MITIE and A4e, two of the UK’s leading public services providers, have joined forces to launch the first MITIE Enterprise Centre at Hollesley Bay Prison, Suffolk, on Monday 31 January.
The MITIE Enterprise Centre will offer offenders industry-level training in plumbing, plastering, painting & decorating and bricklaying. Wider key employment skills, including timekeeping, communication and motivation, will also be regularly assessed through appraisals.
On completion of the course, all participants will receive an electronic record of their performance standards and achievements – a MITIE Passport – to ease the transition into work.
The programme, in partnership with HMP & YOI Hollesley Bay and the Skills Funding Agency has strict selection criteria, with each candidate interviewed by both A4e and HMP & YOI Hollesley Bay before being taken on. This ensures that both the provider and learners fully understand the commitment, resources and input required to complete the learning.
Colin Dobell, Managing Director of MITIE’s Care and Custody business, said: “MITIE recognises the importance of improving the employability of offenders and the correlation between sustainable employment and reducing reoffending. The MITIE Enterprise Centre gives participants experience of actual industry standards and conditions and is a fantastic platform for them to fit into a MITIE workplace, or that of another commercial organisation.”
Ronnie Coyle, A4e’s Director of Operations for Justice, said; “We’re delighted to be working with MITIE through this new centre. Getting national employers involved in offender training is absolutely crucial to ensure a better transition into work. All our work in the justice field shows the value of partnerships, to ensure offenders receive the personal support and industry standard training they need to develop and find sustainable employment.”
Declan Moore Governor of HMP & YOI Hollesley Bay commented: “Hollesley Bay is delighted to be in partnership with both MITIE and A4e. This venture offers a wonderful opportunity for offenders, whose chances of desisting from further crime, on release into society, are greatly enhanced through the dignity of employment. This is indeed big society in action, with two major companies working alongside the Public Sector Prison Service.”
-ENDS-
A4e
For media enquiries, please contact Chris Philipsborn on 07872 423 260, email cphilipsborn@a4e.co.uk or Ruth Coulthard on 0114 289 4900 / 07718 863 395, email rcoulthard@a4e.co.uk
Notes for editors
What is MITIE?
We’re the strategic outsourcing company. What does that mean in practice? We manage facilities, properties and assets for our clients across the UK and beyond.
We work with our clients in three ways; some take full advantage of our whole range of expertise, others may only need one aspect of what we do:
Strategy and consultancy
+ Facilities and project management
+ Service delivery
Our strategic input can add value at the highest level by helping clients to manage their assets, while our practical management expertise can save customers money and reduce their carbon emissions. We work with a vast number of clients in every industry across both the public and private sectors and deliver the broadest range of services that can be found in one place: from integrated facilities management to engineering maintenance to lifecycle energy management and much more.
There’s a lot more to MITIE than you probably think. We’re a big company with big ambitions – a leading FTSE 250 support services business, with more than 56,000 people, revenues in excess of £1.7bn, and a reputation for being the best.
Visit us at www.mitie.com
A4e
- A4e has delivered services to offenders for over 20 years both in the community and in custody through mainstream Jobcentre Plus contracts, delivering Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) contracts and through working with Probation Services to help deliver Education, Training and Employment. The combined skills of MITIE, A4e and HMPYOI Hollesley Bay will enable the partnership to provide a seamless transition from learning and skills in the custodial estate to dedicated employment opportunities and support in the community.
- A4e has delivered is a leading public service provider in the UK, employing more than 3,400 people in 9 countries. Working in partnership with Government, public sector organisations, private sector companies and voluntary and community groups, A4e delivers a range of frontline public services, including employment and welfare, training and education, and debt and legal advice. For more information please visit www.mya4e.com/
