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New deal for New Deal company
Stirling-based company Triage Central Ltd has been awarded the new contract by the Government to manage the New Deal’ programmes in Scotland, to help long-term unemployed people in the Forth Valley back into work.
The contract is the only one in Scotland out of 12 throughout the UK. It will run from mid-November 2002 and follows Triage’s successful track record over the past four years since it first tendered for and won the flagship New Deal contract in 1998.
The private limited company is a partnership of entrepreneurial companies. They have used their combined experience over 40 years in the field of private commercial employer training, contracting and engineering work and human resource recruitment to provide additional skills, guidance and encouragement to help more than 3000 local unemployed people find jobs in a wide variety of industry, businesses and public services.
The new contract is to deliver two New Deal programmes – for long-term unemployed in the 18-24 and 25 Plus age groups – but will extend and further develop new initiatives, building on a successful formula. Triage involves local businesses to help fill vacancies with clients who have been out of work for some time, by giving them the skills and confidence to get back into the world of work.
Among the innovative approaches that Triage has devised is its own driving school, Carisma, to help clients through their driving tests and improve their employment opportunities. Triage was also the project co-ordinator of the successful, Alloa Initiative Partnership, which resulted in 109 jobs for local unemployed people at Tesco’s new superstore in the centre of Alloa.
Other initiatives include pre-employment courses for the Child Support Agency, call centres and the hospitality and tourism industry. In April this year, Triage won a New Deal Outreach contract for Lone Parents and Partners.
Over the past three years, Triage has developed close working relationships with a number of Provinces in Italy and, alongside an Italian partner company, works closely with a number of Agencies for the planning of new Employment Centres and the training for their staff.
Triage employs a total of 23 staff and the new contract will mean the recruitment of an additional six to the team who are based at Thistle Industrial Estate in Stirling.
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Call centre course completed
A total of 13 unemployed people have successfully completed a second pre-recruitment course for call centre staff – and right away one of them found a job.
The course, which was funded by Triage Central Limited, Jobcentre Plus and Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley, at Lauder College in Falkirk in September focussed on customer service. It followed the success of a previous course and the continuing demand for call centre staff, which has led to a steady stream of vacancies in the Forth Valley.
It developed “people skills” for call centre staff by improving communication through mock interviews and role-playing as well as crucial keyboard and computer knowledge. Everyone who successfully completed the course has guaranteed job interviews leading to employment starting mid-October. But within days of the course ending, one of those taking part had his interview and was given a job almost immediately with Telecom Service Centre in Larbert, one of the major call centre employers in the Forth Valley.
Similar courses earlier this year have been highly successful. Telecom Service Centre had already described the content as “spot-on”. They said the keyboard skills element was vital as this was the area which sometimes let people down in the recruitment process and could be the deciding factor in securing a job. They have now asked Triage for further support in filling other outstanding vacancies.
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Spanning the jobs gap
Four Triage customers have been part of a remarkable project to open up the countryside – and protect it at the same time. The four were all taken on by Triage parent company Action Environment Ltd under the New Deal to work on one of their latest environmental construction projects, opening up the main footpath in Dollar Glen.
It had been closed for two years after old wooden bridges, built by the Army almost twenty years ago, rotted and became dangerous. Now AEL have built six replacement bridges with a unique design. They are constructed from specially adapted mobile phone masts, which are laid across parts of the steep-sided dramatic gorge and then form a platform for non-slip wooden decking. The end result is a long-lasting and safe series of links for the footpath, which has once again opened up Glen visitors and nature lovers.
Triage was one of the project funders and the four customers, who had previously been unemployed, were taken on by AEL as part of the Intermediate Labour Market scheme. After training, they became part of the construction team, subsequently becoming full-time employees of the company’s commercial arm.
The National Trust for Scotland commissioned the project. It posed logistical problems for the construction team who had to overcome difficulties with access and safe working. At times rock-climbing techniques had to be adopted to establish foundations and mountings for the bridges. The site is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest so the protection of wildlife and natural environment was of equal importance.
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New deal for parents and partners
Lone parents are being supported by a new service to help them get jobs as part of the Government’s New Deal initiative.
In a joint exercise with Jobcentre Plus network, Triage are contacting the estimated 6,000 lone parents in the project areas of Alloa, Falkirk, Stirling and Dunfermline. The initiative is also aimed at partners of unemployed people living in those areas.
Often lone parents, or the partners of people without jobs, have been out of contact with Jobcentres for a long time and therefore aren’t aware of the opportunities available under New Deal.
Sarah Sanderson of Triage commented: “We can help customers succeed by introducing them to their own personal adviser who can offer guidance and support. This can help them secure jobs, or training to enable them to achieve their employment and career goals. But first we have to make contact with them before we can encourage them to consider employment.”
Any lone parent or partner of an unemployed person can call a freephone number for more information: 0800 1954 166.
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Back on the right road
Firmly established behind the wheel as a professional driver, Alex Polson has seen a transformation in his life. At the age of 53, Alex from Falkirk, had been drifting from one odd job to another, often involving driving. There was one major problem with that though. Alex didn't have a driving licence and inevitably he ended up in trouble.
The prospect of permanent work seemed an impossible dream. But through Triage and their driving school CARISMA (driving to succeed), he's now back on the straight and narrow. And driving, officially and legally, for a living.
Alex enrolled with the driving school, which is run by a former unemployed driving instructor. In partnership with Jobcentre Plus it also meets the cost of the theory test and the test itself. After a series of eight lessons, Alex passed his test at the second attempt - "I'd picked up a lot of bad habits" - and went on to get a driving job with a catering supplies firm. He now works nightshifts in his refrigerated van delivering food to canteens around the massive BP complex at Grangemouth and he loves it. "My future is certainly a lot brighter now," he said as he set off for another 12-hour shift.
Alex's case illustrates that with a driving licence job prospects improve dramatically by opening up a much wider range of job opportunities. Quite simply the licence can make the difference between one candidate and another or be the deciding factor in whether someone gets the job or not. All the CARISMA clients have to provide is their provisional licence and the ability and determination to pass their test.
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Get Nailed for Beauty
A ‘listed-B’ building in Stirling has been given a new lease of life by Triage parent company, Action Environment Limited, (AEL), and has a bright future in the beauty business.
The former empty bookshop in the town’s Baker Street has re-opened as the Get Nailed Beauty Zone as a base for four fully qualified beauticians providing a range of services including tanning, reflexology, waxing and massages. It has the very latest nail and make-up facilities including “tooth fairy” – the procedure where a tiny Austrian crystal application goes on the surface of a front tooth to give an extra sparkle to the wearer’s smile. The centre will also provide training opportunities for Triage’s New Deal clients who want to find work in the beauty business.
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Triage’s Italian Influence
A second group of Italian employment officials recently visited Forth Valley to see first hand Triage’s unique approach to tackling unemployment in the area.
The group of 10 Italian Jobcentre Plus staff from the regions of Lazio and Campania south of Rome spent four days on a fact-finding visit to Triage during which they looked around Jobcentres. Last year a similar visit resulted in a project for Triage to help set up a network of employment centres for the Italian Government in several provinces.
Since then, two Italian employment specialists, Nicoletta Locati and Claudia Salvi, have been appointed by Triage’s associate company Link Lavoro Ltd to work on the contract, alongside staff at the Stirling headquarters. Nicoletta is based in Stirling while Claudia will spend most of her time at the offices of Link Lavoro’s partner company in Rome and Naples.
For 29 year old Nicoletta, who comes from Milan, it’s a return to her second home. She’s a former student at Stirling University and had always wanted to come back to Scotland to live and work. "I'm really pleased to be here," said Nicoletta. "I'm not so sure about the Scottish weather, but the people here are very friendly and apart from anything else, it's an important time for Italian politics."
Triage managing director, Kate Carnegie, commented ”Nicoletta and Claudia will be valuable additions to our team with their employment experience in Italy and they’ll also help us overcome any language issues which might arise.” Link Lavoro will use the considerable experience of Triage to ensure the smooth establishment and running of the Italian employment centres.
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Celebration time for Tesco
It was celebrations all round in Alloa for more than a hundred people who are to launch a new career at the latest Tesco superstore in the town. They had all been unemployed before going through the selection process for jobs at the £11 million store on the former Coats Patons site in the town centre.
A total of 1,646 people called the special jobs hotline set up by Triage to handle enquiries about job opportunities at the new store. Everyone selected and who completed an eight-week pre-employment course at Clackmannan College was presented with a certificate at a celebration evening. The majority of the new employees are in their mid-twenties but there are a number from older age groups, including several over-50s.
The Alloa Partnership was set up two years ago with Triage as Project Co-ordinators to oversee the recruitment of staff for the new store. Under its terms, it was agreed that priority for the new jobs would go to local, long-term unemployed people.
With the celebrations behind them, the new employees are now undergoing Tesco’s own in-store training.
Triage managing director, Kate Carnegie, commented: “This has been an excellent example of partnership working and the project has been a great success. More than a hundred long-term unemployed people now face a much brighter future.”
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Work for welcome hosts
A bright future in Scotland’s hospitality industry awaits a group of formerly unemployed people who’ve just completed a pre-recruitment course in Stirling.
The two week course run by Triage Central Ltd in partnership with Jobcentre Plus and Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley concentrated on health and safety and hygiene issues, motivation and communication and improving each person’s employability skills. The group of nine, ranging in age from 19 to 50, successfully completed the course and were presented with their own Welcome Host Certificate – a recognised tourism industry qualification. Presenting the awards was Jeremy Osborne, chairman of the Go For Tourism group in the Forth Valley.
Everyone on the course had interviews with local employers in hotels and restaurants for jobs as receptionists, porters, kitchen and bar staff and chambermaids. Six of the group – including a former lorry driver who wanted to spend more time at home with his family – have already been offered jobs. The industry is enjoying a period of growth and there is great demand for qualified staff.
The star performers on the course got an added bonus with special prizes, donated by local employers, including Express by Holiday Inn, Stirling Management Centre, Airth Castle and the Get Nailed Beauty Zone. Among the prizes are an overnight stay in a hotel, dinner for two and beauty and health products.
One of the successes is Victoria Leishman. She’d started on the New Deal Voluntary Sector Option in May this year and had been working in a Shelter charity shop. Other job opportunities fell through so when she heard about the Hospitality course she jumped at the chance. She worked hard and was rewarded with the top prize and a job offer from Stirling Management Centre. She’s now started there and relishes the prospect of a bright future.
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Success at the CSA
Nine formerly unemployed people from the Forth Valley have now started work with the Child Support Agency after completing a pre-recruitment course, through Triage, to give them the skills for a new career
Another four are expected to start shortly in administrative assistant jobs with the Agency, at their offices at Callander Park in Falkirk.
The jobs are the result of a successful joint venture between the Jobcentre Plus and Triage. All thirteen completed a two-week course at Lauder College in Falkirk and were supported by New Deal programmes for 18-24 year olds, over 25s, over 50s and lone parents.
Another five people who completed the course found jobs elsewhere as a result of their new skills, including one man who has started with Employment Service Direct, handling enquiries from unemployed people.
Sarah Sanderson of Triage, commented: “We set up this initiative with the CSA just before Christmas. The response was tremendous and we’re very pleased with the end result of 18 people finding jobs. We are all about getting people back into the world of work.”
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Triage delivers Flexible New Deal in North Lanarkshire
Triage Central opened a new centre in Cumbernauld in October 2009 to deliver the Government’s Welfare to Work Flexible New Deal (FND) programme on behalf of Ingeus UK Limited, which supports unemployed people in North Lanarkshire progress back and into work.
As part of Triage’s blueprint for success across Scotland, close relationships are being built with the local business community to fully understand their training and recruitment needs. This is then translated into the provision of expert support and training for local customers to help them gain meaningful and sustainable employment in the area.
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