Mr Jones said he wanted to address the issue of unemployed graduates in the city by attracting young talent to his Manchester-based firm. He is recruiting 50 graduates this summer in the first stage of the scheme taking the total number of staff to 300.
The group, which launched a training academy in 2011, said it was investing £4.5m over two years in the recruitment drive. It will offer graduates starting salaries of £19,000, rising to £30,000 with bonuses, and will provide a purpose-built training facility for the company’s new recruits.
Mr Jones believes the scheme will allow the business to outperform its growth targets for 2013 of 25 per cent as it looks to reach turnover of £25m plus this year. He said: “There’s a market of talented, energetic people in Britain looking for a step up, a break. It’s my duty as an entrepreneur with ambitions to expand massively, to give them the opportunity. It’s a win-win.”
He added: “Apprenticeship schemes don’t fit for graduates – they come out of university with a £40,000 plus debt and who is going to help them out? “It is time for us business owners to stand tall and find a business model that helps them. I don’t understand why businesses aren’t doing this already. This is not an apprenticeship or a typical graduate scheme, it’s a real training programme with real salaries and bonuses.”
Source: Manchester Evening News
