Task force signposts job support for Phones4U employees

A ‘taskforce’ of public and private sector partners has been created  in response to the news that Phones4u has gone into administration with the loss of hundreds of jobs in Newcastle and Stoke and thousands more nationally.

The public and private sector partners have joined forces to offer direct and indirect help, focused initially through an Employee Support Event but as part of a larger strategy to support local people looking for employment.

The event took place at Newcastle College on Tuesday, 7 October, and included a Jobs Fair, workshops and employment advice.

A wide-range of organisations have taken part as well as the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local enterprise Partnership including, Staffordshire County Council, Newcastle Borough Council, Stoke City Council, the Department for Work and Pensions, Jobcentre Plus, Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce, Citizens Advice Bureau and both Newcastle and Stoke colleges.

Over 70 per cent of the thousands people affected by the closure of Phones4U live in Staffordshire, with a majority of those living in Stoke or Newcastle.

David Frost, Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership, said, “We have put this task force together as soon as possible in the wake of the Phones 4U announcement to enable people previously employed by the company to access opportunities available. We will take whatever steps are necessary to get those that have been made ‎redundant into a job or give them additional training to enable them to build on their existing skills.

“The LEP and its partners have worked hard to increase job creation in our area and we are confident people will be able to match some of those vacancy requirements or retrain. We are making significant investment in improving skills and want as many people as possible to take advantage of new opportunities.”