28th January 2008

People with disabilities and health conditions in Sheffield will now benefit from a new facility aimed at helping them get jobs in the city. Opening today (Monday 28th January 2008), Remploy’s new city centre branch on West Street will provide a range of specialist recruitment and development services for disabled jobseekers wanting to return to work or enter the labour market for the first time. The branch will play a key part in helping Remploy quadruple the number of jobs it finds for disabled people by 2012.

Remploy’s Sheffield branch is the latest in a network of facilities opening throughout the country. Specialist advisors will work closely with Sheffield’s Jobcentre Plus offices and employers throughout the city to ensure that people with disabilities and health conditions are considered equally when vacancies arise. Alongside this, the Sheffield branch team will provide basic skills and vocational training to disabled people, assisting them with job searching, offering help with completing application forms and arranging job tasters and interviews.

Disabled people like Paul Everitt from Brinsworth will now have easy access to specialist services aimed at helping them get back to work. Paul, 37, spent two years out of work before he approached Remploy’s team in Sheffield. Remploy assessed his skills and experience and introduced him to local company Abtech Ltd, which produces specialist electrical junction boxes for a range of industries at its factory just off Brightside Lane in the city. At the end of his four-week work trial, Paul proved to be such an asset that Abtech Ltd offered him a full time position, and he now works on the assembly line and is being trained to work on increasingly complex components.

“My self esteem has increased considerably since I got this job,” said Paul. “Of course I look forward to pay day, but having a job is much more than just that. It’s about being with other people and being equal – and that’s exactly how Abtech treats me.”

“There is huge potential to make a real difference in Sheffield,” said Remploy’s branch manager in Sheffield, Verity Milnes. “Remploy is creating a high profile facility in this city, meaning that disabled people will have access to a quality service aimed precisely at helping them,” she said. “Sheffield has a vibrant and growing economy and Remploy’s aim is to ensure our candidates share in the city’s success by helping them gain access to meaningful jobs with employers throughout the region.”

The opening of specialist high street recruitment branches is a key part of Remploy’s plans to support more than 20,000 disabled people into mainstream jobs over the next five years.

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