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In spring 2007, Axia was approached by the local Trades Union, Unity, to provide up-skilling in order to improve the employability chances of the 250 ceramic workers who were being made redundant by Spode Ltd.

Spode management was keen to offer as much support as possible to their redundant employees and facilitated a series of presentations and IAG sessions in which Axia and Unity informed employees of the learning opportunities available to them. Axia worked collaboratively with the Unity Resource Centre and Spode to provide valuable training and qualifications.

NVQs

86 employees achieved a full NVQ Level 2. This was important to demonstrate competence and provide much needed qualifications that would be recognised by potential employers. On-the-job assessments were conducted by a team of Axia assessors, many of whom had experienced redundancy themselves from within the ceramic industry and therefore had true empathy for these learners.

Essential skills

It was equally important to ensure that these individuals had the numeracy and literacy skills that they were going to need to make job applications and complete application forms. Axia tutors established classes four evenings per week, in company time, and delivered an astounding 162 Essential Skills qualifications.

As the majority of the workforce was leaving in the summer, we had very limited timescales for this programme - 5 months - which meant that progress reviews were crucial. At one such review meeting Richard Moore, human resources department, commented that he was very pleased with the progress and had received a good reaction from the workforce. He said, 'I am surprised by the excellent uptake of training and NVQs and delighted by the ongoing levels of achievement'.