Last Friday, we had a special visitor in the Seven office, the MP for Ipswich and Under-Secretary of State for Health, Ben Gummer.
Ben was keen to learn more about the fantastic opportunities we’re offering to young people in Ipswich and surrounding areas, including our ongoing apprenticeship scheme and new starter development programme. He was also interested in hearing about the challenges facing Seven as off-framework recruiters and the perceived shortcomings in the system.
Our MD, Richard Cooke, gave Ben an overview of the history of Seven and his background in the recruitment industry; explaining how he himself came through an apprenticeship scheme, which he found hugely beneficial and credits with putting him on the path he’s on today.
This explains Richard’s passion for apprenticeships and why that programme, and a similar one aimed at working mums, is integral to Seven’s business plan. We’re very proud to say Seven has a 100% success rate in taking apprentices into full-time permanent positions.
The next part of Mr Gummer’s visit involved getting out on to the shop floor, so to speak, where he met some of the team, was shown the systems and technology we’ve introduced, and got to see some of the motivational rewards and incentives on offer.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t time for a game of pool as Ben was keen to meet our apprentices, who have come through our programme and are now working at management level.
Myself, Hayley, compliance manager Jade, payroll manager Jesse, IT manager Elliot and consultant Mike were invited to take part in a group discussion about Richard’s commitment to bringing new talent into the industry and the positive effect that’s had on our personal goals and aspirations.
We were also able to quiz Ben about his ambitions for the NHS and the government’s plans for cutting the £2.8bn NHS deficit. The locum salary cap introduced by the conservatives has obviously had a massive impact on off-framework recruitment and Ben was sympathetic to how that will have affected us as employees. He explained why these cuts were necessary and was refreshingly candid about the challenges he and his colleagues are facing with the beleaguered health service.
The conversation then turned to the Brexit referendum. Ben made his case for why he feels we should remain part of the EU and it’s fair to say he got a bit of a grilling by the team, who were keen to hear both sides of the argument and get their hands on some facts. It actually turned into a healthy debate, with some of the group being swayed towards the ‘remain’ camp, while others were left wanting to know more about the ‘leave’ campaign.
I didn’t realise my colleagues were so politically engaged!
Ben stayed longer than the window we were given, which hopefully means he enjoyed his visit and will come back to see us again some time. If you’d like to be here too, either as an apprentice or a permanent member of staff, please get in touch with us today!
