First Work Programme success just days after launch

First Work Programme success just days after launch

The company given the task of helping thousands of unemployed people across the West Midlands into sustainable jobs is celebrating its first success story under the Government’s new Work Programme.

Within a week of the ambitious new initiative being launched in Birmingham, one of Pertemps People Development Group's (PPDG) first customers, a man who had been unemployed for more than a year, started a job with a local company.

The success came at PPDG’s new Erdington office which opened to jobseekers on June 20. On June 27th a man, who was referred to the office by Jobcentre Plus, started working at the local branch of a major national employer.

Erdington staff celebrated the news that the client was the first successful job outcome under the new Work Programme in the Birmingham area.

Erdington site manager Karen Evans said: “This is a great sign of things to come. To have a client actually start work just one week after the initiative started is a fabulous result and we hope he will be very happy in his new role. I am really excited for the future of the Work Programme in Birmingham, and especially here in Erdington where our team is working extremely hard to get the best results for our clients.

“It is great to operating in the area after winning the Work Programme contract and I can assure local people that we have a great team of employment experts here ready and willing to unearth that spark of brilliance in everyone that will help them back into work.”

PPDG won the five to seven year Work Programme contract as a prime deliverer in the Birmingham, Solihull & Black Country region in a national tendering process carried out by the Government

Regional operations director Kate Darcy said: “This is a fantastic start to the Work Programme and I’m sure it’s just the beginning of what will be a very successful initiative. Our role under the Work Programme is to help as many unemployed people as possible not just find a job, but begin sustainable employment and build successful careers. We are working very closely with local employers to identify opportunities that will give people a chance to develop and grow in their new roles.”

She added: “As a company, we are extremely proud of what we have achieved in the last 12 years in finding employment for more than 100,000 people. We have a track record of securing opportunities and delivering our promises.”

PPDG’s team of employment experts provides advice on benefits, confidence building, one-to-one support, CV and interview preparation as well as finding the right job or training course. In partnership with DWP, the Ministry of Justice and Jobcentre Plus, PPDG delivers a diverse range of employment and training initiatives and many ESF funded programmes. PPDG came fourth in The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For 2011.