Tesco Regeneration Partnerships
JET Eastern Link and the new Tesco Deysbrook Regeneration Partnership employees celebrating the completion of their training.
Overview
Sustainable neighbourhood renewal depends on reinvigorating community life through more economic activity, more businesses, and more jobs. The Tesco Regeneration Partnerships match up the needs of deprived communities with our development programme to provide value and quality for customers and create jobs and services for the community. The lessons we have learned mean that no area is a no-go area for investment or for serving customers. We often open stores in areas that initially do not appear to be an attractive investment opportunity, where many others would not choose to invest, but our partnerships can significantly improve the overall economic wealth of these areas. In providing people with jobs they have more money to spend elsewhere, making the whole area more attractive for investment.
The Jobs Guarantee
At the core of the programme is the unique Tesco Job Guarantee, targeted at the local long-term unemployed (over 6 months). Potential recruits are given a job guarantee before they attend a six week training course preparing them for working in store. As long as they complete this course a job with Tesco is guaranteed. The following elements are central to our recruitment process:
Working in partnership with JobCentre Plus, other employment services, residents' associations, local authorities, schools and colleges.
Engaging the long-term unemployed properly to enable them to meet the challenge of work.
Offering a basic skills assessment to identify the training needed to bring candidates up to nationally accredited standards in reading, writing, numeracy and fluency in English.
Before interviewing candidates we provide a seminar of interview techniques, so that people know we are assessing aptitude, not existing qualifications.
Over the past seven years we have completed a total of 15 regeneration partnerships, creating almost 4,000 jobs and helping back into work 2,200 long-term unemployed and disadvantaged people through our job guarantee scheme.
One of our most recent regeneration partnerships is Liverpool Deysbrook. We have opened a new superstore on the site of the former Deysbrook Barracks providing 167 new jobs, 85 of which were through the Regeneration Partnership. The Partnership involved numerous community agencies, including JET (Jobs, Education and Training) Eastern Link. JET business manager Lynne Debazzi said:
"This is not just about putting people back into work, this is life changing. This is the first really major recruitment initiative in the Dovecot area where some families have up to three generations unemployed."
Key facts at a glance
Job creation
Our Regeneration Partnerships have created almost 4,000 jobs, including 2,200 among the long-term unemployed and disabled.
New stores
The process of acquiring land, getting planning permission and building the store has become much more complex, risky and time consuming.
