G4S backs scheme to provide employment opportunities for young people

G4S signs up to the Business Compact, the Deputy Prime Minister's flagship scheme to create fairer opportunities to getting the best jobs.

G4S, the UK’s leading security company, has been congratulated by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, today as one of the leading companies in opening their doors to young people from all walks of life.

One of the largest employers in the UK, G4S is named as one of the signatories to the Business Compact, the Deputy Prime Minister’s flagship scheme to create fairer opportunities to getting the best jobs.

Julian Duxfield, Director of Human Resources for G4S in the UK and Ireland, said:

“G4S is pleased to be a signatory to Government’s Social Mobility Business Compact. The Compact underlines our commitment, as a major employer in the UK, to enable young people to gain access to jobs with our business. We have a great record of developing and promoting people within our businesses in the UK and many within our management teams have progressed from front-line roles.”

Since 2009, Tewkesbury based G4S Technology has supported a 2 year Engineering Diploma run by LaunchPad, a local vocational training centre offering a range of full and part-time courses for 14 to 16 year olds, as well as adults. The Centre is a partnership between Gloucestershire College and local schools.

Central to the course is a technical project run over the full year. The project requires students to manage a design or manufacturing problem by considering solutions, developing ideas, selecting and presenting a solution.

G4S’s support has provided the problem brief and worked alongside students through the various stages. G4S Technology also provided training in Communication Skills, Project Management and Presentation Skills. This initiative ensures that G4S employees are directly involved with helping local young people.

Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, said:

“This is an important step towards a society where it’s what you know, not who you know, that counts. Working with the Coalition, the biggest hitters in Britain’s business world are helping lead the way to a fairer, more open society.

“By opening their doors to young people from all walks of life, this marks the start of a culture shift at the heart of British business, driven by the belief that ability and drive should trump connections and privilege.

“I’d like to thank G4S for signing up to the Business Compact. Today’s success makes me even more ambitious. This great news is just the beginning – I will be doing everything I can to bring even more businesses on board.”

More than one hundred of Britain’s biggest companies and top professional groups have signed the Business Compact, committing them to making entry into their professions fairer.

The Business Compact forms a key part of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Social Mobility Strategy, launched in April 2011, which sets out the Government’s determination to ensure every individual is free to achieve, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. Businesses which sign up to it agree to:

support communities and schools to raise aspirations through, for example, reading and mentoring schemes or encouraging their staff go out to schools and inspire pupils about their careers.
open opportunities to all young people by advertising their work experience places through schools, online and in other public forums, rather than just giving places to their mates.
make access to internships open and transparent, paying interns the National Minimum Wage where they are legally entitled to it and providing financial support to ensure fair access, such as providing expenses and/or accommodation to those from less advantaged backgrounds to ensure they are not prevented from accessing opportunities by their financial circumstances
recruit fairly and without discrimination, ensuring that their recruitment processes don’t allow candidates to be inadvertently screened out because they went to the wrong school or come from a different ethnic group (including through using name-blank and school-blank applications where appropriate).
Julian Duxfield will attend a reception tonight held by The Deputy Prime Minister who will thank all of the businesses who have signed up to the Business Compact.



For further detail about the Deputy Prime Minister’s work on the Business Compact, please visit: www.dpm.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/businesscompact 

Contact details

• Nicola Savage (Head of Public Relations, G4S UK & Ireland): 0845 371 7173

About G4S

G4S

G4S is the world's leading security solutions group, which specialises in outsourcing of business processes in sectors where security and safety risks are considered a strategic threat. G4S is the largest employer quoted on the London Stock Exchange and has an additional stock exchange listing in Copenhagen. G4S has operations in 125 countries and more than 635,000 employees. For more information on G4S, visit www.g4s.com