Reading Lab Good News! June 2014 First ESA Work experience placement has been achieved in the District! Jennifer is a lone parent who has been on ESA for nearly 2yrs, she has a hearing impairment. The employer engagement Team worked closely with the Work coaches to secure this placement at the Sue Ryder shop where they have tailored her duties to provide her with meaningful work experience. She is thoroughly enjoying it and Sue Ryder have been more than pleased with her contribution to the business. Holland and Barrett opened its doors in the Broad Street Mall last week. The shop includes natural skincare make-up free of chemical additives and a pick n mix stall of fruit, nuts and seeds. Chronicle Thursday 8th May Work begins on IKEA Store site as demolition starts in Calcot. The three previous tenants Homebase, Carpetright and Reading Bowl left at the end of January 2014. Chronicle Thursday 8th May Sainsbury s opens its latest local shop in the Maiden Lane Centre within Lower Early creating 25 new jobs. Store Manager James Midson said My team and I are delighted to welcome the community to their new convenience store Chronicle Thursday 8 th May
Hospitality Works Did you know? Nationally the Hospitality sector employs over 2.1 million people. 31% aged 16-24 and it is set to generate a quarter of a million new jobs by 2015. This is the fastest growing sector in the UK What is Hospitality Works? The aim was to run a themed fortnight in May throughout London and the Home Counties, that brought together hospitality employers, trade bodies and Jobcentre plus to: Give our people knowledge of the sector and its opportunities Maximise the access to these opportunities for our customers targeting young people. Build a legacy of strong and lasting relationships with local hospitality employers In Reading, JCP staff and customers visited the Holiday Inn, Madejski, Novotel and the Hilton hotels. This included an introduction, a tour of the hotel and the opportunity to talk to their staff and a Q&A, we even got to go on the roof to the plant room at the Hilton! We also had a number of Dial in Master classes for staff to dial into on The Pub & Bar industry, Fast Food & Restaurant trade and Hotel careers, where they have a number of employers providing an in site in the industry. These events were very well received by staff and claimants, Knowledge was gained on the different roles within hospitality, how they recruited, what they were looking for in a suitable candidate, and the issues they face with their recruitment.
Local News and Rumours Recruiters target the future at seventh Fair Reading east MP Rob Wilson opened his seventh fair at Reading College with Organisations hoping to recruit the next generation of employees. More then 60 businesses, advice services and recruitment agencies attended the jobs fair at Kings Road with a focus on how young people can build a career through apprenticeships and training schemes. Chronicle Thursday 29 th May Heathrow stands firm on pledge to business Heathrow believe building a third runway to the north-west of the current site which would create more than 50,000 jobs in the immediate area around the airport and add 100bn to the UK economy. Heathrow has also pledged to develop existing local employment, apprenticeships and skills programmes through initiatives such as Heathrow Academy. A section of the M25 will be tunnelled over with new lanes up to seven in total in both directions added to reduce congestion also included in the new proposals are building greater rail links total rail capacity from 5,000 to 15,000 seats per hour. The plans also revealed an overhaul of cargo facilities at the airport, expanding the area to twice its current size as well as offering faster and more efficient cargo movements at Heathrow. Chronicle Thursday 29 th May A new warehouse owned by SEGRO, which runs as a delivery centre for GeoPost UK and trades as DPD and Interlink in the UK, is expected to bring 50 new jobs after relocating from its current site in commercial road to its new base in imperial way along with 89 current staff. Chronicle Thursday 1 st May Plan for 4m revamp for St Martin s shopping centre in Caversham will go on display this week. The re-development includes new shops, restaurants, leisure units, residential apartments and an extension to Waitrose. This regeneration project is expected to create 70 full-time jobs in Caversham. Chronicle Thursday 1 st May A construction company in Reading has gone into administration with the loss of 65 jobs. Astec Projects, of King s Road, East Reading, had recently won a 10 million contract for a prestigious scheme in London but Deloitte was called in earlier this month following cash-flow problems. A statement to staff from Rik Lenny, managing director of Astec Projects, earlier this year said: The last few years have not been the best within the construction industry and Astec Projects like other companies in our field have experienced difficult times Reading Post Wednesday 30 th April Reading buses handed out 2,000 free vouchers helping customers save a combined total of 1,520. This was part of Catch The Bus Week. Each voucher was for a single bus ride worth 1.90 and nearly 800 vouchers have already been used. Already looking forward to participating next year, marketing manager Jake Osman said the week was a huge success. Chronicle Thursday 15 th May
Station revamp scoops award at the first Thames Valley Property Awards after a 895m facelift. Reading Station was named Development of the Year. It is expected to serve 14 million passengers a year once the refurbishment is completed in 2015. The award, along with other prizes organised by UK Property Forums in partnership with Business Magazine, were handed out on Thursday (8 th ) at Ascot Racecourse by TV and radio presenter Jeremy Vine. Chronicle Thursday 15 th May The number of out-of-work people falls in Reading says figures released Wednesday of unemployed people signing on. It shows that s claims for Jobseeker s Allowance went down 74 to 2,145 which is 2% of the working age population. Slough has the highest percentage of working age population in Berkshire claiming benefit at 2.5% (2,312). Across the South East, there were 86,239 claimants (1.6%) which is down 5,019. Nationally, the number of people claiming Jobseeker s Allowance last month fell by 27,400 to 1.9 million. Chronicle Thursday 12 th June Heston Blumenthal has launched a new Restaurant at Heathrow Airport s brand new The Queens Terminal. They will be holding a recruitment day at Heathrow Academy, Newall Road, TW6 2RQ on Thursday 26 th June between 10am 3.30pm. careers@theperfectionistscafe.com Apprenticeship News Newly appointed apprentices were in for a treat when a legendary drummer paid them a visit. Scott Ottoway, from The Searchers dropped into DrumWright, in Headley Park, to pick up a piece of kit, leaving three new young employees stunned. Recruited through a Government-backed initiative developed by the Academy of Sound the three young men from Woodley, Henley-on-Thames and Farnborough were selected for a year-long training scheme from more than 100 applicants. The stores director Ian Wright is confident his young workforce will be a success and hopes to improve their social media and photography on their website through the help of their next generation apprentices. Chronicle Thursday 15 th May Water company look for aspiring scientists to become apprentices with the chance to earn while they learn! Thames Water is looking to add to its growing number of apprentices and is searching for two current A-Level students to become laboratory analysts at its quality centre, off Basingstoke Road, when they leave college. Apprentices would gain practical experience and get involved in tasks including preparing and analysing water samples whilst working towards a degree alongside other apprentices in different departments. Students are required to have a minimum of five GCSEs at grades C or above, one of which should be maths as well as two A- Levels, with at least one being either biology or chemistry. Applications close on Sunday (18 th ). For further information visit http://jobs.thameswater.co.uk Chronicle Thursday 15 th May
Labour Market Snapshot June 2014 Reading s register has fallen by 4.62% from 3,093 to 2,950 the lowest it has been since August 2008. Universal Jobmatch (UJ) stats Since the introduction of UJ on 19 November 2012, a new service for taking, handling and searching vacancies, Jobcentre Plus vacancy data is no longer captured by the Office of National Statistics. New vacancy data is now being captured by UJ. The type of data available is very different to what was provided before and at present, job supply vs claimant demand analysis is unable to be replicated. There were 6,958 new positions placed on UJ in Reading in the last month. There were 864 active jobseekers in Reading on UJ as of 10 June 2014. Top 10 most sought occupations June 2014 Occupation Number 7111 : Sales and 545 retail assistants 9149 : Other goods handling and storage 280 occupations n.e.c. 1111 : Senior officials in national 255 government 4150 : General office 235 assistants 4216 : Receptionists 135 9233 : Cleaners, 90 domestics 8115 : Rubber 60 process operatives 8212 : Van drivers 55 9129 : Labourers in other construction 50 trades 9223 : Kitchen and 50 catering assistants Type of work most frequently looked at by top SOC* groups (Top 10) June 2014 Job Manager, recycling 109 Diplomat 81 Filler, box 65 Assistant, canteen 47 Craftsman, maintenance Jobseeker searches 44 Agent, commission 43 Companion, housekeeper 43 Administrator, 32 investment Manager, transport 29 Top 10 new positions in previous month by industrial sector Security and surveillance 513 Business Services - other 348 Internet Services 220 Government and military 149 Construction 124 Retail 106 Healthcare services 92 Advertising and PR Services Automotive sales and repair services 80 75 Education 66 Manager, care, customer 28 Source data: Office for National Statistics and Universal Jobmatch 11/06/2014 * Standard Occupational Classification
Partner News Support for Families with Multiple Problems Provision is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and aims to tackle entrenched worklessness in England by progressing people in families with multiple problems closer to employment. The provision is aimed at families with multiple problems and complex needs where: at least one member of the family receives a DWP working age benefit either no one in the family is working, or there is a history of worklessness across generations This provision is voluntary and focuses on providing a whole family approach, making support available to individual family members across the generations. It involves Providers working closely with Local Authorities (LAs) to identify families who can benefit from this provision. In Reading our Provider is called Skills Training and its provision is called Progress. http://progressprogramme.com/news/skills-training-uk-wins-european-socialfund-award/ Troubled families are those that have problems and cause problems to the community around them, putting high costs on the public sector. The government is committed to working with local authorities and their partners to help 120,000 troubled families in England turn their lives around by 2015. As part of the Troubled Families programme, the government will work alongside local authorities to: get children back into school reduce youth crime and anti-social behaviour put adults on a path back to work which may involve a referral to ESF provision above. reduce the high costs these families place on the public sector each year In Reading, the Troubled Families programme is called Turnaround Families. http://www.reading.gov.uk/residents/children-and-families/family-supportservices/earlyintervention-supportforfamilies/turnaround-families-programme/ JSA claimants by age and duration (May 2014) Source: Office for National Statistics 11/06/2014 Up to 6 months 225 1.0 0.6 0.8 Over 6 and up to 12 months 90 Reading Reading 0.4 South 0.2 East Great 0.3 Britain over 12 months (level) 175 0.8 (%) 0.4 (%) 0.7 (%) All ages Total 2,145 2.0 1.6 2.6 Up to 6 months 1,260 1.2 0.9 1.4 Over 6 and up to 12 months 360 0.3 0.3 0.4 over 12 months 525 0.5 0.4 0.8 Aged 18 to 24 Total 325 1.7 2.5 4.3 Up to 6 months 260 1.4 1.7 2.7 Over 6 and up to 12 months 30 0.2 0.5 0.8 over 12 months 30 0.2 0.4 0.8 Aged 25 to 49 Total 1,335 2.1 1.7 2.8 Up to 6 months 775 1.2 0.9 1.4 Over 6 and up to 12 months 240 0.4 0.3 0.5 over 12 months 320 0.5 0.4 0.9 Aged 50 to 64 Total 485 2.2 1.2 1.8
Employer Services Your Business: Our Business Reading Jobcentre Plus can work with you and offer a wide range of employer services to help reduce costs and grow your business. We can support your business growth by offering the following: A Recruitment service Advertise your jobs to millions of jobseekers who search Universal Jobmatch every week. Register on gov.uk/advertise-job Post and manage jobs online 24/7, 365 days a year Test the market before you advertise your jobs Get a list of suitable jobseekers, automatically matched by CV and skills An Advice service We can connect you with a local Jobcentre Plus specialist, call the Small Business Recruitment Service on 0845 601 2001 and select option 2. We can signpost you to sources of advice and support that meet your needs, including: Helping you understand workplace pensions Advice on adjustments in the workplace to help you support and retain workers who are disabled or have a long term health condition Provide advice and support for you and your employees if you need to make redundancies. A tailored service Giving a young person real work experience or an Apprenticeship to get the skills in your sector Taking advantage of a cash incentive worth up to 2,275 when you give an eligible 18-24 year-old a job Offering a trial period to a jobseeker, incurring no wage costs, through a Work Trial Expanding your business network by mentoring budding entrepreneurs and sharing your expertise at your local Enterprise Club or Work Club.
5,422 Tweets 177 more since last month 96 Following 6 more since last month 483 Followers 14 more since last month We have steadily grown to have 483 followers receiving our tweets. Ask a Jobcentre Plus Work Coach to show you how to get the best information from the Reading JCP Twitter account. Follow us Diary Recruitment Day for Heston Blumenthal s restaurant The Perfectionists Café, Hearthrow Airport. Heathrow Academy, Newall Road, TW6 2RQ on Thursday 26 th June between 10am 3.30pm. careers@theperfectionistscafe.com Feedback @ReadingJCP If you have any news to share of any jobs, events or business closures in your local area, please pass them on to the Employer Adviser Team at Reading Jobcentre Plus Reading Employer & Partnership Team:- Sian 01189 808279 Amanda 01189 808968 Sue B 01189 808970 Geoff 01189 808903 Mark 01189 808371 Sarah 01189 808969 Employer & Partnership Manager Karen Brown 01189 808960 For further information, or if you wish to receive this newsletter in an electronic form, please call the numbers above or alternatively email ea.reading@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk