NEWS
Yet the reconviction rates revealed by the MOJ show
that everyone should be concerned about what happens to released inmates. The average annual cost of keeping someone in prison is around £45,000. For some years it has been estimated that the financial cost to society of re-offending is around £11bn (the human cost, of course, is incalculable). By any measure the evidence is clear – prison as we have been using it is a colossal failure.
When and why did you decide to set it up and what were the early challenges? Our biggest challenges were reflective of the challenges that the most SMEs face. In the early days all staff had to be very hands on and job descriptions and roles went out of the window which was challenging. We now have 17 full-time workers and a HR director in place which has allowed us to implement clear structures to allow staff to be far more focused on the challenges ahead. To service existing and new contracts we are constantly recruiting good trainer and support staff to ensure that service levels are maintained. Assessing the impact of this growth on cashflow is a constant focus for our contracts and finance team.
You also work a lot in apprenticeships, an area which has undergone a fair amount of change recently. What role do you play? The introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy in 2017 turned the market on its head. There has been significant upheaval in the marketplace with some of the UK’s largest training providers struggling to adapt to the new employer-led approach and going out of business. What we are finding across our customers is multiple procurement with several specialist providers and I would advocate this approach to any new clients. Most of my time is spent identifying new clients
and supporting existing clients from an account management perspective. A significant amount of my time is spent educating employers that the levy is not a tax and will create significant return on investment for them.
What do you enjoy most about your job? Seeing individuals flourish after our intervention, whether that be supporting an offender into their first job after six years in prison or supporting an apprentice with his first step onto the career ladder. We will continue to prioritise and measure the social impact of our training interventions.
How do you hope the company will develop over the next five or so years? We have ambitious plans for the business which will largely focus on extending our offering to a wider audience of clients and prisons.
skillcert.co.uk www.smeweb.com
BEST OF THE REST
Our pick of the business columnists
EMPLOYEES LIKE AN EXCITING PLACE TO WORK Changing patterns of work are prompting companies to see workplace design as a way to attract talent. As companies compete for talent, they are focusing on making their offices an “exciting place to work” to draw people in. Offices are being designed to include large, open spaces for collaborative working and leisure facilities such as gardens, game rooms and gyms. Many firms that have included these on their properties have experienced an uptick in office attendance. The Economist
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CITY READY TO INVOKE DUNKIRK SPIRIT IN THE EVENT OF
A BREXIT NO-DEAL Big banks are preparing to rally in support of businesses if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal in March, invoking a “Dunkirk spirit” with plans to lend billions to ease the economy through a potential crisis. As the chances of a “no-deal storm” rise, City bosses are ready to extend vital lines of credit, mitigating a potential cash crunch
caused by delays to cross-border shipments and payments following Brexit. The Daily Telegraph
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ONLINE RETAILERS HAVE UNFAIR ADVANTAGE In the digital economy, the big issue with business rates is that the tax gives online businesses an unfair advantage over retailers, pubs, restaurants, garages and other firms that have a physical presence in their communities. It is also a tax that falls disproportionately on smaller businesses. David Prosser, Money Week
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AMAZON TREATING UK LIKE A GIANT CASH MACHINE The closure of stores by House of Fraser, Marks & Spencer, Poundworld and thousands of smaller firms can be directly placed at Amazon’s door … What moral authority does it have to pontificate about this country’s political situation when it has treated the UK like a giant cash machine? Amazon’s 2017 annual report shows that the online retailer paid just £15 million of tax across Europe on sales of £19.5 billion. The tax bill in Britain, where it employs 24,000 people, was just £7.4 million. If there is to be civil strife, as Amazon suggests, it is more likely to be triggered by the infamous working conditions in its warehouses (workers went on strike across Europe in July in protest), the company’s failure to pay its fair share of taxes, and the way it uses its huge power to control prices to kill off swathes of the High Street. Alex Brummer, Daily Mail
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