SOS Group commits to ‘earn and learn’ by joining The 5% Club

SOS Group, having grown considerably over the last number of years and now running four successful businesses, has showcased its commitment to developing its people by joining The 5% Club, an industry led initiative focussed on driving momentum into the recruitment of apprentices, graduates and sponsored students.

The 5% Club, initiated by Leo Quinn Group CEO of Balfour Beatty in 2013, is a movement of more than 500 employers providing ‘earn and learn’ opportunities to develop the skills and talents people need to become more employable and create meaningful careers. Companies joining The 5% Club commit to raising the number of apprentices, sponsored students and graduates on formal programmes to 5% of their total workforce within five years. Members are also asked to publicly report their progress in their Annual Report. Existing members range from SMEs to FTSEs and cover a number of diverse industries, from engineering through to the legal sector.

From our inception we have always wanted to show true partnering with our clients. To continue this collaborative approach, we feel the need to invest in the future of our business, thus benefitting the industry going forward and securing the skills our group & clients truly require.

In recent years through our four companies, we have put several staff through apprenticeships and training programmes. Our construction division has grown from strength to strength where we will be setting up an apprentice programme and currently evaluating local colleges in the Barnsley area to support us with Graduate Program’s.

Sam Poots – Group CEO commented, “We are delighted to join The 5% Club and pledge our commitment to the future of the UK’s Construction Industry. This initiative to develop future industry specialists falls in line with our Corporate Strategy for sustainability and we are grateful for the opportunity of joining and devoting ourselves as advocates for future generations. By doing this, we will strive to continually have a minimum of 5% of our employees in “earn and learn” positions.”

Gill Cronin, Director of Operations of The 5% Club said, “We’re delighted to welcome SOS Group into membership. The 5% Club provides a fantastic network of HR professionals, sharing and learning from each other. All our members share an ethos of creating a skilled workforce through ‘earn and learn’ development programmes, helping people develop meaningful career paths.”