Press Release

Barclays' crucial new agreement with Shaw Trust

26 January 2006

BARCLAYS has joined forces with national charity Shaw Trust to provide job openings for people with disabilities. Here, we look at the implications, spotlight a Rochdale stroke victim who has returned to work for the first time in 16 years, and hear from the former Barclays boss, who is enjoying a new career with Shaw Trust.

BANKING giant Barclays' crucial new agreement with national charity Shaw Trust - to open doors for disabled people desperate to get into work ­ has been warmly welcomed by staff across the UK .

Managers are backing the new Service Level Agreement, which expands a two year-old job taster project into country-wide opportunities for open employment for many more people at Service Operations centres across the country.

When Paul Horlock, Barclays Head of e Payment Services, signed on the dotted line, the bank joined Tesco, City Management Facilities and Hilton UK & Ireland , who have all signed up Shaw Trust for expert help to fuel their employment diversity programmes.

"SLAs are great for our drive to get people into work because we have instant access to job opportunities across the UK, rather than the traditional route of knocking on doors one by one," said Laurie Scott, National Accounts Manager for Shaw Trust, which is the UK's leading provider of employment services for disabled and disadvantaged people.

"Obviously this is good news for our clients and good news for the government, which is eager to get greater numbers off Incapacity Benefits and into work. It's also great news for employers, who are struggling to fill a quarter of a million job vacancies with a dwindling number of potential employees and a national shortage of skilled workers.

"There is a wealth of evidence to suggest a compelling business case for any organisation to employ a diverse workforce. In relation to people with disabilities, this includes greater productivity, improved attendance and reduced staff turnover.

"When a company as high profile and successful as Barclays formally recognises these benefits, it can only help promote diversity to other employers."

Barclays' Paul Horlock, whose company was ranked as one of the top ten employers in a recent disability survey, commented: "Too often potential employers look at the disability and not the abilities of the person and the very tangible skills, attributes and wealth of experience that they can bring into the workplace."

"Creating a diverse workforce allows us to learn from and help people of all abilities and backgrounds. This enables us to see things from another perspective, find new ways of doing things and add value to both ourselves and the business around us."

His Salford Quays Operations Manager, Tracey Swift, is an enthusiastic champion of the new SLA, not least because she is so delighted with Shaw Trust client Seth Kwei, one of the four of the 20 who got permanent employment under the original job taster agreement.

Seth, a fully qualified cost accountant in his sixties, joined them as a data in-putter in September 2004 after 16 yawning years out of work when a stroke reduced mobility on his right side.

"It is a sheer delight to work with him," Tracey said. "He has never had a day off sick and he's never late. He's simply a wonderful role model to a team of 80 with an average age of 22, and they love him."

"Even when he reaches retirement age, we won't want to let him go."
Seth, who lives in Failsworth in Oldham , certainly doesn't want to retire. He's having too much fun.

"I hated the boredom of being out of work, and the fact that every day is the same: you get up, read the papers, eat and go back to bed, over and over again," he said.

"Doctors say work is best medicine and it is a tonic for me. I enjoy the challenge, my work colleagues and the whole thing of being a working person again."

Meanwhile the Barclays boss who signed the original ground-breaking job taster contract with Shaw Trust was so impressed by the charity's work that he has joined them.

Trevor Yeoman, then the Head of Barclays Enable Processing Centres, contacted Shaw Trust when he was given the directorial diversity responsibility for disability. Now he's working for the charity as Business Development Manager for London and the south east.

"I always wanted a second career working for a charity, and the more I discovered about Shaw Trust's work, the more impressed I became," said Trevor, 51, who lives just outside Reading with his teacher wife Louise, and joined the Trust last year.

"It is a fantastic experience and hugely varied. It's got everything my job with Barclays had, but with added value, in that even the smallest things we do here touch people's lives."
His work is hugely varied, from bid writing and dealing with local authorities to supporting Shaw Trust projects.

"I am delighted that Barclays has signed this new SLA . They are very switched onto diversity in the workforce, and I hope other employers will follow suit," Trevor added.

"I'm well aware that as an employer you are dealing with a whole load of things and diversity is just one of the things on the agenda. But bosses can miss out on lot of skills if don't widen their horizons."

* Shaw Trust has launched seven Key Messages to prompt action to make the world a fairer place. The messages include 'ARE YOU SURE YOU INTERVIEWED EVERYONE FOR THAT JOB?'

"If you're one of the thousands of employers who can't find skilled staff, maybe you need to check where you're hunting. There's a huge market of skilled employees waiting for your call, and you missed them because they're labelled as 'disabled' or 'disadvantaged'," says the Message.

"Shaw Trust works with you and your new employee long after we've brought you together. Follow the leaders like Tesco, City Facilities Management, Barclays PLC and Hilton UK & Ireland : call Shaw Trust and get that crucial advantage on your rivals.

UK BOSSES ARE STRUGGLING TO FILL A QUARTER OF A MILLION JOB VACANCIES. DON'T BE ONE OF THEM."

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. We can provide you with Seth Kwei's full story, along with a case study of another Shaw Trust client who is enjoying full time employment with Barclays. Aaron Miller is 23, profoundly deaf, and works in Gateshead .

2. There are 3.2 million people of working age without employment due to poor health or disability. At least 1.2 million of them want to work, and could start right now with the right opportunity and support, says Shaw Trust

3. For further details, please contact Shaw Trust's Regional PR Managers Josie Hoskins on 07779 317793 or Evelyn O'Keefe on 07974 224938. Or you can email crucial@dircon.co.uk
4. Shaw Trust is a 23 year-old national charity, which is internationally recognised as one of the leading authorities in disability, disadvantage and employment.

5. We provide training and work opportunities to people disadvantaged in the labour market due to disability, ill health, or other social circumstances. We supported a record-breaking 40,763 people last year.

6. The Shaw Trust agreement is one of several of Barclays' initiatives to encourage people with disabilities back into work. These include the JobCentre Plus-backed 'Recruitment That Works', which has already been launched at Barclays House in Poole . Barclays hope to replicate the success through their other sites, with the help of Shaw Trust.

7. For further details about Barclays, please contact Julia Husband 07775 555626.

8. Shaw Trust also delivers the government's Job Broking programme (freephone 0800 085 1001), part of the government's New Deal for Disabled People. This is a specialist provision, delivering a return to work service for those currently in receipt of incapacity and sickness benefits.

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