2. New Staff

3. Introduction from chief

executive

4&5. The 2nd Annual Urban

Futures Staff Conference

6. Interview with Charlene

Greenaway

7. Business Advice Case Study:

Janie Bailes - Janie Pet Services

7. Interview with Conny

Nasmythe - HR at Urban

Futures

8. Apprenticeships at Urban

Futures

9. Apprenticeships at

Outward—Then & Now

10&11. Haringey Education

Business Partnership

11. Booster Plus 2 and Raise

project

12&13. Interview with Dave

Wyatt — Chairman of the

Board of Directors of Urban

Futures

13. An update from Russ

Patrick

14. Current Offers and Services

15. New Uxbridge Office

16. Connect with Urban

Futures

Urban Futures welcomes new staff Charlene Greenaway - Director of Operations

Conny Nasmythe - Human Resources Advisor

Gordon Keenan - Head of Business Development

John Hilton - Head of IT

Bally Singh - Business Manager Wembley

Ben Haynes - Trainee Admin

Joel Ekperigin - Trainee Admin

Natasha Wilson - Team Senior Advisor

David Fosuhene - Employment Advisor

Kunle Bakare - Employment Advisor

2

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This is now our 4th edition of the staff and customer newsletter so hopefully you are all familiar with the format and layout and are thinking of making a contribution to future editions. Remember this is your chance and opportunity to have a say your views are important so don’t stay silent.

Autumn is nearly upon us and we have had a very busy Summer period here at Urban Futures. A number of changes have happened throughout the organisation from top to bottom and we have even changed offices in Uxbridge! So a huge welcome to our new Director of Operations Charlene Greenaway, who started with us in mid April 2013. She has already had a major impact on our service delivery and all for the better, particularly at our HQ in Wood Green where much of the ‘clutter’ has now disappeared and the inter activity between staff and customers is much improved.

A number of staff have gone to pastures new and we wish them every success in their future careers. This has meant that we have welcomed a whole array of new staff as well and some were in time to make our 2nd Annual Staff Conference which was held in July in west London at the Premier Inn. This Conference, like our newsletters, is an ideal way for all of the staff to get together to discuss business planning and we will continue to develop these communication methods year on year.

Over the coming months and subsequent newsletters, we intend to raise the profile of the Urban Futures Board Members and their crucial role in the governance of the organisation. They have the task of ensuring that everything we do meets the founding Aims & Objectives of the company (remember we are a ‘not for profit’ organisation and social enterprise) as well as

ensuring that our finances are sound and that we are meeting our costs and producing surpluses. Their perspective on life, the development of the company and their own personal careers will be illuminating for all.

We will also increasingly raise the profile of our sister company, Haringey Education Business Partnership (HEBP). They share our offices here in Wood Green and although a small staffing team they certainly punch above their weight here in the London Borough of Haringey. We believe they are a fantastic complimentary service provider to Urban Futures and they deliver services to over 2,000 Haringey school children. They deserve to have their praises sung!

So if you’re a customer with us then let us help you to either retrain, get a job, or upskill your knowledge so you can move on to better things. You are the reason we exist and we need to know that you are happy with our services. And if you’re a staff member, remember you are the company asset that supports and helps our customers to achieve their goals so please ensure that you are talking to the right people in order to deliver that quality service. Let’s make sure we can all make a difference to each other’s lives.

Steve Delaney, Chief Executive.

On Monday 15th July 2013, staff members

from across all eight Urban Futures offices

convened for the second annual staff

conference. The theme for the conference was

‘Delivering Best Practice through Quality

Services’.

Cllr. Del Goddard, a board member and vice

chair for Urban Futures was the compere for

the conference. The main aims and objectives

of the conference were namely:

· Continuing to understand the business and

contributing to plans in an ever evolving

working environment by delivering a

quality service

· Recognising and understanding best practice

in the delivery of an employer led service

(e.g. Heathrow Retail Academy)

· Understanding and taking responsibility for

your personal role in the success of the

organisation.

The main subject areas covered in the

conference included a company update by

Steve Delaney which featured an

introduction to Urban Futures, the current

Vision, Mission and Objectives and what the

company presently delivers. The update also

detailed what has happened within the

company over the past year and focused on

what direction the company is heading in.

Karima Sakhi; the manager for the Heathrow

Retail Academy and Antoinette Mitchell;

Recruitment Account Manager explained

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Urban Futures’ role with the Academy and

highlighted the valued relationship Urban

Futures has with the Academy.

The new business plan for 2013-14 was also

shared for the first time and details on the

new upcoming pensions scheme were

explained by Urban Futures new HR

manager Conny Nasmythe.

All staff took part in four workshops to

allow the opportunity for staff to

contribute towards the business plan and

the direction of the company. Topics

included Business Planning for Welfare to

Work Services; led by Richard Penny,

Business Planning for Young People

Services; led by Derek Wheeler, New

Products (employability or other); led by

Antoinette Mitchell and Quality Service

Provision – Why we need it; led by Anita

Garrard.

From top to bottom/left to right: Steve Delaney –

CEO of Urban Futures, Richard Penny – Operations

Manager (Welfare to Work), Anita Garrard

(standing) – Training & Quality Manager, Michael

Locke – Business Advisor, Del Goddard – Vice chair

for Urban Futures and compere for the conference.

5

Q: Charlene Greenaway, welcome to Urban Futures, how are you settling in? A: Have settled in well. Everyone has been really welcoming and responsive, which has made settling in much smoother Q: What is your official job title here at Urban Futures? A: Director of Operations Q: Fill us in on your day to day tasks. A: No day is ever the same, so I do not have day to day tasks. More like day to day priorities! A typical morning involves me answering lots of emails, daily catch up with direct reports, meetings/telephone calls with stakeholders/external contract managers, MI analysis, setting the priorities for the day and coming weeks, and of course responding to anything urgent which needs my attention. I then focus the afternoon on planning and development – i.e. – How do we manage and identify talent? Do we have the correct systems in place to manage performance? Q: What did you do before Urban Futures and what made you decide to join? A: I worked for Working Links for 10 years, starting on the front line as a consultant (Advisor position here), and rising to National Operations Manager for Work Choice. During those years I have worked in Admin, Finance, Employer Solutions (Employer Engagement here), Engagement, Business Manager etc. and worked on a number of contracts in the industry. Q: How are the projects you’re involved in currently doing? A: Now that’s a really big question! Some of the

contracts have several challenges,

however we are now beginning to turn those contracts around and back into strong performance. I am also working on producing MI for the business and can already see the impact it’s having on not only managing performance, but assisting with planning for performance. Q: How would you sum up your managerial style? A: Highly demanding, but highly supportive. I enjoy developing people and am always striving for perfection. I am a visionary leader, with a keen eye for detail. Q: What are the best things about working at Urban Futures? A: The people and variety of contracts. No one day is the same. It’s a great feeling when you are in an organisation that’s passionate about what they do, and you are open to new ways of working. Even better - head office is 10 minutes away from home. Q: If you won £10,000,000 what would you buy first? A: I would be booking a sandals holiday and annual leave…

For more Information please contact Charlene.greenaway@urbanfutures.org.uk

6

Urban Futures

provide dedicated

business support

functions to help

customers, both

employed and

unemployed start

up their own

businesses with our

dedicated business

advisor; Michael Locke.

Case Study - Janie Pet Services

Janie provides a dog walking, doggie daycare

and holiday pet sitting service. She also tends

to any other pet requirements such as

feeding etc. She previously worked for RBS in

the foreign payment client services

department but was made redundant. Janie

decided to work with animals after

volunteering in a Bear Rescue centre in China

for Animals Asia. She studied canine

behaviour and wolf ecology years ago and

decided to create a business from what she

knew best.

“Michael Locke was an incredible mentor... I

realised I really could do this. Michael

encouraged me and taught me all I needed

to know, so that I went from being

apprehensive and cautious, to being

confident and successful!”

In a years’ time, Janie hopes to have an even

larger client base and to maybe expand even

further with training and move to a bigger

house so she can have 'dog quarters'.

For more Information please contact

michael.locke@urbanfutures.org.uk 7

Q: Conny Nasmythe, welcome to Urban Futures, how are you finding it so far? A: Thank you, I’m doing pretty well at the moment, things have settled down well I think. I have more or less met or at least spoken to everyone in Urban

Futures via email at some point over the last 4 months. Things are now at a point where I have now stopped looking stunned and feel very enthusiastic about my future work here. Q: What is your official job title here? A: Officially, my job title is HR Advisor. Q: What did you do before Urban Futures and what made you decide to join? A: I've always wanted to be somewhere where I could have a greater input into the daily workings and changes within a company. When previously working for a charity, I realised that I quite liked the community programme arena. The opportunity to work at Urban Futures presented itself at the right time, I was looking for an organisation where I could utilise my skills and learn lots more. I had a limited knowledge of work programmes and community projects, but the appetite I have for organisational culture, balanced with wanting to help individuals understand their organisation better made Urban Futures appealing to me. Q: What are the best things about working at Urban Futures? A: The variety in my day. I could be talking about what cakes to bake (for those of you that know) and then dealing with an employee’s serious question on contract content or congratulating staff on the new arrivals within their families then dealing with a breach of contract. Working for UF and supporting the staff who are the organisation’s greatest assets can be challenging on a general level but extremely rewarding by seeing the results take shape.

For more Information please contact conny.nasmythe@urbanfutures.org.uk

In April 2013, Urban Futures secured a

contract with the Skills and Funding Agency

(SFA) to deliver the apprenticeship

programme for anyone currently not in

education, employment or training and

between the ages of 16-18. The programme

was secured because of Urban Futures

previous success in delivering the

apprenticeship programme through lead

providers.

The majority of apprentices were sourced

from the National Apprenticeship Service

(NAS) website.

Apprenticeships offer young people a

structured pathway into the world of work

through supported training, on-site mentoring

and vocational qualifications. So far, Urban

Futures has hired nine new apprentices

through the scheme across our six offices.

Roles include trainee administration,

receptionist roles and compliance work.

8

Q. How did you apply for the position? A. Granville from HEBP came to Haringey 6th Form where I went to college to talk about work experience. I applied for work experience with HEBP by sending my CV to Granville. I was successful and worked there for 2 weeks. In January 2013, Granville contacted me again about apprenticeships at Urban Futures. I came for an interview and successfully got the job which led to an apprenticeship. Q. What were you doing before the apprenticeship programme? A. I was in Haringey 6th Form College studying Business Level 2 Q. How are you finding working at Urban Futures as an apprentice? A. I’m finding it really enjoyable working as an apprentice and it has also helped me to learn more skills and build my confidence.

Urban Futures also sourced apprentices for five

different companies doing a variety of roles; these

companies include Compupaye, Resources for

Autism, London Care, Relocate-me and Intertops

For more Information please contact

Karanjit.paul@urbanfutures.org.uk

In August 2012, Urban Futures

on behalf of Outward (A North

East London care charity) were

asked to source 20 apprentices

within the health & social care

and business administration

sectors.

Urban Futures apprentice

coordinator Karanjit Paul and

marketing team member

Aaron Sands started sourcing

candidates using primarily the

National Apprenticeship

Service (NAS) website where

many candidates applied for

the positions. After an influx of

interest, on the 14th September

2012, Urban Futures held an

information day about

Outward and what the

company offers. Over 30

candidates arrived for the

meeting. We held an in-depth

information session explaining

what Outward does, what they

offer, their services and how

Urban Futures will support

them through their

apprenticeship if successful.

Urban Futures stayed in

contact with all the candidates

during the time period

between the information day

and the forthcoming interviews

with Outward. On the 23rd

October 2012, Outward held a

process to determine which

candidates would be hired. This

included a candidate

introduction where they were

spilt into 4 groups to partake in

a group exercise which

culminated into a presentation

from each group on their

specific topic. Finally, after the

group exercise, individual

interviews were conducted to

determine the final candidates.

Out of the 25 candidates, 18

were hired for Outward and

started work on the 19th

November, 2012.

After 10 successful months, all

18 apprentices are still happily

working at Outward with

the support of Urban

Futures. Urban Futures have

supported these

apprentices by providing

National Vocational

Qualification (NVQ) training

twice a month at our Wood

Green office where they

meet an assessor to

complete coursework and

take functioning skills and

NVQ exams. We have also

supported these

apprentices by providing

them with NUS and oyster

card discounts.

9

The Haringey Education Business

Partnership seeks to connect young people

with the world of work through

development of learning opportunities

that inform, inspire and prepare them for

their future life and work.

This is achieved through the delivery of a

menu of education-business activities

which develop young people’s knowledge

and understanding of the world of work

whilst enhancing their employability skills.

A common and key factor is that all

activities are delivered in partnership with

and through business and community

organisations. HEBP’s priority has always

been to develop bespoke programmes and

opportunities that meet the specific needs

of the curriculum, young people and our

partners in the business and wider

community.

The HEBP team currently consists of (from

Left to Right) Nurcan Ali (Office and Project

Administrator), Sherry Anadie (Work

Experience Manager), Talent Ramsamy

(Work Experience Co-Cordinator) and

Granvile Barrand (Manager of HEBP).

HEBP currently provide the following

services…

Work Experience - A period of time,

usually one or two weeks, spent working in a

company and undertaking the activities of a

young worker.

Interview Skills - Young people

attend a company for a 'real'

interview and get feedback on

their performance, prior to leaving

school and applying for jobs or

college places.

Enterprise Challenge - Young

people, supported

by a business

person, learn about

and undertake

10

the processes involved in setting up and

running a business.

Careers Fair - An event at which young

people are able to meet and talk to

representatives from local employers,

training providers and further education

colleges.

Health & Safety Accreditation - As part of

the preparation for work experience, young

people study a course leading to the British

Safety Council Level 1 Award in Health &

Safety at Work.

Pre Apprenticeship Programme - An ESF

project managed by the London EBP

Network, helping young people to learn

about and access apprenticeships.

Innovation Fund - The Innovation Fund

Round 2 is funded by the DWP over a three

year period from November 2012. The

Fund is designed to provide enhanced

support to the most disadvantaged young

people in society and requires projects to

focus on innovative ways of addressing the

issues and barriers that make young people

more at risk of becoming long-term NEET.

Participants are aged 14/15 years and can

link with the project through into further

education, work and/or apprenticeships.

For more Information please contact

Granville.barrand@hepb.co.uk

Urban Futures are delivering 2 new ESF based employability projects. The RAISE project is sub-contracted to Urban Futures by Eailing, Hammersmith & West London College. Urban Futures are the Prime Contractor for the Booster Plus programme. Urban Futures also sub contract part of the project to the Selby Trust and Newlon Fusion. ESF employability support programmes are targeted at those considered to be economically inactive (people who are not seeking work or are not available to start work immediately).

Urban Futures’ element of the programme targets people from ethnic minority communities living in the London boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Camden, Ealing, Enfield, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Hillingdon, Islington, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.

Through the programme each individual will receive a minimum 6 hours personalised IAG support with the aim of guiding them into sustained employment for at least 1 full year. There are also opportunities for participants to gain work experience and qualifications through job placements, further training and education and vocational courses whilst enrolled on the programmes.

For more Information please contact alaric.williams@urbanfutures.org.uk

11

Q. You hold the position ‘Chairman of the Urban Futures Board, what does that entail?

A. The role can be broken down into several parts

in addition to the general responsibilities of the

board – To attend and chair the 4 board meeting

we have each year and attend the policy and

resource committee meetings where we review in

more detail the company’s financial performance

and forecasts. I have a responsibility to ensure

that we have a board that is composed of the

right people to help the business drive forward

and meet its objectives. It’s also important that

I’m available for both Steve & Garba to call and

talk to about issues.

Q. How many board members are there? Who are they?

A. There are currently 8 board members although we are looking to increase that by another one or two.

Dave Wyatt – Chairman of the Urban Futures Board

Del Goddard – Vice chair UF – LBE councillor (Cabinet member)

John Gray – Managing Director Diamond Build

Huw Jones – CEO North London Chamber of Commerce

Paula Jeffery – CEO Enfield Voluntary Action

Peter Butler – Origin Housing

Steve Delaney – CEO of Urban Futures

Garba Sani – Director of Finance, HR and Central Services of Urban Futures

Q. What are a Board Member’s responsibilities?

A. It is the board’s responsibility to set and

agree the strategy for the business and make

sure it operating in line with the overall

objectives that the company was set up to do.

It is also responsible to make sure the company

is a financially viable business and is operating

in a legal and compliant way and that it has the

right management in place to ensure it meets

these objectives. Board members also

represent and promote UF interests in the

wider community. 12

Pictured L to R - Del Goddard - Vice Chair of

UF and Dave Wyatt - Chairman of UF.

Q. You also work with another company, who are they, what position do you hold and what do they do?

A. I work for GE Lighting which is part of a

division of General Electric (USA) which is a huge

multinational company that has sales of

$147billion and employs over 300 thousand

people that makes from Jet engines to medical

scanners and light bulbs to financial services.

I am the Operations Finance manager for our

Lighting business in Europe Middle east and

Africa which means I have financial

responsibility for all our factories warehouse

and inventory in the region. We manufacture

and sell all forms of lighting from household

bulbs to roadway and street lighting and

industrial to automotive.

Q. Urban Futures is larger than ever before and soon to have more than 100 staff members, with that in mind where do you see the company in five years time?

Looking forward 5 years is a bit like guessing the

lottery. I think we need to learn from the past

that guessing out so far is almost impossible if

you looked back over the last 5 years would we

have predicted all that has happened,

government may change who knows where

unemployment will be and what schemes will be

in place. I think we have to focus on having an

organisation that is flexible and skilled that are

continuously up to date on programs and

technical schemes so that UF are able to exploit

opportunities as they appear. In addition we

have to continue to enhance our reputation for

delivery, service and being a great partner to

work with so we are the first people think of

calling when an opportunity arises.

Russ Patrick, former

Director of Operations

for Urban Futures left

the company in March 2013 to take up a two

year placement with the Voluntary Services

Overseas in Northern Uganda working with

and supporting young people.

“Hope all is going well with Urban Futures. The

organisation I work with in Uganda was asked

to tender for something that didn't really exist

but hopefully it will all work out in the end. The

centre in Uganda is getting its act into gear over

its training. Their outreach centres are literally

fields in the middle of nowhere so collecting

data is fun!

We are getting loads of kids into the centre

after school as there are no play facilities. We

have put up a volleyball net and got a couple of

footballs and a Frisbee so we are popular.

Hardly any of the kids will progress to

secondary school at 14/15 as the schools are

bad in Uganda and they can't afford the fees so

all the kids playing here are our future trainees.

We now have 10 chickens, 2 goats, 2 pigs on

their way, and two good vegetable gardens.

Also, working on some tree nurseries too -

hopefully someone in the West will pay us for

carbon offsetting.

Also, we’re trying to get VSO to donate

something to an Annual Business Award for the

best trainee's business plan, the sums needed

over here are tiny. To put that in perspective, if

Urban Futures wanted to donate £100 that

would be 400,000 Ugandan Shillings and would

set up a business!” 13

14

Contact:

aaron.sands@urbanfutures.org.uk

or

robert.prague@urbanfutures.org.uk

Alternatively, you can contact by telephone on 020 8352 5900 or via the website and other electronic connections detailed.

Interview with the new Head of IT—John Hilton

Interview with the new head of business development— Gordon Keenan

The new Urban Futures Annual Report 2012/13

Latest Urban Futures Services & Offers

Training case studies

Go for It! - A new programme from Urban Futures

Here at Urban Futures we welcome input and ideas from all staff and customers. If you have any ideas for articles of interest or new design formats then please forward these to the marketing department.

What to expect from our next edition Newsletter coming soon…

Our Uxbridge Office has moved to:

Boundary House, Cricket Field Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 1QG.

Phone Number: 01895 544 333

15

www.urbanfutures.org.uk

www.urbanfuturesjobs.org.uk

www.facebook.com/urbanfutures

www.twitter.com/urbanfuturesuk

Email: info@urbanfutures.org.uk Urban Futures, Unit A012, The Chocolate Factory,

Clarendon Road, Wood Green, London, N22 6XJ

Urban Futures is a company registered in England & Wales.

Company registration number: 04131420.