Sainsbury’s and Remploy announce that their partnership has led to 1,000 colleagues gaining employment with the retailer

The ceremony, held at Sainsbury's Headrow, was attended by Gwyn Burr of Sainsbury's and Tim Massey of Remploy. The 1,000th colleague, Jackie Walsh, was also there to join in the celebrations.

Gwyn Burr, Sainsbury's Customer Service and Colleague Director, said:

"At Sainsbury's we take great pride in ensuring our stores are a Great Place to Work and our partnership with Remploy plays a big part in this. The colleagues we have recruited via Remploy are all passionate about delivering great service to our customers and working as part of a team, something that is crucial in retail. To get to this milestone is a great achievement and I look forward to working closely with Remploy in future to help even more candidates find work."

Tim Massey, Remploy's National Account Director, said:

"Our partnership with Sainsbury's is crucial in helping us support people who are furthest from the jobs market into sustainable work."

"We are now looking forward to a step change in our partnership, which will see the development of exciting new programmes designed to significantly increase the number of disabled and disadvantaged into work with Sainsbury's."

Jackie Walsh had been unemployed for 18 months before she became the 1000th Remploy candidate to be supported into work with Sainsbury's. She said:

"I am absolutely thrilled to be the 1,000th candidate, it is a real honour. After I left my previous role I struggled to get work so when I was offered the role at Sainsbury's I leapt at the chance. Everyone has been so supportive and I really enjoy working here. I hope that even more organisations will follow Sainsbury's example to see the difference Remploy candidates can make to their workforce."

Hilary Benn MP for Leeds Central said:

"I would like to congratulate Sainsbury's on this achievement. It shows what an important job Remploy does in helping to find jobs for disabled people."

Sainsbury's and Remploy began their relationship in 2006 and in 2010/11 helped 574 people with complex barriers to work find permanent employment. Sainsbury's partnership with Remploy is part of its wider 'You Can' initiative, designed to both help people back into the workplace and give the retailers existing colleagues the support, training and skills they need to succeed.

Remploy aims to transform the lives of disabled people and those who experience complex barriers to work by supporting them into sustainable employment. It operates a network of more than 60 town and city centre branches, providing tailored specialist employment support for candidates and employers. In 2010/11 it helped more than 20,000 candidates find permanent roles.

-Ends-

Notes to editors

Sainsbury's relies on 150,000 colleagues to deliver great service to customers every single day.

The company is committed to championing equality, diversity, inclusion and flexible working options for colleagues and remains committed to recruiting, retaining and engaging the best people, from backgrounds that reflect the communities they serve. The company ethos is that every colleague, no matter where they work or the role they perform, should be encouraged to develop and make best use of their skills.

The quality of training offered at Sainsbury's six Food Colleges and its Bakery College has recently been accredited by City & Guilds, the UK's largest provider of tertiary education. This is the largest ever accreditation in the history of City & Guilds and testament to the our commitment to giving our colleagues all of the opportunities they need to learn new skills and develop

ABOUT REMPLOY

Last year Remploy found jobs in mainstream employment for more than 20,000 people with a range of physical, sensory and mental disabilities and other disadvantages.
Remploy operates a national network of 60 town and city centre recruitment branches and offices providing specialist recruitment and development services to job seekers
Remploy partners with more than 2,500 of the country's biggest employers including BT, ASDA, Royal Mail, Sainsbury's, the NHS and Marks & Spencer
The company operates a national network of 54 factories, which employs more than 2,000 disabled people. It is the country's largest specialist employer of people with disabilities and health conditions
Remploy supplies chemical biological radiological and nuclear (CBRN) protection suits to police and armed forces in the UK and abroad and manufactures components for leading motor manufacturers
It operates an IT re-cycling business which supports organisations in eliminating their risk of data loss, by securely removing sensitive data from end-of-use IT servers, desktops, PCs, Notebooks, Printers and handheld devices
Remploy employs more than 250 disabled people providing CCTV coverage in 30 towns and cities across the country.