NEWS | Partnership with local school grows while helping address recruitment crisis

Andy Neal, Managing Director of IG Masonry Support, has revealed how he is helping address the current recruitment crisis by working closely with local Swadlincote secondary school, The Pingle Academy, after signing up to take part in a local careers network.

Starting around two years ago, Andy joined the D2N2 Derbyshire South Careers Hub as an enterprise adviser. Enterprise advisers consist of experienced professionals from companies and who work closely with career leaders and senior leadership teams in schools and colleges across Derby and South Derbyshire.

Since taking on the role, IG Masonry Support has taken on three school-leavers who have been given a variety of roles within the business.

Andy, passionate about supporting the education sector said: “Being an enterprise adviser has opened my eyes to the opportunities that exist for firms through working with their local schools and helped us to explain the wide variety of roles that we offer across the company, including HR and finance, as well as the manufacturing side of what we do.

“We have struggled to recruit talented young people in the past, but within days of a school visit, I received three emails from students asking about employment.

“There is a shortfall of engineers in the UK, especially locally, so having these links is great for us, while our staff are getting a lot of enjoyment out of working with the Pingle Academy – especially those members of staff who used to go there.”

The D2N2 Derbyshire South Careers Hub is part of a national programme being run by the Careers & Enterprise Company funded by the Department for Education.

The work of Andy as an enterprise adviser is just one in a series of activities being carried out by IG Masonry Support to help support the education sector. If your education facility is in need of knowledge sharing, employment opportunities or materials to support practical elements of your construction courses, get in touch.

Photo caption: From left, Liam Jackson, enterprise coordinator at D2N2 Careers Hub, Seleena Creedon, enterprise adviser from Credo Marketing, Will Morlidge, chief executive officer (CEO) of D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, Andy Neal, managing director of IG Masonry Support, and Helen Guyatt, enterprise coordinator at D2N2 Careers Hub.

Photo credit: Penguin PR