Jo began two weeks of training on the day after his 18th birthday. His father signed him up as a birthday present. It was quite an expensive one as the Certificate of Enrolment cost over £2000. There was no guarantee that Jo would meet the criteria for acceptance as a State Registered Consummator (SRC).

The training was rigorous. On average only 15% of those taking part met the standard required. Like all good training regimes it was a mixture of instruction, observation and practice.