
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
36 | THE LAUNCH GROUP
Our participants at the end of
their four-week BAE Systems
“Movement to Work”
programme in Barrow-in-
Furness. A partnership with us,
The Princes Trust and BAE The Launch Group is a training and recruitment company
based in Newcastle upon Tyne. Established in 2014, it
specialises in supplying talent to niche industries such as
aviation, rail, engineering and defence. It operates a variety
of services for their candidates and clients including pre-
employment training, community engagement and corporate
and social responsibility programmes, access to collaborative
employer programmes, commercial recruitment, talent
acquisition and specialist commercial training services. Directors
Stefan Kiszel and Jonathan Boatman elaborate.
The Launch Group was founded without any financial backing, a £5,000 bank loan
and the faith that despite a challenging economic climate and competitive industry,
we could prosper with a solid business model and a positive and dedicated mindset.
Simply put, our objective is to provide individuals with access to a variety of
positions, from entry level to senior appointments. Utilising government skills and
employment funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency and our clients’
corporate and social responsibility budgets, we couple employer staff demands and
candidate employment desires to provide a platform for all to prosper.
A unique model
Today, 90 per cent of our operation focuses on pre-employment training. We
work with employers to develop a recruitment model or CSR-related community
engagement programme, aimed at enhancing the skills and employment prospects
of individuals of all ages.
FACTS ABOUT
THE LAUNCH GROUP
»Directors: Stefan Kiszel and
Jonathan Boatman
»Founded in 2014
»Based in Newcastle
»Services: Funded and
commercial recruitment and
training, responsible business
strategies or CSR
»No. of employees: 17
»TLG has helped in excess of
1,000 people to work over the
last 5 years
»www.thelaunchgroup.co.uk
The Launch Group
37THE LAUNCH GROUP |
Historically, we have delivered a
variety of ESFA-funded contracts,
which include Skills Support for the
Unemployed, adult education budget
and NEET contracts. Utilising the
above-mentioned funding streams,
TLG works in partnership with a variety
of employer organisations and offers a
recruitment service.
Forming a training company that
has access to government funding is
challenging. Naturally, colleges, local
councils and other large, established
prime providers draw down much of
the ESFA’s adult education budget
funding, with little option left for
smaller providers, other than to
subcontract AEB funding through
these groups.
This comes at a price, as subcontractor
providers then pay a management fee
of anywhere between 15 and 30 per
cent, therefore lessening the profit
margin and increasing the difficulty
of establishing a sustainable business
model. As an example, this current
funding contract year will see us draw
down in excess of £350,000 of AEB
funding. At 20 per cent management
fee, we lose in excess of £70,000.
Because we only hold subcontractor
status with the ESFA, our biggest
challenge has been acquiring enough
funding to capitalise on the huge
demand of our client employers. In
the past, we often found ourselves
without the required funding contract
value to fully support the industry’s
employment needs.
Facing strategic challenges
In the last five years and looking ahead
to the immediate future, we have
listed the main strategic challenges
we have faced and will shortly have to
address below.
»The delay of the SSR/SSU funding
contracts: Dovetailing funding
strategies rarely exist; instead
there are very long gaps between
one contract ending and another
starting. The previous SSR/SSU
contracts ended in approximately
October 2014, with the expected
next similar contract having been
anticipated for no later than 2015.
The new contract took nearly a year
to be introduced and momentum
was lost for many providers. Provider
relationships with employers are
strained when delays like this exist.
The faith of employers to rely on
sustainable funding contracts
helping them resource their staff is
lost, and many opportunities with it.
»The introduction of the
apprenticeship levy and RoATP:
Due to the introduction of the
apprenticeship levy, much focus
has been diverted from developing
other employment initiatives. Like
anyone else, we understand the
importance of upskilling and creating
opportunities for individuals aged
16 to 24. The average age of people
on our programmes sits at around
34 years old. Some employment
initiatives exist but are controlled
largely by establishments such
as colleges, councils, large prime
Four of our candidates
have recently moved
into employment for
Swissport at Liverpool
John Lennon airport
Our objective
is to provide
individuals
with access to
a variety of
positions
“
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