- Cadent nominated for Unipart Award for Outstanding Employment at prestigious Business in the Community Awards
- Cadent’s Young Offender Programme (YOP) and GetSkilled initiatives helped secure nomination
- Prince Charles will attend the Awards Gala Dinner this week where the winners will be announced
Cadent will be going head to head with top companies at this year’s Business in the Community (BiTC) Awards.
Representatives of Cadent, which shares the nomination with fellow energy company National Grid, are attending the awards which will be held this Tuesday (4 July) at the Royal Albert Hall. They will face competition from Whitbread, United Utilities, Marks & Spencer, Capgemini UK and Barclays to win the award.
HRH Prince Charles will be among the guests at the glittering awards bash which has been organised by Business in the Community, the Prince’s Responsible Business Network.
The nomination is shared with National Grid, as at the time of the awards application, Cadent was National Grid Gas Distribution. However in May 2017 Cadent was established as a new separate company taking over the role formerly performed by National Grid Gas Distribution.
Two of the initiatives that helped secure the nomination have now been taken on by Cadent which now leads the Young Offender Programme and the GetSkilled Initiative.
The Young Offender Programme
The programme was founded in 1998 with the aim of fulfilling two objectives: filling the utility sector’s skills need and providing ex-offenders with employment. The programme works with offenders coming toward the end of their sentence. They are given temporary release to complete 13 weeks of training designed to equip them to work in the gas industry. Those who successfully complete the training can look forward to a job after their release. Mentoring support is provided for a year post release to help smooth the transition from prison to the workplace. A higher percentage than traditional recruits also progress on to senior roles. Re-offending for the utility sector is around 7 per cent.
GetSkilled
This initiative establishes pathways to work for young people aged 16-20, who are Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET). Participants complete a year-long course which develops their skills and work placements are provided by Cadent and its key contractors and supply chain. Those who complete the course are then in a much stronger position to move into employment or further training.
Cadent Chief Executive Chris Train, OBE, said: “Cadent has a strong legacy of supporting young people and excluded groups into employment and has shown how this approach not only supports the business but also benefits the young people and the communities we serve. Cadent will continue to champion this approach in the future.”