SEGRO and Career Ready support young people on their career journey in the East Midlands

The programme forms a core part of SEGRO’s Community Investment Plan for the East Midlands, designed to boost skills, training and employment opportunities for the local community as well as enhancing the local environment and biodiversity.

Over 60 people attended an event hosted by SEGRO’s customer and global logistics company, CEVA Logistics, to celebrate the positive impact the programme is having and also encourage more businesses to get involved. The event included a tour of CEVA’s state-of-the art logistics hub at SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway, which is within the East Midlands Freeport.

The partnership between SEGRO and Career Ready, which started in 2021, aims to put a total of 165 young people through the full career development programme by 2025. This will provide each participant with 1-2-1 mentoring, workplace visits, and a paid internship. A further 1600 students will also benefit from skills masterclasses delivered in the schools and many more thousand will benefit from free online Career Ready resources that will be made available to all secondary schools and colleges in the area.

23 local businesses in the East Midlands, including SEGRO’s customers and suppliers, as well as the public sector, academia and wider industry contacts, are supporting the programme by providing volunteers to work with the students.

Speakers at the event included Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa, CEO at Career Ready, and Andrew Pilsworth, Chief of Staff at SEGRO. There was also an opportunity to hear from mentors and mentees who are benefitting from the programme, who shared their personal experiences and learnings.

Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa, CEO, at Career Ready, said:

“We are extremely grateful to SEGRO and CEVA for their support in showcasing the many opportunities that exist in the logistics sector. One of the biggest barriers for young people can be a lack of understanding of what a job involves, which is why direct contact with companies and professionals is so important.”

Andrew Pilsworth, Chief of Staff at SEGRO, said:

“SEGRO’s partnership with Career Ready underlines our commitment to supporting the communities where we operate, particularly by helping young people make that important first step towards employment.

“The logistics sector is a key driver of economic growth and is evolving rapidly as technology advances and companies place even more emphasis on supply chain efficiency and resilience. It is vital that we attract the next generation of talent to the sector and ensure that these exciting career opportunities are available to all.”

The East Midlands Community Investment Plan is a key element of the Responsible SEGRO commitment to boost skills, training and employment, as well as enhancing the local environment and biodiversity, in the communities where it operates across the UK and Continental Europe. It is one of ten plans that were launched in 2022.

The plan is being delivered in partnership with its customers, suppliers and local charity partners to undertake a range of projects with the aim of achieving the following outcomes by the end of 2025:

• 5,000 young people will be engaged through SEGRO’s Schools Programme
• 300 unemployed people will participate in bespoke skills, and training programmes
• 6 outdoor spaces will be reinvigorated to improve biodiversity and support community wellbeing

About SEGRO

SEGRO is a UK Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), listed on the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris, and is a leading owner, manager and developer of modern warehouses and industrial property.  It owns or manages 10.3 million square metres of space (110 million square feet) valued at £21.0 billion serving customers from a wide range of industry sectors. Its properties are located in and around major cities and at key transportation hubs in the UK and in seven other European countries.

For over 100 years SEGRO has been creating the space that enables extraordinary things to happen. From modern big box warehouses, used primarily for regional, national and international distribution hubs, to urban warehousing located close to major population centres and business districts, it provides high-quality assets that allow its customers to thrive. 

A commitment to be a force for societal and environmental good is integral to SEGRO’s purpose and strategy. Its Responsible SEGRO framework focuses on three long-term priorities where the company believes it can make the greatest impact: Championing Low-Carbon Growth, Investing in Local Communities and Environments and Nurturing Talent. 

Striving for the highest standards of innovation, sustainable business practices and enabling economic and societal prosperity underpins SEGRO’s ambition to be the best property company.

See www.SEGRO.com for further information.

Career Ready

Career Ready is a UK-wide social mobility charity that links schools and colleges with employers to help prepare young people for the world of work. Career Ready was founded in 2002 and currently works across the UK to support young people from diverse and under-represented backgrounds. 

Career Ready delivers a targeted programme of paid internships, mentoring, workplace visits, and skills masterclasses for young people. Career Ready currently supports 2,000 young people in 240 schools and colleges across the UK, in partnership with over 300 employers and 2,200 volunteers.

According to impact research, this has a transformational difference on young lives, boosting their social mobility, attainment, and wellbeing:

• 98% of Career Ready alumni went onto positive destinations
• 97% of Career Ready students said their internship helped them develop skills that would be useful in their future career
• Career Ready alumni have a network twice the same of their non-programme peers
• 81% of employer said, given the opportunity, they would hire their Career Ready intern

To find out more about Career Ready, contact tom.rippon@careerready.org.uk or visit www.careerready.org.uk