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Case Study: Heathrow Supporting the recruitment needs of commercial partners
ABOUT THE COMPANY
WHAT WAS DONE?
Heathrow is the world’s busiest international airport, with 90 airlines serving 180 destinations. It is also the UK’s largest employment site, with almost 77,000 staff working for over 300 companies. BAA employs 5,500 people at Heathrow.
The Heathrow Retail Academy was established to support recruitment at Terminal 5 by training local people to be ‘work-ready’ for vacancies as and when they arise among retailers. At the same time it helps individuals in the community to gain access to, and progress through, employment. The Academy helps its participants to overcome barriers to employment; it also helps candidates to undertake nationally-recognised qualifications once in work so that a retail job becomes a sustainable career with progression opportunities.
THE CHALLENGE FOR THE COMPANY Retailers at Heathrow, owned and operated by BAA subsidiary Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL), had reported challenges in recruiting and retaining staff with the right skills. Because retail units at Heathrow operate on a concessionary basis (with a proportion of profits going to HAL), retailer performance has a direct impact on HAL’s bottom line, and staffing levels and competencies are key determinants of retailer profitability. Therefore it made sense for HAL to seek to address this challenge by creating a robust pipeline of new recruits through its Work Inclusion programme, the Heathrow Retail Academy.
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The employment initiative has evolved over the last five years and is now centred on a 30-hour training course that is delivered by not-for-profit regeneration company Urban Futures from a training suite at Heathrow that HAL provides rent-free. The initiative is overseen by a partnership that includes local authorities and HAL, with funding support from the London Development Agency and European Social Fund.
Business in the Community / Work Inclusion Guide / Case Studies