Transcript

JULIE THORNTON

We started a returner programme in 2015. And the theory behind that was really to say there are a lot of people out there who are looking to return back into the marketplace and finding it difficult. And for us as employers, it's a huge untapped pool of resource, and particularly in STEM type subjects, where there are less people available in the marketplace than jobs at the moment.

So for us it was a real win-win situation. So we went out to market. We had a range of roles from finance through to engineering, project managers, legal. So there's this whole range. And we actually took seven returners onto the project. We were originally looking for six, but we couldn't resist, and we took seven. And they came on for a 12-week paid internship doing very specific roles on the project.

Everyone stayed beyond that 12-week project, and currently we actually have six of the seven are still employed on the project. A number of those are in permanent roles. Others are in project roles that are going on several months.

For us, the benefits of a returner programme was that you have someone who's done it before. And what you're doing is you're helping them get back into the market. Now they might need a bit more support, but that investment really repays itself incredibly quickly. I mean, within the first week of people being on the project, they were starting to make a difference. They needed a bit of help getting their confidence in some instances. But actually, their contribution from very, very early stages was phenomenal.

And it did give us all that skills and experience, that if we'd have gone out to market generally, we may have found, we may not. And for us it was a win-win situation. And what is really important to us as well is the passion for the project. And people came in, and that's what they wanted. And actually, if you think of graduates and their enthusiasm, we have the same enthusiasm from the returners, but actually with experience.

So it was a great, great success. And we are running another programme. We're literally just out in the market at the moment advertising again.