Course Testmonials

Great course and even better instructor, Knoby really knoiws his stuff and sets the day out perfectly.

A well presented course in a relaxed learning environment. A lot to cover in a short time but I certainly felt that I gained knowledge and confidence from the course. I would have no hesitation in recommending or using STS again....many thanks.

attended the Firearms Competency course which was very well structured with exellent Instruction throughout. This course gave me the opportunity to fire a large amount of weapons that I had not seen or used before and also gave me the required knowledge I needed to do so confidently and effectively. I would highly recommend this course and look forward to returning when I need to refresh my skills.

The course is run by Mark Knowles, a highly experienced weapons instructor to the special forces and the Maritime sector. Mark has lots of contacts within the industry so not only does this course deliver on professionalism it also provides valuable insight into where the industry is going and who to go to for contracts. I would highly recommend this course.

A brilliant course full of relevent knoweldge with fantastic tuition. Exceeded my expectation, I believed it was going to be a tick in the box exercise but it was far from that, very hands on and you will walk away having learnt something new. With the course being pass/fail it ensures that the standard it kept extreamly high.

Excellent course, would happily recommend to anyone coming into the maritime security industry. the instructor knowledge and coaching on the weapon systems was top notch.

What impressed me most about the course was Mark"Nobby"Knowles' strong desire to ensure standards are kept high in the industry. Also, the extremely high standards of tuition ensuring all his students reach this standard whilst on the course, providing they take on board what is required. Don't be fooled into thnking this course is a guaranteed cert for just turning up.

After having left the Military 32 months ago, I was required to undertake this course to allow myself to remain current and competent in my role as a Maritime Security Team Leader. I chose Shooting solutions as I had been given their name on reccomend. This 1 day course was extremley well ran and top training delivered throughout. I took a huge amount of knowledge from the day and found that I took a huge amount of information and also it gave myself an excellent opportunity to remind and revise on my Weapon knowledge.

I arrived early on the Friday morning of the course and was greeted by Mark 'Nobby' Knowles who offered me a hot tea/coffee and biscuit before the course started promptly at 7.45 hrs. There were 4 of us on the course and were initially given the housekeeping lecture and then went straight into the weapon systems after each of us had given a brief introduction of ourselves. Nobby covered all the weapon systems that we will come across working as a PCASP for the majority of the PMSCs who work in the Maritime Sector and other weapons that we may come across if we transfer across to Close Protection. The course was very professionally run and Mark's knowledge of the weapon systems is excellent. The range package was run profressionally and safely and came away from the course with imroved knowledge of the weapons. This is the second course that I have undertaken in the maritimre sector and will use Shooting Solutions again next year when I need to refresh my qualification. Last words on this excellent course are as follows: Cocker Looker Safety!!

have Just completed the MFCC with KNobby, I fully recommend this course to all. The course is compact with know padding out the day, like other courses. KNobby's teaching technique is of excellent quality from his vast amount of knowledge, he makes the day interesting but delivers what we are there for, to the highest degree. I will definately be booking the refresher with KNobby next year. Thanks!!

No doubt Nobby runs the best Maritime Firearms course in the UK. 10 out of 10.

I have just completed my 2nd course with Mark Knowles, and i'll happily return every year. The training is of the highest standard and all relevent to the job, no stocking fillers nor unnecessary instruction which I have found before with previous training providers to fill out the course. The wealth of knowledge from the instructor in the subject shows with his extremely safe and logical teaching tehniques. Thanks again and I look forward to seeing you next year Mark.

The Maritime Firearms Competency Course was run with the professionalism you would expect from somebody with Mark's calibre and experience. The full day was split up between lectures, weapon handling and range work. These were tailored to the student level where Mark would ensure the in-experienced would meet the required level for the tests. All safety equipment was provided and all the weapons were in a very good servicable condition. Lunch was also provided which meant all you needed for the day was your self and the required paperwork. Overall a very well run day which achieved all it's aims.

A well run course by extremely experienced instructors. Good enough equipment.

While the ticking of all 5's may seem lazy and not thought through that is how I feel. On all points this course delivers and does so well. The course organiser and incidently instructor is direct and to the point and you are very aware of exactly where you stand without them being rude. The training caters for people with prior experience of firearms and firearms safety and teaches some very useful points not just about weapons and their handling but very importantly on the legal ramifications and a whole variety of other possible issues to expect in the maritime security sector and private security as a whole. Laslty there was use of power point but happily not too much. I have participated in many training courses within the Police and typically the less interested the intrsuctors the more they rely on powerpoint rather than delivering the material themselves. This course avoids "death by powerpoint". Overall I'd have no issue whatsoever directing anyone I trust to this course.

A big thanks to Mark at STS for such a good course. Very proffesionally run and done so in a relaxed and welcoming manor. Of all the firearms courses I've now attended this one was the best due to the level of coaching we all received and I would happily recomend this course. Many thanks, Glynn

A very well run course from the outset, with a an Instructor (Nobby) that has a lot of proffesional knowledge and is more than willing to share his experience and knowledge with the his clients on the course. The class room section of the course was relevant, interesting and most of all current to what is happening in the world today in our area of operation. The dry drills were good and were paced at the speeed of the clients. The drills taught/refreshed were most all safe and were transferable to many other weapons systems. The live fring in the afternoon was well paced and progressive with the shoots building up slowly from static shooting to a certain ammount of movement on the firing point with the weapon. But most of all it was done within a safe environment and well maintained envionment. The weapons used were well maintained with minimal stoppages. The last shoot was a competative shoot which was an excellent finish to the course. I would like to thank Nobby for a very enjoyable Saturday in the classroom and on the range.

A warm welcome and intorduction to the course and what the day intails and the standards required to be successful. Excellent instructional technique and knowledge of multipul weapon systems. Good progression during live firing stages. Finishing with an assessment and competitive shoot.

A well planned 1 day course with a highly experienced Instructor, I started the day at the bottom off the pack with a poor perfomance on the range and finished the day on top due to the instructor vast knowledge and good tuttion. overall good course.

A very informative and proffesionally run course. Thoroughly enjoyable and delivered at a level that is easy to follow and understand. I found this course very helpful and can say that I honestly do feel far more confident on a wide selection of weapons. I will certainly use STS in the future for my Maritime Firearms courses, and would recommend to friends and colleauges.

This course is ran over one day but the infomation gained during the day is execptional, the wealth of knowledge of the instructor is equal to the infomation gained. The arrair of weapons used during the day is Considerabyl above the standard I was expecting which makes this course intense but very enjoyably.

Just completed the 1 day firearms competency course with STS. An excellent course ran safely and professionaly but also good fun, the weapons syste s on hand are excellent giving you a good understanding of all weapons systems you are likely to come across on the security circuit! great value for money!

good course

Good all round running of the course coupled with a good wealth Knowledge of the maritime indersty and firearms . Starts of with good lessons on weapon handling with the SLR AK47 M16 and others with a fast and good way of teaching . Finished of with a good range package and a CD ROM of info on weapons . All round good hands on weapon expreance for maritime and CP personnel.

When I did the competency course a year ago I was very impressed with the value and content of the course, I returned to do the refresher in Sept 2014 and was extremely impressed, We also fired a range of weapons commonly seen in the industry, the former UKSF instructor works very hard to stay on top of his game and I believe he has achieved just that, he really goes above and beyond the call of duty to provide relevant up to date content. Since doing the original course a year ago I have met many people who have completed this course, I am yet to meet anyone who having completed it hasnt been impressed with it. I would recommend the course to anyone