8 BusinessArgus Out&About


County Industrial Suppliesopendays


LEADINGtools and industrial equipment businessCountyIndustrial Supplies staged twoconsecutive open days at its showroom in Church Road,Pontnewydd, Cwmbran, last week.


Tuesday, September 17,2013


M&S helping young to find employment


By Jo Barnes 01633 777240 jba@gwent-wales.co.uk Twitter@SWABusiness


HywelSamuel,Phil Daunter,ofCountyIndus- trial Supplies,Morgan Westlakeand David Bendon,ofBendon Construction,Pontypool


MARKS&Spencer has announced that it is joining forces with the youth charity The Prince’sTrust to offer 13 places in Newportand Cwmbran for its newyouth employability scheme Make Your Mark. The scheme is an on-the-job training and mentoring pro- grammedesigned to address the skills and experience gapwhich prevents unemployed young peo- ple from finding work. The first session was launched in


July and sawjobs offered to all participantswhopassed each ele- ment of the programme. Youth unemployment has recent-


Millie, Johnand Owen Pugh and Jim Hughes James Pugh,Leo Coghill and Dean Rowles


ly reached record levels,with more than one in five 16-24 year olds in the labour force struggling to find jobs. In Newport–one of the 42 areas across theUKto run the September programmeof Make Your Mark–current figures show that there are 2,200 unemployed young people. PradeepPatel, store manager at M&SNewport, said: “There are hundreds of thousands of young people across theUKstruggling to find work and we’reextremely proud to be helping to support some of those through theMake Your Markprogramme. “Wehope tomakeareal and last-


ing impact on the livesofthe young people coming through the


TheMarks andSpencer storeatNewport Retail Park,Spytty


programmeatM&SNewport.” MakeYour Markisinspired by


Marks&Start, M&S’ successful employability scheme for young peoplewhoface barriers into employment. Since 2004 it has enabled more than 1,100 young people to com-


plete placements in stores and offices across the country,with 50 per cent gaining employment with M&Sor another programmewith- in three months. MakeYour Marktakes this to the


next levelwith acommitment to supportevenmore people by cre-


LukeGardner,Rod Joy, of RCJ Boiler and Heating, Mitcheldean,Roy Panting, Adam Pike and DavidSmith


‘Havingago’ –one shop, nineenthusiasticventures


ANEWPORTwoman has teamed up with eight others to open The Umbrella Project, in Church Road in the city. Janet Parsons started the project,


Tiffany Newborough and James Pugh


Nathan Powel, PD Powell &Sons, Plumbing& Heating, Pontypooland Phil Daunter


which is aimed at giving small local businesses the opportunity to rent some retail space,giving themselves a shopfront for their products. Janet said: “Currently,wehavenine retailers and the obvious advantages are the shared cost/riskswhich has givenusthe incentive to ‘have ago’.” The businesses include:Well and Truly Pickled –chutneys and pre- serves; Not so Naughty –organic food and eco friendly products; Form– wooden lamps; Paraphanalia –hand- made gifts and jewellery; Julia’s Crafts –soft toys and fabric crafts; SusieDDesigns –semi-precious jewel- lery; Green Shed Needlecrafts –hand- made quilts; Pow!–contemporary art; and Louise Horton Illustration and Design –greetings cards. The shop is open Tuesdayto Saturday, 10am to 5pm.


ating 1,400 places in ayouth- focussed programme. To find out more about the next


programmein Newportorany- where across the UK, call 0800 842 842 or visitwww.princes-trust.org. uk/makeyourmark.


Insurance firmsetsup in Newport


RIGSBY Insurance is anew com- pany basedinNewport specialis- inginunoccupied andlet prop- erty insurance. Ben Coleman,ofthe family-run


company, said:“We believe in Welsh businessand thehuge potentialinthe property market in Wales. “Assuchwereallywanttooffer


landlords agreatservice by insuringtheir property.Wehope to expandand take on more employeesaswefeelthere is a gap in theWelsh insurance mar- ketfor insuringunoccupied properties. “These includethose undergo-


ingrenovation,pendingsaleor let, andthose which are newly built.” Rigsby Insurance is basedin


TheUmbrellaProject shopinNewport FollowusonTwitter:@SWABusiness


CordesHouse, in FactoryRoad, Newport.The buildingwas origi- nally Dos Nail Works and Cottages,built in 1835 forJJ Cordes, laterofBrynglas House.


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