Training provider secures £1m European contract
EMPLOYABILITY, training and guidance services provider Aspire-igen is celebrating a hat-trick of wins after securing a £1m European contract.
The Bradford-based business had previously beaten national and international companies to advise the Egyptian government on training its future workforce, and develop careers guidance resources for schools and colleges around the Leeds City region.
It has now been awarded a European Structural and Investment Fund contract by the Skills Funding Agency, and will offer support in the Humber region to help people into work.
The company will also co-ordinate the development of resources that enable schools to better link with employers who want to work with young people.
The contract wins for the company, which has now won almost £6m of new business since the end of September, comes on the back of good and improving Ofsted reports on its programme for 16-18 year olds, aspire2work, and following news that it will be relocating to bigger premises in Cheapside, close to the Broadway shopping centre.
Caroline Harrison, group CEO, said: “We have more and more organisations coming to us and wanting to work directly with us. For example, we developed an information resource about working in sectors where opportunities are going to grow over the next decade. We did it to support our partner agencies, but then out of the blue several Councils have got in touch to ask to buy copies to supply to schools and colleges. What began as a small piece of work has now turned into a commercial venture for us.”
She added: “Education and careers advice has been a very challenging area to work in over the last six years, with significant funding cuts reducing support to people who need help. But throughout that our staff have been superb – working above and beyond the call of duty, and doing really high quality work, sometimes in the toughest circumstances.”
The group’s staffing has increased from 69 four years ago to over 250, and 30 positions are being created as a result of the recent business wins.
