Academy prize winner armed with new tools to further his business

Painter and decorator Mark Thomas was over the moon when he won a top-of-the-range Graco GXFF and a full-day spray course at the Painting and Decorating show. Last week he attended the Dulux Academy course in Walsall, adding further credentials to his impressive professional decorating career.

Mark, a Dulux Select Decorator, said: “I was really shocked to win the prize - I didn’t think much about it after I entered as I just thought I had no chance of winning, there were so many entrants. It’s not very often I win anything, so I was really chuffed.

“I didn’t know much about the Dulux Academy courses before I attended - but I feel that I really learnt a lot. The course was brilliant - the trainer Mark Rigby knew so much. I’ll definitely be looking to attend more courses in the future, it’s just a case of fitting them in.”

Staying ahead of the curve

Spray courses at the Dulux Academy train attendees to use specialist spray equipment from Graco - meaning Mark was able to go straight home and put his Graco GXFF to use. It also means that those booking onto a spray course with the Dulux Academy are guaranteed to be learning with the latest, market-leading equipment.

Vickie Mather, Dulux Academy Lead comments: “Courses at the Dulux Academy are specifically designed to help professional decorators to skill up, especially in areas where emerging trends require them to stay ahead of the curve. Spray has been growing in popularity for the past few years and it’s become a real-selling point for decorators.”

Mark attended the Introduction to Spray course at one of the Dulux Academy’s partner colleges in Walsall on 8th May, but courses are available up and down the country including at Dulux Academy partner colleges in Bolton, South Lanarkshire and at the flagship Slough site in the next few months.

“The spray course is definitely going to help boost business even more because it means something to say I am trained by Dulux at the Dulux Academy - it’s such a well-known brand,” notes Mark.

To fully master the art of spraying, the Dulux Academy runs further courses in Spray Advanced Airless, as well as Spray Advanced HVLP, which helps develop spraying techniques using HVLP systems.

Check out our choice of Spray courses here