More than 20 previously unemployed people are learning that it pays to be co-operative having bagged new jobs at two Co-operative food stores in central Edinburgh. The stores, on McDonald Road and Frederick Street, used local Work Programme provider Ingeus to recruit the majority of their staff. The new recruits have just successfully completed their inductions and trial periods and are looking forward to long-lasting careers with the retail giant.
“The Work Programme is about getting long-term unemployed people back into jobs but, most importantly, also making sure they happily stay there,” explains Ingeus’ Craig Purves. “We make sure we find the right people for the right roles and then support our back-to-work clients for up to two years to ensure they remain loyal staff with every opportunity to progress within an organisation.”
This is a strategy applauded by The Co-operative Food’s Operations Manager, Graeme Cooper. A 23-year veteran of the group and now responsible for 15 stores across Edinburgh and the Borders, he began by working part-time for his local Co-op store. He said: “The Co-operative prides itself on ethical trading within local communities. Giving career opportunities to local unemployed people is a natural extension of that and there is no doubt that there is scope for our Ingeus recruits to go far with us.”
Ingeus client Scott Aird, 34, was unemployed for 18 months before getting a full-time job in the Co-operative bakery. Despite having experience of various roles since leaving school, Scott lacked confidence that there were suitable jobs available for him and struggled with online job searching. Ingeus helped highlight Scott’s skills and develop his CV as well as sourcing local vacancies.
“Things changed for me the minute I went to Ingeus,” he said. “I suddenly believed I really could get back into employment and now here I am! I enjoy seeing the results of my work at the bakery and have learnt a lot from the training. I’ve been given a new-found confidence and hopefully a long-term career. I also have the time and money now to treat my son to the odd Hearts away game!”
Scott was one of 50 Ingeus clients who attended a Co-operative Group recruitment day and a series of preparatory workshops at the Ingeus Edinburgh branch. Ingeus delivered the workshops, collated CVs and applications and timetabled two days of interviews. They also hosted a celebration and preparation day for successful candidates that covered some of The Co-operative’s core induction tasks like handling benefit paperwork and uniform orders.
“I can’t overestimate the amount of time, money and hassle Ingeus saved us,” concluded Graeme Cooper. “The clients we interviewed understood our company and our roles, there were no time wasters. Ingeus’ services are free; we even used their premises for all the recruitment activity. We’ve got some excellent new team members as a result and I’m thrilled they’ve joined a company which has given me so much over the years.”
Employers interested in the range of tailored recruitment services available; all free-of-charge from Ingeus should visit www.ingeus.co.uk/employers
IT pays to be co-operative for ingeus jobseekers
More than 20 previously unemployed people are learning that it pays to be co-operative having bagged new jobs at two Co-operative food stores in central Edinburgh
