Facilities management venture, Unify by Bruntwood, has partnered with Pure Innovations’ Supported Internship programme which helps young people in the North West with disabilities or from disadvantaged groups get into work.
Unify will offer four supported internship places through the partnership, offering three months experience for interns and the potential of a permanent role with the company.
Pure Innovations is a social impact organisation which supports disabled people to achieve independent lifestyles. The Supported Internship Programme operates out of Bruntwood SciTech’s Citylabs in Manchester. Pure Innovations approached Unify in December 2020 looking for placements after many of its work experience programmes dried up during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Experiencing a surge in demand for its cleaning and facilities management services, Unify immediately responded, offering a week-long work trial to a Pure Innovations candidate Jamie Read (pictured). Successfully completing his trial, Jamie, who has a learning disability, has now been in permanent employment with Unify since March this year.
Unify, which is working towards becoming a Disability Confident Employer, has since welcomed its next intern from Pure Innovations to the group in April.
Esther Park, Head of People at Unify, said:
Our business model is designed to offer new opportunities to people of all backgrounds and abilities, which is why our partnership with fellow North West business Pure Innovations and the Supported Internship programme is so important.
“Being a young business means we are on the front foot when it comes to equality, diversity and inclusion – we’ve been able to make it central to our wider business strategy and we’re pleased to now see those efforts come to fruition through this partnership.
“Jamie has only been with us for a few months and he’s settled in really well. He’s got real attention to detail, he’s brilliant to work with and we know we can rely on him to do a great job.
“As well as diversifying the recruitment pool in facilities management, we will ensure that young people with disabilities in the region, who are typically disadvantaged when it comes to finding work, are offered a chance to join an industry which is currently thriving.”
Shanon Parker, Senior Employment Officer at Pure Innovations added:
Supporting our young people to find meaningful work has been a significant challenge over the last 12 months. Many of the businesses we typically work with have remained closed for the majority of that period. We’re delighted to onboard Unify as a partner and expand the scope of opportunities we can offer to the young people we work with.”