FAR from the champagne-soaked adrenaline buzz of London's trading floors lies a quiet office in Warley where independent investors get together to buy and sell and share ideas.
It is not the place for wannabe Gordon Gekkos.
In fact, as soon as you walk through the door at Forex Trading Floors, a place to buy and sell foreign currency (hopefully for profit), in Lorne Road, you are warned "this is not a get-rich-quick scheme".
What it is, is a place where seasoned traders can hire up to four screens and a desk so that they can watch the dollar dip, the pound plummet or the rupee rise surrounded by people going through similar experiences.
But there's also help available for the absolute beginner.
In fact, housewives, the recently redundant and pensioners are all ideal candidates to learn about "levels of support and resistance," "stop loss" and "pips," says owner Andy Argent, from Billericay.
Mr Argent, the former owner of a plumbing shop in Woodman Road, Brentwood, believes foreign exchange trading could suit anyone looking to work the hours they want.
He also says it's quite simple and that the more you put in, the more you get out in every sense.
The father-of-three decided to set the business up last month after becoming a trader himself and realising the value of having people in the same game around you.
"We are not a trading company, we are a trading floor and we will also teach people how to trade," he said.
"I have found that so many training courses are teaching people based on false hope, but we are not going to give anyone false hope.
"It could be six months or 18 months before you start to make a profit from the foreign exchange markets, because not everyone develops in the same way, but as long as you can remain disciplined and patient, there is a good living to be made.
"It's about when the coin drops."
Among the rules that will be drummed into newcomers at FTF are to never risk more than one per cent of your overall funds in any one transaction, and don't place more than five new trades within a day.
If everything goes to plan, Mr Argent's "conservative" prediction is that a new trader, starting off with £5,000 in their account, could expect profit of around £3,500 after the first year, £10,000 after 24 months and in excess of £80,000 after five years.
Around 20 people attended last week's open day.
There was a mix of experienced solo traders looking for a desk, bright young sparks looking to set the world alight, and people looking for a new career.
The message from trainer Martin Still, 63, is that anyone with half a brain, very basic PC skills and at least £500 (that you can afford to lose), can give it a try.
"It's better if people do not tend to over-analyse everything," he explained.
However, bear in mind that you will also need a spare £1,078.80 for the ten hour one-to-one training course to get to grips with the basics, such as the concept of using graphs to pick when the exchange rate of two currencies, known as a pair, are likely to move in the opposite direction.
For more information, call 01277 232223 or e-mail info@forextradingfloors.co.uk or www.forextradingfloors.co.uk
