North East property and energy firm the Banks Group has been on parade at Catterick Garrison to give Service leavers preparing to move on from the Armed Forces some advice and ideas for working in Civvy Street.
The County Durham-headquartered firm took part in a careers insight day at the North Yorkshire barracks which was designed to look at how Service leavers’ skills and experience could be used in civilian life, and to highlight the type of career opportunities that Banks could have available when they leave the services.
The event was aimed at Service personnel with up to two years left to serve as part of helping ease their transition into their new working lives.
The Banks Group presentation, which was led by group human resources manager Keith Tarn, was predominantly aimed at Service leavers with engineering, heavy plant operating and manual skills.
It covered the work done by the different divisions of the family-owned firm, and the employment and training opportunities that it offers across them.
Jon Lee, Employer Relationship Manager for the MOD’s resettlement programme, Career Transition Partnership (CTP), says: “Making a successful move into Civvy Street requires a lot of preparation, especially for Service leavers who have long Service records and who might not have had any other workplace experience aside from the military.
“The training that our Service personnel receive during their careers enable them to develop a huge range of transferable skills, and we work with employers around the region to identify workplace situations in which they might be put to use.
“The Banks Group’s presentation was extremely well received by everyone attending, and will have given them food for thought as they prepare to make their transition to civilian life.”
The Banks Group has made significant investments in staff training and development over recent years, including the appointment of a full-time trainer and the creation of a modular training programme which provides a framework for skills and career development opportunities for over 200 operational employees.
Keith Tarn, group human resources manager at The Banks Group, adds: “We’re continuing to invest in creating and sustaining skilled jobs in the UK through our energy generation divisions, which helps to provide more of the energy that we need to power our homes, schools, hospitals and key industries from indigenous sources and thus reduces our reliance on importing overseas energy supplies.
“To put it simply, in terms of Banks Mining, if we do not produce our own coal for things like steel, cement, food and electricity production, we simply import more coal from places like Russia, the USA and Colombia.
“The Armed Forces produce highly-skilled, motivated, hardworking and loyal personnel, all of which are attributes that any business would want in their workforce, and we’ve previously employed a number of Service leavers who have gone on to do well within our ranks.
“Having the chance to speak directly to potential new recruits with the sort of skills that we know will be required in roles that we have available is very useful for everyone involved, and we’re very pleased to be playing a part in helping them make the transition into the next stage of their working lives.”
