Safeguard put training on the menu

Norman Stoller presents a Get Oldham Working ambassador certificate to Ben Ingham of Safeguard Group during the event

A FIRM specialising in engineering and maintenance services for the hospitality and leisure industry has unveiled a new training centre with help from Norman Stoller CBE.

The Safeguard Group welcomed philanthropist Mr Stoller - former chief executive of Seton Healthcare - to its new centre at Arkwright Street in Chadderton.

Safeguard provides air conditioning, commercial refrigeration, drainage and lighting services to clients ranging from national restaurant chains to local businesses.

The new venture, Safeguard Training Fusion Ltd, will offer training and qualifications in catering and hospitality, plumbing, plastering, electrics and gas engineering.

The project has been planned for two years with test projects held in schools, youth groups and charities.

Ben Ingham, Safeguard’s education and community spokesman, said: “As a business, there have been times when we haven’t been able to fill our vacancies, and not just for specialist trades such as gas fitting. Many applicants had poor or no basic English and maths.

“We decided that the only way to support people coming into the workplace was to train them ourselves. Students will work alongside our employees and those of our clients, who will send their own people here instead of wasting precious time teaching them on site.”

Mr Stoller watched a cookery demonstration with other guests including Nick Hopkinson MBE, from Onside Youth Zones, which helps run Mahdlo in Oldham.

The event was followed by a networking lunch attended by members of Oldham and Rochdale councils, business groups, the NHS and the Oldham Council of Mosques.

Safeguard Group has supported the Get Oldham Working campaign and enjoyed various successes in the Oldham Business Awards.

In 2014, Ben Ingham was shortlisted in three categories and won the Community Engagement Award as a mentor for North Chadderton School and a business and community governor at Middleton Technology School. Mr Stoller presented him with an ambassador’s certificate from the Get Oldham Working campaign.