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Start Fresh campaign to encourage hiring of ex-offenders into FM roles
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One in three (30%) UK businesses in the private sector do not currently employ any ex-offenders, despite the majority (62%) saying they are struggling to fill positions and 43% finding it difficult to fill in excess of ten current vacancies.

That’s according to a new study commissioned by Sodexo, the food services and facilities management business which runs six UK prisons on behalf of the Ministry of Justice and Scottish Prison Service.

The study sought to understand the extent to which prison-leavers and ex-offenders who have not served custodial sentences have the same employment opportunities as other job seekers.

Launching the campaign ‘Starting Fresh’ today, the organisation is collaborating with partners including New Futures Network, The Oswin Project, Clean Sheet and Novus Works to help remove the perceived barriers associated with the employment of ex-offenders, which hold back the reintegration of people into communities.

Sodexo, which itself is a Ban the Box employer, commissioned research of 1,000 owners and senior leaders with hiring responsibilities across British businesses, finding nearly two thirds (61%) will be hiring ex-offenders in 2023, while 21%2  say they will not.

When asked about their greatest concerns, one quarter (25%) agreed they were worried employees would re-offend, and the same proportion agreed they feared for the safety of the rest of their workforce (25%). More than one in five (23%) agreed that they wouldn’t trust them to behave appropriately at work.

More positively, as the UK grapples with a talent shortage, many businesses this year said they are investing in training for their HR teams to ensure ex-offenders are supported in the company (40%). Almost half (46%) said that supporting their wider community was important during this time, and one of the reasons why they’d be hiring people with criminal records.

The research found a cross sample of industry leaders believed ex-offenders could help to fill shortages in specific areas such as food pickers and delivery drivers in farming (62%), and talent shortages in hospitality (57%).

When respondents were asked what might encourage them to hire ex-offenders, 22% suggested there should be a government initiative which incentivises businesses. A fifth (20%) suggested an initiative giving businesses a target for hiring ex-offenders, and 20% said a need to fill crucial skills gaps would force them to look at individuals with criminal records.

According to the UK government, though the proportion of prison-leavers who were employed at six months from their release rose by almost two thirds between April 2021 and March 2022 to 23% , this must improve.

Sodexo is itself committed to filling 5% of appropriate job opportunities with ex-offenders. During 2021 and 2022, the business had 162 DBS applications return as positive, 133 (82%) of these went on to gain employment.

The facilities management and food services company, which employs more than 30,000 people in the UK and Ireland, knows both from its own experience looking after a prison population of over 6,000 people across six prisons, with a commitment to rehabilitation, and as a proactive employer of ex-offenders, how critically important it is for both the individual and the wider community to support those with a criminal history.

Statistically, ex-offenders who get a job are less likely to re-offend, while 81% of consumers believe businesses employing ex-offenders are making a positive contribution to society.

Commenting on the findings and launch of Starting Fresh Tony Simpson, Justice Operations Director at Sodexo UK & Ireland said: “While not all ex-offenders are prison-leavers, an important aspect of this campaign is to help employers understand the quality of learning which takes place in prison. Nearly 50,000 people leave prison every year, many emerging with formal qualifications they didn’t have before.

“Prisoners at the sites we manage are prepared to be job-ready for the opportunities in the outside world, whether that be in IT support, cleaning, catering, hospitality or hairdressing and beauty.

“It can be a win-win situation because there is a huge skills shortage in many UK sectors, and we believe ex-offenders could absolutely help to plug some of these gaps, while providing a more stable and secure income, and a better future, for the individual.

“It’s positive to see the majority of businesses suggesting that they will employ from this largely untapped talent pool in 2023.

Starting Fresh is not just about helping employers understand the valued contribution ex-offenders can make to their business, but to also encourage them to proactively engage with our prisons and our partners to start the hiring process with prison-leavers.

“We have more to do, and we want to start new conversations about how we share our experience and learn from others as part of this campaign.”

Kate Nicholls OBE, CEO UK Hospitality added: “Most hospitality businesses cannot currently operate at full capacity due to ongoing labour shortages. Collectively, the industry is turning away £25 billion of potential revenue a year, with huge consequences for the Treasury. As such, hospitality employers cannot afford to turn their back on any talent pipeline that could provide vital resource. The issue is that employers don’t know how to access at scale the volume of recruits – prison leavers and other ex-offenders – potentially available to them. It’s great, therefore, to see Sodexo launch Starting Fresh which will really help demystify the process.”

To help businesses with the employment of ex-offenders, Sodexo has launched Starting Fresh, an online hub with resources for employers seeking to discover the underutilised community of people with criminal backgrounds and support them in the workplace, as well as case studies of what impact this has had on the companies and individuals involved.

Sodexo is also using this campaign to let employers know they are welcome to visit their prisons if they are interested in offering opportunities on release. Organisations with multiple job opportunities can even run employer days in the prisons.

Food waste impacting Net Zero ambitions
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Unprecedented pressure on supply chains has led to food buyers in the UK’s biggest organisations reporting a 60% increase in food waste over the last six months.

This surge casts doubt on the food industry’s ability to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030, and hampers progress to net zero.

This is according to a new study commissioned by Sodexo UK & Ireland evaluating how large organisations are navigating the current supply chain crisis and its impact on food waste and carbon emissions. It found 83% of respondents say they have created a more resilient supply chain after the pandemic; however, food waste is increasing for a majority of companies.

Sodexo’s research shows that to increase their resilience, UK food supply chain heads are increasingly diversifying their supplier base by working with smaller suppliers, with over a third (38%) doing so. 35% are also looking to source more food domestically.

SMEs form the backbone of this approach with 81% saying the current supply chain crisis has emphasised the need to source more from SMEs. Some suppliers are eager to collaborate further, with 38% agreeing that the sharing of best practice with SME partners in the supply chain to improve efficiencies will best help address the UK’s supply chain challenges.

Commenting on the findings Aoife Wycherley, Head of Supply Chain & Food Procurement at Sodexo UK & Ireleand, said: “Diversifying the food supply chain is essential for building resilience. SMEs can enable greater agility because they’re more flexible, innovative and, tend to drive domestic food sourcing which, in turn, can reduce carbon by cutting down on air and freight usage. This makes having SMEs in the supply chain essential for those that need to maintain supply and meet climate targets.”

Carbon data reporting is, however, a huge burden for small businesses, and we need greater industry collaboration from large organisations to support them with this challenge in order to achieve net zero in the supply chain.

The findings come as Sodexo continues its work with SMEs. These account for three-quarters of its supply chain and for 44% of its spend, enhancing its resilience to continue delivering meals to customers, despite the external market shocks the industry is facing.

Reducing food waste is a critical part of minimising carbon emissions in the supply chain. Despite this, over one third (35%) of respondents admit to deprioritising food waste due to the ongoing challenges in the supply chain over the past year. A similar proportion (34%), however, do support the introduction of mandatory food waste reporting which is proposed in the Government’s recently published food strategy.

Claire Atkins-Morris, Director of Corporate Responsibility at Sodexo UK & Ireland, said: We welcome the Government’s decision to consult on mandatory food waste reporting, something which we’ve been calling for in our Appetite for Action campaign. The first step towards cutting food waste is tracking and monitoring. More broadly, we urge government to take a holistic approach to all areas which will determine the success of net zero policy making, including food waste, carbon reduction and supply chain resilience. The strategy must be broader than focusing on renewable energy and the introduction of electric vehicles.”

Sodexo, which has pledged to cut its own food waste by 50% by 2025 and achieve net zero by 2045 – found that achieving net zero emissions has become the most important priority for 80% of respondents. Sodexo reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 38.5% in FY21, (against a 2017 baseline measurement of 1.16million tonnes of carbon) across Scopes 1, 2 and 3 which includes emissions from the supply chain. The research also found two-fifths (40%) of food supply chain heads are calling on businesses to adopt net zero policies to future proof a supply chain adhering to science.

Sodexo partnered with WRAP last year in support of the first ever Food Waste Action Week to tackle food waste and help save the planet. Sodexo is also a signatory of The Courtauld Commitment 2030, a voluntary agreement that enables collaborative action across the entire UK food chain to deliver farm-to-fork reductions in food waste.

Keith James, Head of Policy and Insights, WRAP, added: “Through Courtauld 2030, WRAP has partnered with Sodexo to tackle climate change, food waste and water stewardship. Sodexo’s findings relating to a rise in self-reported food waste are worrying, but not unexpected given the pressures put on supply chains in recent years. WRAP will publish data later this year to show where the UK is in terms of tackling food waste, GHG emissions connected with our food and drink, and water stewardship. Every business can make a difference by instigating the Target-Measure-Act approach, but not all have the flexibility to adopt strategies quickly with competing pressures. That is why WRAP published new Scope 3 protocols for measuring GHG emissions linked to the food we make, sell and eat.”

Sodexo initiative searches for ‘next gen’ FM leaders
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Sodexo’s corporate services business has joined forces with HIT Training to launch a development programme tasked with supporting and developing the next generation of FM leaders.

The comp[any says its programme has been created to offer a structured apprenticeship journey for qualifying existing employees and new recruits to complete either a customer service practitioner or customer service specialist apprenticeship.

Both apprenticeships are 18-month courses and include an IWFM accredited facilities services qualification, level 2 certificate for practitioner apprentices and level 3 certification for the customer service specialist cohort.

Kim Leahy, HR Director, Corporate Services, Sodexo UK & Ireland said: “This new development programme is a really important part of our people strategy. We are committed to supporting and developing the next generation of leaders for our business.

“To achieve this, we truly believe customer service skills are crucial in the delivery of workplace experience and consumer driven FM.”

The aim of the Futures programme is to provide employees with the right skills, capability and attitude to deliver facilities management focused on people and experiences, rather than buildings and services. Each participant on the Futures programme will be employed in a permanent role with Sodexo with the programme comprising mainly on-the-job training, with around 20% of the learning completed off-site.

On completion of the programme the graduates will be able to build their career within Sodexo and using the skills acquired from the course will act as a customer service specialist within their team. They will gather and analyse data and customer insight in order to drive innovation and deliver more strategic, employee-focused partnerships. 

Leahy added: “We acknowledge that to succeed we need to give people the right skills and attributes to deliver against our clients’ needs now and into the future.

“We are really looking forward to welcoming our first cohort of participants and see this new programme as a way we can help them kick-start a long and rewarding career at Sodexo.”

As part of its wider Public Service Pledge Sodexo says it’s committed to engage 850 apprentices every year.

Top 5 global FM suppliers revealed by Technavio…
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Basing its findings on key factors such as ROI, sustainability, customer satisfaction, floor occupancy rate, pareto analysis and consistent performance measurement framework, a new report deriving from the global technology research and advisory company, Technavio, has affirmed the top 5 performing global facilities management suppliers up until the year 2020.

The report acknowledges that the FM market is dominated by large ‘global players’ as a majority of supplier companies are getting involved with mergers and acquisitions to achieve maximum international reach; in addition to enhancing their service capabilities. Therefore, it has been suggested that organisations prefer to outsource their FM services and the suppliers are developing environmental management plans to adhere to the industry’s regional and global regulations.

In order, the top 5 global FM suppliers are:

  1. Sodexo: Provides facility management and food services across different industries worldwide. The company serves more than 75 million people every day. It provides more than 234 services for the benefit of clients’ employees. In March 2016, Sodexo was awarded a 10-year contract by Rio Tinto to deliver facility management services for its operations in Australia. 
  2. Compass Group: A global leader in food services and FM support services. K-12 (part of the Compass Group) serves more than two million students every day in the US alone. Approximately, one-third of the top business schools in Europe are served by the company, and the Compass Service Framework was designed by the company to enhance their service capabilities and provide high-quality service to customers. 
  3. Aramark: Currently maintains approximately 1 billion square feet of facilities across multiple industries worldwide. It owns over one million square feet of meeting space globally. The company manages over 45 unique world-class residential and day centers across the US and Canada. In April 2016, Aramark won Citi’s Sustainable Partner Award in recognition of the high-value services provided to the Citi Group. 
  4. ISS A/S: Generates three million work orders on an annual basis. Annually, the company serves 13,809,467 square metres of office and industrial space globally. It caters to a large and diversified portfolio of B2B customers across industry sectors. The company performs 30 billion square meter of cleaning activities globally.
  1. CBRE: One of the largest FM service providers across the globe with a total workforce of 25,000 EFMs and 13,000+ engineering professionals. It caters to a client base of 25.8 million occupants and tenants in the global commercial real estate market. The company employs 300+ HSSE professionals, 40+ OSHA, and 501 trainers for health and safety as well as environmental management.

 

To request a sample report, click here

Sodexo ‘proud’ to partner with the Stoddart Review…
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The provider of specialist catering, life support and remote site facilities management services, Sodexo, has announced its partnership with the recently launched Stoddart Review in a bid to highlight the importance of facilities management roles.

The Review, which was founded in honour of Chris Stoddart MSc., FCIOB, FBIFM after his sudden passing in 2014, brings together decision makers and industry leaders in the provision of high performing workplaces; existing to put the workplace on the ‘business agenda’.

Marketing and strategy director at Sodexo, Andrew Wilkinson, commented: “I often get the opportunity to speak to organisations about their challenges in engaging employees, improving productivity or driving a culture that is more agile, diverse and collaborative.  I can see a clear trend emerging in the increasing number of clients who recognise the value that outsourced facilities/workplace management services can bring.”

He continued: “The challenge however is making this the norm, it is something we should surely all be focussed on. By bringing together the thoughts of business leaders and world-leading thinkers in the provision of high performing workplaces the Stoddart Review can only help in this as it exists to put workplace on the business agenda.”

 

Find out more about the Stoddart Review here