Member Article

Sweet success for chef Danny

Following a frustrating year of job hunting, a North East man is finally enjoying the sweet smell of success in his new job as a chef at one of Sunderland’s busiest bars.

When he moved to Jarrow last year, Danny Francis was desperate to return to catering and carve out a career for himself. Now, thanks to the support he’s received from Ingeus, which delivers the government’s Work Programme throughout the region, Danny is back in the kitchen, working at The Ropery in Deptford.

One of three entertainment venues owned by local businessman Mark Hardy, The Ropery often serves upwards of 120 meals on a busy day. And according to Mark, Danny’s flexibility and tireless ability to get on with the job – as well as his culinary skills and knowledge – means his future is now very bright.

“Being out of work for so long was the most exasperating time of my life,” said 24-year-old Danny. “With no routine and nothing to do but look for work, my days felt empty and without purpose. Now I have the best reason to get out of bed each day. Being a chef is often very demanding but it’s really given me a new spark of life.”

Danny is not the only client to benefit from The Ropery’s relationship with Ingeus; Mark has now created jobs for seven long-term unemployed people.

“In each of our venues we have appointed people like Danny who have the drive and enthusiasm to succeed,” he said. “We used to advertise all our vacancies, but Ingeus’s free service makes it easy to find motivated people who have already been assessed as suitable for the variety of jobs we offer.

Peter Quinn from Ingeus added, “Danny was referred to us recently by Jobcentre Plus and we knew he had the right attitude and skills to make an excellent chef – he just needed the support to get a job. We helped him develop his CV, polish his interview skills and renew his Food Hygiene Certificate, and then we introduced him to Mark. We also took the time to learn how Mark operates his businesses and we were confident that Danny would be a good match. He’s now impressing Mark just as much as he impressed us.”

Mark agreed, saying: “Danny has high standards and we have high expectations. Customers recognise his abilities too and often compliment him on his creativity with our menu.”

Ingeus is one of the UK’s leading welfare-to-work providers, delivering employability services to support unemployed people into lasting work. The company offers a free recruitment service to employers which ranges from CV-sifting to hosting full recruitment days and continues to support new employees for up to two years once they start work, helping employers to increase staff retention.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ingeus .