New jobs created as Australian charity sets up in South Yorkshire

ONE of Australia’s leading charities has chosen South Yorkshire as its first international base creating 40 new jobs.

WISE Ability, a new charity that delivers employment services to disadvantaged job seekers, is to open offices in both Sheffield and Rotherham.

The charity was founded by WISE Employment, which operates 22 branches across Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory and specialises in providing quality employment services to local job seekers and employers.

Local and regional agencies including Creativesheffield, Rotherham Investment & Development Office (RiDO) and Yorkshire Forward were instrumental in helping the charity choose South Yorkshire as its first UK location.

John Bateup, chief executive of WISE Employment, said: “We are very excited to be launching our first offices in the UK in Sheffield and Rotherham.

“It has involved a lot of hard work and preparation from our own teams here and in Australia.”

WISE Ability will work in partnership with Remploy, one of the UK’s largest providers of specialist employment services, to deliver the Government’s Flexible New Deal employment programme in South Yorkshire.

The Flexible New Deal programme is designed to help people who have been receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance for more than 12 months return to work through the provision of training, skills development and specialist support to help people overcome barriers to employment.

Joanna Holland, investment manager at Creativesheffield, said: “This is a positive message for the city, contributing to a fantastic level of office take-up in the last quarter, creating new jobs and of course helping local people find work.

“Securing such an international inward investment is a credit to the city and the great qualities it offers.”

RiDO business development manager Tim O’Connell added: “This is a high-quality company and it’s great news that it has chosen Sheffield and Rotherham, having been impressed by our workforce and support.

“It’s also further proof that South Yorkshire has what businesses from the UK and overseas are looking for.”