Vision Express pledges support for The 5% Club
Optical retailer Vision Express has announced that it is backing The 5% Club by pledging to meet a benchmark to provide support and training for graduates, apprentices and sponsored students within its workforce.
The company, which this month celebrates its 25th anniversary, has signed a charter promising to ‘Invest in a Generation’, alongside other public and private sector businesses in the scheme which is spearheaded by defence and security company QinetiQ.
As part of the scheme, member businesses agree to work towards making 5% of their UK workforce comprise of young people on structured training schemes over the next five years.
Currently, Vision Express appoints approximately 100 young people in these categories each year, which equates to 2.5% of its workforce.
Vision Express chief executive Jonathan Lawson said: “We understand how vital it is to get fresh talent through our doors and in today’s competitive environment, getting that first break into the world of work has never been more important.
“We are elated to be the first retailer to pledge our commitment to this initiative. We look forward to being part of its future and are proud to formalise our commitment to growing and developing even greater numbers of young people within our business.”
Leo Quinn, chief executive of QinetiQ Group, added: “The campaign only launched two weeks ago but we are already seeing huge levels of interest from companies who are keen to join. Last week’s employment figures showed we still have almost one million 16-24 year olds unemployed, despite the skills shortage in this country.
“A lot of good work is being done from the education end: now it’s up to us in industry to create the jobs in which our young people can develop their ability and drive future prosperity. We setup The 5% Club to galvanise those of us in corporate life to invest in this generation: we need as many companies as possible to sign up and maintain the momentum we are building.”
