The difference it makes when our customers #buysocial
By Becky Anderson
I have been working at Nuneaton Signs for two years and I am currently the Construction Account Manager within our commercial team. Before I started, I had no idea what a social enterprise was or what it meant. From my first few weeks, I noticed how working at Nuneaton Signs was like being part of an extended family. Whatever difficulties people may have, there is always support put in place to overcome these obstacles.
It soon became apparent that we wouldn’t be able to do any of this without the support of our excellent customer base. Over the last few years, we have had an outstanding increase in support from new and existing customers which has resulted in our turnover increasing dramatically. This has then led to the employment of 21 new members of staff within 3 years! We have also launched our amazing ‘Supported Internship’ program which supports young adults leaving SEND education and aids them in learning the skills they require to obtain full time work. Seeing their skills and confidence grow in such a small amount of time is truly inspiring. All of this additional work has really helped us to further develop our company’s ethos of ‘providing meaningful and training for people with disabilities’.
With the ever-growing workload within the Construction Account base, we also had Beth join our team. Whilst we were actively looking for an additional member of staff, we interviewed her, and it wasn’t until the end (when we had already decided she was the right person for the job) that she told us she was registered blind. At first, she was nervous to tell us, but we made sure she was aware that we would do everything we could to support her in her new role. She joined us on a Business Administration apprenticeship and with the increase in available funds, we were able to invest in the technology she required to fulfil her job role. Without the support of customers, we wouldn’t be able to do this.
It’s not just additional employment we have been able to provide our staff, we have recently held a ‘Restart a Heart’ training day. We had a first Aid trainer come into to teach all our staff the basics of CPR. Every member of staff was encouraged to participate regardless of their abilities as the trainer was able to adapt the sessions to suit everybody’s needs. Sadly, opportunities like this would not be readily available in every workplace.
All of this is just a snapshot of the amazing work and support that Nuneaton Signs offer to every member of staff that works here and we really couldn’t do it with out all of you so thank you!
For more information about the work we do and how you can support us please visit: www.nuneatonsigns.co.uk
