Crowley to help more local people into work after winning Newham training contract

Highway infrastructure company, Crowley, has announced that it has once again been awarded the contract to facilitate the London Borough of Newham Housing & Customer Service Departmentís Training Partnership Programme, a work based training programme designed to help local unemployed people into rewarding careers.

This is the second time that Crowley has been awarded the contract, with the company having successfully handled the facilitation of the Programme for the past two years ñ a programme which has seen the majority of the 43 trainees on the scheme achieve permanent employment, with six now working in permanent positions within Crowley itself.

Crowleyís new contract will see the company providing work based training to a further 23 people from the London Borough of Newham, with 20 of these training as groundworking operatives and three as part of Crowleyís administration team. As part of the programme, the trainees will also work towards NVQ 2 Construction Services qualifications.

The groundworking operative trainees will be involved in all aspects of highway infrastructure and maintenance work, working on road repair and maintenance, the installation of street furniture and hard and soft landscaping.

The administration trainees will be working in Crowleyís busy offices, learning how to offer effective administration support to a team, which is continually working on many high profile civil engineering projects across London, the Home Counties and South East England.

ìWe are honoured to have won this contract again, as it not only allows us to provide training and work opportunities for people in our locality, but also does much to provide a long term solution to skills shortages in our industry,î explains Bill Hall, business development manager at Crowley.

ìWe have won this contract again as the majority of people who undertook the last scheme have ended up in full time employment. We take our training provision very seriously, looking for real results for those who have been entrusted to us, and we are very proud to have been given the chance to do the same again for another group of local trainees.î

39 year-old former care worker and public transport driver, Carol James from Canning Town, is one of the 23 new trainees who has just begun to work at Crowley as part of the scheme, she says:

ìI was formerly unemployed and I was attracted to the scheme as I had heard about some of the success stories. I am enjoying myself already as I love working outside, as opposed to being stuck in an office all day, and I like being one of the guys ñ thereís already a great team spirit. I think that itís going to be a good couple of years - with a trade at the end of them.î

Crowley is a City & Guilds & Construction Industry Training Board accredited training provider for the NVQ2.