Virgin Trains is making prison recruitment fairs a regular part of its talent-hunting process.
The London to Scotland operator is holding recruitment events within prisons across the UK every three months in a bid to identify talented candidates and help end the revolving door syndrome of reoffending.
The programme was announced after a recruitment fair in HMP Addiewell and has been welcomed by Scotland's Justice Secretary Michael Matheson.
Virgin Trains has been actively recruiting people with criminal convictions since 2013 when founder Sir Richard Branson challenged Virgin businesses and the wider business community to help reduce reoffending.
In 2014 the operator undertook to employ 12 people with convictions as part of the contract awarded by the Department for Transport to run services on the west coast. It currently has 27 people working in the business who were recruited through this programme.
Kathryn Wildman, who leads recruitment on the west coast route, said Virgin Trains had incorporated prison recruitment fairs into its normal recruitment programme after they proved successful in sourcing talented candidates for jobs with the company.
Speaking after a recruitment fair held in HMP Addiewell earlier this week, she said: “We started this process three years ago with relatively modest ambitions. But we’ve been really pleased with the calibre of candidates we’ve managed to attract through prison recruitment events and our wider ex offenders programme and so we’ve decided to incorporate these into our regular calendar of recruitment events.
“This isn’t just about helping society and giving people a chance to turn their lives around. It’s hiring the best people no matter what their background is. We’d urge other employers who might be thinking about this to give it a go.”
Virgin Trains has established partnerships with HM Prison Service, the Scottish Prison Service and private prison operators, all of whom work with inmates who are nearing the end of their sentence to identify employment opportunities.
Scotland’s Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: “Supporting people into work when they come out of custody is an essential part of their reintegration, and helps to reduce the chances of them offending again. We are working with the public sector, including the Scottish Prison Service, and private businesses to make it easier for people with convictions to find employment. Virgin Trains are very supportive of this work and I am delighted to hear of this latest partnership with HMP Addiewell to tackle the barriers which prevent people from turning their lives around.”
In 2015, Virgin Trains began operating services on the east coast and is looking to expand this programme to include that route.
