2. 2. New Staff
3. Introduction from chief
executive
4&5. Outward Apprenticeships
Graduation Ceremony
6. Stansted showcases airport
jobs to former conservative
party leader
7. Interview with Gordon
Keenan - Head of Business
Development
8&9. Stansted offers a helping
hand with business
10. Interview with John Hilton
- The New Head of I.T.
11. Green Mark Accreditation
11. Fair Trade Silver Standard
12&13. Urban Futures
Services - A Quality Driven
Experience
14. Current Offers and Services
15. Go 4 It
16. Find Us Online
Urban Futures welcomes new staff
Helene Gannon - Employability Skills Trainer
Tom Clarke-Anteric - Engagement Officer
Ali El-Haddad - Account Manager/Employer
Engagement
Kellie Webb - Business Manager of Youth Services
Bobby Ali - Engagement Officer
Monique Pascoe - Employment Advisor
Adrian Williams - Employment Advisor
Steffan McKenzie - Employment Advisor
Rob Abdul – Employer Engagement Officer
2
3. Welcome to our Winter & Christmas edition of the
Urban Futures newsletter whether you’re a
customer or staff alike. As 2013 draws to a close I
sincerely hope that it has been a productive and
positive year for you and your loved ones and that
you are looking forward to the Festive period and
that you have big plans for 2014.
Urban Futures certainly has and although I’ve said
it before, it’s our customers and staff who make us
what we are today. Therefore we believe 2014 will
continue to be a growth year for us and we will
continue to improve existing services, widen
current areas of work including training and
welfare to work services, and expand into new
areas of work such as Careers Services and
possibly Justice Board services.
We also aim to raise our marketing profile
considerably in 2014 and to realise our ambitions
to be seen as a significant deliverer of
regeneration services for real people across
London particularly in the north and west and
including Heathrow and Stansted Airports.
Increasingly, we are now showing a very
commercial and corporate look across our offices
and our marketing materials and we now hope to
supplement this by becoming sponsors of major
events happening across our region. Watch out for
our Spring edition for more information.
Quality continues to be our mantra here at Urban
Futures and with our new Director of Operations
Charlene Greenaway now firmly embedded in
post there have been huge improvements in both
the quality of our
delivery but also the
management
information systems
that support this and
evidence the continuous
improvement cycle. To
this end, this edition of
the newsletter highlights
the importance of
Ofsted and inspections, particularly in relation to
our training, apprenticeships and wider young
people’s services, but also highlights our overall
commitment to delivering quality relevant services
supporting disadvantaged individuals, groups and
communities throughout the London economy.
Of course the Newsletter is wider than this and we
include a lot more about Urban Futures, our staff
and issues that affect us all. Remember this
Newsletter is an opportunity for you as the
customer or you as the supporting staff member to
get involved highlighting your own concerns, issues
and celebratory facts or indeed just introducing
yourself and the services you either support in
terms of delivery or as a customer experiencing the
service. On this latter point we do heavily rely on
feedback to ensure we are doing everything we can
to support you in your endeavours.
I very much look forward to working with our staff
and you the customer in 2014 and sincerely hope
that we can support you to take that big step in
your career aspirations or in your
retraining approach. I wish you every
success for the future
Steve Delaney, Chief Executive.
3
4. Urban Futures and Outward were delighted to
co-ordinate the first ever Apprenticeship
Graduation Ceremony held at Newlon House
in Tottenham Hale. 15 apprentices were
invited to celebrate their hard work over the
last year and highlight the importance and
value of Apprenticeships to employers,
learners and the economy.
Peter Little, Chief Executive Officer of Outward
addressed the audience to congratulate the
young people who had successfully completed
their Apprenticeships. He commented: “This
Apprenticeship Graduation Ceremony
celebrates the successes and achievements of
our apprentices and recognises the hard work
they have put in to accomplish their
Apprenticeship.“
4
Steve Delaney, Chief Executive of Urban
Futures demonstrated the importance of
Apprenticeships and encouraged the young
people to really motivate themselves as they
begin their careers. Urban Futures were
responsible for sourcing and supporting all the
apprentices throughout the year and provided
NVQ training and an Exam Centre in order for
them to complete their modules. Karanjit Paul,
Apprenticeship Co-ordinator for Urban Futures
took personal pride in closely working with all
the young people and seeing them flourish as
they begin their careers.
Victor Stephenson-Henshaw was asked to
recount his experiences since he began his own
Apprenticeship back in March 2012. Victor was
a school dropout and claiming benefits until he
5. 5
For more Information please contact
Karanjit.paul@urbanfutures.org.uk
reluctantly was sent to Urban Futures to
complete a tailored support programme via
the Job Centre. In a few short weeks Victor
was offered an Apprenticeship position
within Urban Futures for an Administration
Assistant. To Victor’s surprise, as his
apprenticeship was coming to a close he was
offered a significant promotion as a Training
Manager. More recently however, Victor has
also now obtained a Level 3 in Customer
Service and taken up the roll of Trainee
Contracts Manager. Victor is a shining
testament to the Apprenticeship programme
and proves that whatever your background,
you can succeed if you’re willing to work for
it. Within 2 years, Victor completely turned
his life around and continues to work
exceptionally hard.
Sarah Ebanja, Chair of the Newlon Group
Board added: “An increasing number of
employers recognise the attributes of
Apprenticeships and just how valuable their
new skills can be. Sarah wished all the young
people the best of luck and to be confident
in upcoming interviews as a good attitude
and strong work ethic is the first thing employers
look for.
Plans are already underway for Outward’s
second wave of apprenticeship applications and
Urban Futures are happy to continue what has
long been a mutually beneficial working
relationship.
Photos (Left to Right)
Photo 1 (Header): The Outward Apprentices with Urban
Futures’ trainee contracts manager (left) - Victor Stephenson-
Henshaw and Apprentice Co-ordinator (right) - Karanjit Paul.
Photo 2: Sarah Ebanja, chair of the Newlon Group Board during
her speech at the ceremony
Photo 3: Steve Delaney - The Chief Executive of Urban Futures
during his speech at the ceremony
6. Companies from across the East of England are
expected to generate new business deals worth
millions of pounds as Stansted Airport’s annual
‘Meet the Buyers’ event gets underway at the
Hilton Hotel today (October 3).
Over 150 local suppliers and 35 buyers are
attending the daylong event which last year
gave local companies the platform to generate
a least £1.3 million of new business. The event,
organised by the BE Group, allows small and
medium sized businesses (SMEs) and
entrepreneurs direct access to companies
based at, or close to Stansted Airport to market
and sell their goods. In total an estimated 1000
meetings will take place across the day.
Hosting a business breakfast to kick off
proceedings, Andrew Harrison, Stansted
Airport's Managing Director, said:
“London Stansted ‘Meet the Buyers’ is fast
becoming the ‘must do event’ in the local
business calendar and this year is no exception
with a record 35 buyers confirmed,
including new organisations like the Ministry of
Defence and Aviva. Under the new ownership
of M.A.G, I am determined to make Stansted
the ‘best airport in London’.
“We’re already established as a world leader
at serving the low-cost airline sector, with a
route network stretching to around 150
destinations and more direct scheduled
European flights than any other airport in the
UK. But the focus now is to broaden the route
network, invest in new terminal facilities, offer
passengers and business more choice and
create a richer mix of airlines operating out of
Stansted, including long-haul carriers.
“These opportunities won’t just benefit M.A.G
but also the 10,000 employees and 190 firms
on site and the wider business community
across the region. I want everyone to share in
the success and benefit from the new and
exciting vision M.A.G is bringing to Stansted.
With a growing international airport on the
doorstep, a thriving entrepreneurial spirit and
6
7. more small and medium sized
businesses than Scotland and
Northern Ireland combined,
this region has a lot to offer
the UK Plc and this is where
‘Meet the Buyers’ can help.”
Companies attending include
the Ministry of Defence, UK
Power Networks, Lotus Cars,
Essex & Suffolk Water,
Uttlesford and East Herts
District Councils and Suffolk
and Norfolk County Councils.
Suffolk County Council Leader, Mark Bee, said:
“Suffolk County Council’s key priority for the
coming year is to support economic growth and
jobs in our region. We are delighted to be
attending ‘Stansted Meet the Buyers’ again this
year and hope to engage with a diverse supplier
base to explore opportunities that may be
available to us all. Local government is
responsible for a significant part of public
spending, and I believe it is only right that we
are expected to play our part in finding more
efficient ways to do this.”
Cllr Tony Jackson, Leader, East Herts District
Council, said:
“Meet the Buyers is a very worthwhile event
and gives SMEs from East Herts a platform to
branch out and tap into the wider market
place.”
Simon Jackson from Uttlesford District Council
said:
“While the economy remains in a fragile state,
7
there is not a better opportunity to meet
quality businesses in such a short space of
time.”
Stansted Airport is the biggest single site
employer in the East with over 10,200 people
working for nearly 200 on-airport companies.
Not only does the airport offer more than 150
international connections that are vital for
growth in UK trade and investment, it also
handled over 200,000 tonnes of cargo in 2012
helping to connect SMEs with the global
marketplace.
Photo 1 (Header): Stansted Airport's Managing
Director Andrew Harrison (centre) is pictured with
Anita Garrard, Manager of the Stansted Employment
and Skills Academy (left) and Julie Budden, Chair of
the Stansted Airport Chamber of Commerce (right).
Photo 2: Stansted Airport's Managing Director
Andrew Harrison hosts a business breakfast to kick off
today’s ‘Meet the Buyers’ event.
For more information please contact:
anita.garrard@urbanfutures.org.uk
8. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions The
Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith and Priti Patel MP
called in on the Stansted Airport stand at a
local employment fair on October 4th
, 2013 to
see how the airport continues to create new
jobs and training opportunities despite the
current difficult economic conditions.
The Stansted Employment and Skills Academy
attended the Get Witham Working event at
Witham Public Hall to showcase the jobs
currently available at the airport and offer
information to jobseekers about the
comprehensive skills and training programme,
designed to help potential employees improve
their abilities and gain employment.
Hosting the airport stand at the event was
Stansted’s Corporate Social Responsibility
Manager Marcella M’Rabety, who said:
“We were delighted that the Rt Hon Iain
Duncan Smith and Priti Patel MP were able to
visit our stand at the Get Witham Working
event and hear about the
training and employment
opportunities available at
Stansted. With one in five
young people out of work,
Stansted is delighted to do
its bit and give more
youngsters across the
region access to the careers
on offer here at the
airport.”
For more information on
services the Academy can
provide look online at
www.stanstedairportacademy.com,
telephone 01279 661007 or
visit in person at Stansted Airport (Open
09.00am – 16.00pm Monday to Friday). The
Academy is holding its own Job fair at the
airport’s Enterprise House on Thursday,
October 15, between 10- 3pm.
Photo caption: Secretary of State for Work and
Pensions The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP
and MP for Witham Priti Patel stopped off to
chat to Stansted Airport’s Marcella M’Rabety
(second in from the left) and Anita Garrard
(left) at the Get Witham Working event today.
8
9. 9
Q1. What is your official job title?
A1. Head of Business Development
Q2. What are your main duties and
responsibilities at Urban Futures?
A2. Bid Writing, working on funding strategies
Building Strategic relationships and Partnerships –
essentially that means a lot of application writing
& a lot of talking to people, especially those
working for key external bodies such as the FE
colleges, local authorities, DWP and various other
quality delivery partners.
Q3. How are you settling in?
A3. I think I’ve settled in just fine. Everyone has
been very welcoming, though my memory was
struggling initially under the weight of names of
people I was introduced to in the first few weeks.
So forgive me all of those whose names I got
wrong!
Q4. What did you do before working at Urban
Futures and what made you decide to join the
company?
A4. My principle role in the last 5 years was
working at the National Housing Federation as
Head of Funding & Partnerships for 4 years. Either
side of that role I worked in a consultancy role
providing third sector organisations with support
in relation to fundraising, employment & training
delivery, project management & business
planning. I’ve always been engaged in roles which
promoted employment & training and I saw this
job as an ideal opportunity to build on that
experience and to work with Steve and the team
to build UF’s reputational footprint across London
and the employment & training sector.
Q5. What projects are you currently involved
in and how are they doing?
A5. The interesting aspect of my job is that it’s
not really based in the present. I don’t really
work on any specific current project. My role is
to look over the horizon, to spot the business
trends and to identify and secure new funding
opportunities which are of value to our clients
and the financial wellbeing of the organisation
as a whole.
Q6. What are the best aspects about working
at Urban Futures?
A6. The diversity of projects; a creative and
forward looking management team and an
honest & hardworking group of staff who all
work their backsides off for the cause. I’ve also
got to mention the Brookes café just off
Clarendon Rd which has made my lunchtimes so
much better compared to my previous job
location. Especially the regular Friday Kebabs!
For more information please contact:
Gordon.keenan@urbanfutures.org.uk
10. Q1. How have you found your first few months
working at Urban Futures?
A1. ‘Hectic’ is the word I most commonly use.
There have been a lot of I.T. issues to address
which have still not been fully completed so I have
quite a heavy workload. I have found the people to
be really friendly and welcoming which has helped
me settle in a lot.
Q2. What are your main duties and
responsibilities?
A2. Computers, servers, mobiles, telephones,
technical enquiries and buying all the I.T.
equipment for the company. I am also part of
facilities management which generally includes
building works, pest control, plumbing, heating and
cleaning.
Q3. What did you do before working at Urban
Futures and why did you decide to join?
A3. The three years previous to this I was studying
Aeronautical engineering at City University. I
passed my degree and I enjoyed that as it was a
break from I.T.. Before that I was a network and
desktop technician. I have a great deal of interest in
aeroplanes and one of my ambitions is to earn the
money to learn to actually fly. Previously, I had got
halfway through my pilot’s license but that was
expensive and I had to stop. Whilst I am here, I am
hoping to learn how to fly gliders.
I decided to join Urban Futures because of the
chance to run my own department when it was
offered.
Q4. What are the main challenges you’ve found
whilst working at Urban Futures?
A4. The main challenge is to maintain the outlying
offices at the level of service that they deserve due
to the distances between offices and the
10
workload at the central office. One of the problems
I’ve found is the variety and scope of the different
issues that the organisation has. There are many
different small systems in the outlying offices so
instead of one complete integrated network where
everything is managed centrally; I’m finding that
often jobs have to be completed by doing a part at
the outlying office and a part at the central office.
The one thing of this job that I have not done
before is the facilities aspects which include the
buildings and maintenance. This is a very varied
part of my role which I am still getting used to.
Q5. What are the best aspects about working at
Urban Futures?
A5. My job is roughly the same anywhere I go, it’s
just very busy and everything is business critical.
What makes working at Urban Futures a lot better
than the previous places I’ve worked is the people
that I’ve met and the atmosphere that they
generate.
For more information please contact:
john.hilton@urbanfutures.org.uk
11. 11
In November 2013, the business development
team acquired the Fair Train Quality Standard
accreditation for Urban Futures. The
accreditation is an independent, national
quality benchmark that is recognised by key
government departments, Ofsted, LEPs, other
employers, Trades Unions, National Careers
Service and those who arrange work
experience. These organisations have steered
and supported its development.
Gaining the Fair Train Quality Standard helps to
identify Urban Futures as an organisation
committed to providing high quality work
experience which can be referenced in
inspection documentation. It also contributes
to Urban Futures’ position as an ethical
employer who aim to help the local
community.
For more information on Fair Train please visit
www.fairtrain.org and follow their Twitter
account at https://twitter.com/fairtrainorg
In August 2013, Urban Futures proudly
achieved the Green Mark Level 2
accreditation. A Green Mark accreditation
helps businesses reduce their environmental
impact by increasing efficiency in areas such
as utilities usage, waste disposal, and
procurement. This can benefit Urban Futures
to identify cost-savings, comply with
environmental legislation and strengthen
opportunities for bids and tenders.
To achieve the accreditation, Urban Futures
were expected to identify their main
environmental impacts and implement good
practice actions to manage and prevent
them. Urban Futures also had to comply with
key legislation, write an environmental policy
and implement a communication and
awareness strategy. Urban Futures satisfied
the requirements of Green Mark Level 2
across all offices.
For more information about the Green Mark
Accreditation please visit
www.greenmark.co.uk
12. 12
Here at Urban Futures we have always taken a
quality driven approach to our service delivery right
from our inception in 2001. Of course in those days
we were a backroom bureaucracy dealing solely
with programme and project management issues
and we rarely every saw or met a frontline customer
as we commissioned other organisations to do this
work. Never the less, we prided ourselves in doing a
good job in this respect and we saw the value in
quality accreditations particularly Investors in
People (IIP) which showed our commitment to our
staff and their positive development thus allowing
them the capacity and skills to deliver the quality
service to others albeit in the paperwork trails.
Times have
changed. We
now support
over 12,000
customers
annually in a
frontline approach delivering accredited training,
employability support, Apprenticeships, as well as
welfare to work services. We no longer take a back
seat approach and we are at the forefront of
customer service in the welfare to work and
employability sectors here in London and we pride
ourselves in
the service
we offer
and deliver
through our
dedicated
staff and management. However, it doesn’t come
easily and we are constantly monitoring and
reviewing our work internally and through feedback
from customers and staff alike. We now benchmark
ourselves with wider industry accreditations such as
Customer First and Matrix and we are looking at the
potential of the ISO standards as well.
However, we are now subject to Ofsted inspection
and it is to this standard that we aspire to show real
quality, staff entrepreneurialism, and real
leadership in the coming months and years. Whilst
we have always been subject to ‘secondary’ Ofsted
inspections (where we are currently sub contractors
to others and it has been them who have been
subject to the inspection but ourselves who have
had a part of our service such as training actually
13. 13
inspected) and we have had positive verbal
feedback that our standard hits 2 or good on the
Ofsted inspection scoring system, we are now
subject to direct inspection and will need to
ensure that we fully understand what is required
of us and that we are able to show that we are
enacting the standards through our service
delivery.
Therefore we are doing a number of things to
support our preparation for Ofsted but more
importantly to drive up the quality of our delivery.
Firstly, at the Board level we have a new Member
Dr. Linda Prince who will be working with the
Executive team to address our approach to quality
per se. Linda is a former Ofsted inspector as well
as a former Head of social Services in a London
borough. She brings a wealth of experience in
quality matters and we are really fortunate to have
access to her expertise.
Secondly, our Director of Operations will be
working with both Anita Garrard our Training &
Quality Senior Manager and Liz Davies, Business
Development Manager on quality issues across the
board. They will map out how we currently do
things thus enabling us identify gaps and
benchmark ourselves against others. This process,
working closely with Linda at the Board level, and
with the Executive Management including the Chief
Executive, will set the tone for the whole
organisation and ensure that all staff recognise the
importance of quality delivery in terms of the
customers expectations, our funders expectations,
and our reputational position.
Thirdly, we are currently bringing the role of
trainers fully into the company in the sense that
they are our own employees rather than self
employed but working with us on a Service Level
Agreement (SLA). We are currently advertising the
posts and those trainers who we have established
working relationships with and who meet our
enacting standards have been encouraged to apply.
I’m happy to say a number of them have taken the
opportunity and are now working in house with us
and will support the quality drive over the years to
come. Last but most certainly not least, we will be
developing a series of staff workshops over the
coming year to embed the quality process within
peoples roles and responsibilities. By taking a lead
from the Board level all the way through the
organisation we believe we can ensure that we are
always seeking to put the customer and our service
delivery at the forefront of innovative practice.
For more information please contact:
steve.delaney@urbanfutures.org.uk
14.
15. Contact:
aaron.sands@urbanfutures.org.uk
or
robert.prague@urbanfutures.org.uk
Alternatively, you can contact by telephone on
020 8352 5900 or via the website and other
electronic connections detailed.
Here at Urban Futures we welcome input and
ideas from all staff and customers. If you
have any ideas for articles of interest or new
design formats then please forward these to
the marketing department.
What to expect from our next edition
Newsletter coming soon…
Latest Urban Futures Services & Offers
Interview with Granville Barrand - Head of
HEBP
Interview with Kelly Webb - Business
Manager for Youth Services
A spotlight on the Shepherd’s Bush office.
The RAISE project
15
The Go for It project is a new contract
managed by Prospects and sub-
contracted to Urban Futures. The
project started in September, 2013. ‘Go
4 it’ will offer information advice and
guidance to 14 to 19 year olds,
particularly if they are care leavers or
teen parents with the aim to get them
into sustained Employment, Education
or Training.
Now in its second year, Go4it has helped
more than 58% of the young people in
the project to remain in education,
employment or training, one of the most
successful projects of its kind.
The project will operate until December,
2014 and aims to support hundreds of
young people across London who will be
moved from NEET into sustained
education, employment or training for a
minimum of 26 weeks (two terms in
education).
For more information please contact:
derek.wheeler@hebp.co.uk
