Chamber says employing ex offenders could help fill East Midlands vacancies

East Midlands Chamber officials are advising businesses in the region looking to recruit in 2025 to consider ex-offenders, as HMP Sudbury holds an employment fair to highlight skills valuable to employers.

HMP Sudbury’s Employment Advisory Board will host a careers fair on 31st January that aims to bring employers together with prisoners reaching the end of a sentence to explore scope for recruitment. HMP Fosse Way ran a similar event last Autumn. 

The Chamber supports the UK Fair Chance Business Alliance which encourages employers to open recruitment and career progression to people that have previously offended by promoting the benefits to businesses.

East Midlands Chamber Director of Resources Lucy Robinson said: “Recruiters need applicants that can hit the ground running and all too often finding the right person is a challenge, as our own Quarterly Economic Survey demonstrated, where 7 out of 10 East Midlands businesses that tried to recruit said they’d struggled to get the right candidate.

“There’s a vast talent pool among ex-offenders, many of whom have longstanding skills from previous employment, while the skills programmes that exist in many of the region’s prisons are excellent.  These could be ideal for a wide range of sectors like digital, logistics, manufacturing, engineering, construction, administration and transport.

“I’d certainly urge businesses eager to recruit to take full advantage of employment fairs when they occur, as they’re an excellent opportunity to see for yourself the range of skills.”