Trinity supports Microsoft in helping get Britain back to work

Trinity Expert Systems Ltd has been working with Microsoft and a number of other organisations as part of Microsoft’s ‘Britain Works’ programme, launched in September 2009, to help get Britain back to work.

Over a period of three years, Microsoft is committed to tackling the issue of rising unemployment in the UK by helping half a million people into jobs in areas of the economy that will lead to recovery. A series of partnerships with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community learning centres and public authorities, have opened up thousands of digital jobs requiring the use of computer skills in a range of industries, from manufacturing to services and the IT industry itself.

There are four main elements to the Britain Works programme - partnerships with employment-focussed NGOs, apprenticeships, technology startups and access to skills training.

In 2009, Trinity embarked on Microsoft’s partner apprenticeship scheme which was piloted in the West Midlands region and will later be rolled out to a national offer. Trinity has worked dedicatedly with JobCentre Plus to recruit apprentices onto the scheme who are then trained by a Microsoft IT academy, and after six months offered a full time position within the company.

With the support of other partners like Trinity, the apprenticeship scheme has proved hugely effective in helping people get back into work who would otherwise have found it more difficult. Adrian Moore, Head of Enterprise Services Group at Trinity, has been responsible for driving the Microsoft apprenticeship scheme forward. As a founding partner in the original apprenticeship scheme, Adrian is committed to continually shaping the scheme and extending the opportunities to apprentices and the wider community.

Adrian comments “The value placed on the Microsoft apprenticeship scheme is immense as it allows us to target the latent talent present in many youngsters, and develop them into professional IT personnel. For those youngsters whom university may not be a suitable or viable option, the apprenticeship offers an alternative way into the profession which is based on experience rather than academic ability, and allows us to tap into an underutilised pool of talent.”

Trinity along with other partners from the ‘Britain Works’ programme has been invited by Microsoft to celebrate the success of the programme at a Parliamentary Reception in the House of Commons on Tuesday 15 June. Trinity will be joined by MPs and policy makers to mark the achievements to date.