Ixion is pleased to announce that on behalf of NHS North West, Ixion has been appointed to deliver the contract to improve the range of services offered to the Armed Forces Community (veterans and service families) in the North West.

Press Release

The Government has announced a new £200 million outreach service to help England's most troubled families. Run in conjunction with local authorities and the organisations delivering the Work Programme, the new service will help families with multiple problems overcome barriers to employment.

This follows on from the Prime Minister’s announcement on 15 December 2011 that turning around the lives of 120,000 of the most troubled families is a top priority for the Government.

Ixion, part of Paragon Concord Ltd, will deliver a range of support from developing skills to help people find work such as CV writing, job preparation, timekeeping, problem solving to tackling family issues which aims to help people get into work.

Ixion has led studies in both UK and Australia to understand the influence that being in an unemployed family has on worklessness and which techniques work with family members to get them back to work.

View our Case Study to find out more:

Unemployed Families: Back to Work

 BBC News

Ixion was delighted to welcome Ms Mary MacLeod, Conservative MP for Brentford and Isleworth, to our office in Hounslow on the 16th December.

Discussions covered the services that we offer as an organisation and how we work closely with employers and other providers promoting Apprenticeships and our delivery of the New Enterprise Allowance contract to support self employment. She was very interested to hear how we are delivering the Single Work Programme and linking into local Apprenticeship opportunities for our younger customers and we are looking forward to getting involved in an event she is planning to host involving local employers in the Hounslow area.

Ixion is proud to be listed as the Ingeus 4th highest performing provider in the UK for the SWP delivery. We are currently expanding further to deliver the health and well being service to ESA customers and have recently opened two new offices, one in High Wycombe and the other in Newbury to work with Maximus to deliver SWP in these areas.

Our mentoring site the The Mentor Hive has a new video to show users around the site and to give new comers a quick overview of what they can expect.

The video will be used to promote the site in the New Year so please leave some comments and give it the thumbs up or just subscribe and get notified about our new videos straight away.

We are always looking for new mentors. If you would like to join us then please do so here.

With effect from the 25th November 2011 the Business Link East brokerage service, delivered by East of England IDB Ltd will cease and will be replaced by a centrally managed business support service.

The Business Link website continues to provide access essential information, support and services for businesses, and has been updated with new services, including:

The Growth and Improvement Service: including tools to diagnose and solve business problems, an enhanced business support finder, tutorials and video case studies and events in your area. www.businesslink.gov.uk/improve.

The Start- Up Service offers support through the stages of setting up a business with free access to over 200 videos, case studies, tutorials and tools to guide you through the process. www.businesslink.gov.uk/mynewbusiness.

Ixion has been an integral part of the Business Link service delivery in the East of England since 2001 and the experience, skills and expertise it required, is now being used in the delivery of a number of new initiatives, including the New Enterprise Allowance programme  in Essex, East Anglia and South London. This provides support to those on Job Seekers Allowance who are looking to start a new business and is facilitated by The Mentor Hive, a new website that provides access to Volunteer Mentors. To find out more or register to be a Volunteer Mentor, visit www.thementorhive.com

Find out how BLE exceeded the majority of its output targets in 2010/11, and how customer satisfaction reached an all time high. The report also provides an insight to the light-touch evaluation on how EEDA commissioned BL contracts, provided value for money, achieved strategic added value and its response to the economic downturn.

View Complete Business Link East Evaluation Report

Following two successful House of Commons debates (on ESOL funding and FE loans) the FE Week newspaper invited LSect members to the debate on, ‘Growth in Apprenticeships ~ real or rebranding?’, hosted by Gordon Marsden, Shadow Minister for FE. Nick Linford of LSect chaired the debate and invited Ixion to join the panel.

With an audience of c.90 attendees, we debated the issues around the high volume of Apprenticeships being delivered to the 25+ age group, pre-apprenticeship information, advice and guidance and the quality of quick Apprenticeships. One of the key points discussed was around the growth and branding of Apprenticeships for 25+ - are they actually apprenticeships or not? And, the fact that regional providers should be allowed more freedom to decide on customer groups and how funding should be spent rather than through a central system.

Karen Martin, Ixion’s Skills & Enterprise Director responded by declaring that training providers are very adept at responding quickly to Government priorities and it is no surprise that the volume of 25+ Apprenticeships has increased as the priority and funding has shifted from Train to Gain to Apprenticeships. The debate identified serious issues behind the concept of Apprenticeships and how they are perceived and understood by employers and learners.

The Chairman of BIS Select Committee, Adrian Bailey MP, has agreed to launch an enquiry into Apprenticeships in the new year.

Ixion is delivering a wide range of vocational learning, including Apprenticeships, from Customer Service and Business Admin to Health and Social Care and Construction. We have a key stake in ensuring that there is adequate funding for Apprenticeships and other vocational learning to narrow skills gaps for employers and learners, and support growth in the economy.

FE Week is a weekly newspaper written for middle and senior management working in colleges and private training providers, and those interested in this sector, including government, policy shapers and other service providers.

More information about the debate can be found at Apprenticeships in identity crisis at real or rebrand debate

Nick Clegg has announced on the BIS web site that in the North of England Ixion Holdings Ltd has won part of the Regional Growth Fund Monies that will help us make a difference to creating and sustaining jobs.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) is a £1.4bn fund operating across England from 2011 to 2014. It supports projects and programmes that lever private sector investment creating economic growth and sustainable employment. It aims particularly to help those areas and communities currently dependent on the public sector to make the transition to sustainable private sector-led growth and prosperity.

Ixion is delivering contracts from the East of England, to London, The Thames Valley to Lands End & Cornwall through to and up to County Durham and we are delighted to be helping the community in the North of England.

The Chelmsford Showcase for Business is designed to show the level of business activity, support and the extensive range of commercial opportunities in the local area.

The Showcase is being staged at the Anglia Ruskin University, and includes a series of seminars, events and exhibitors from both the public and private sectors.

The Showcase will be of major benefit to local businesses, businesses interested in moving to Chelmsford, entrepreneurs, and new start ups, the public and third sectors and Ixion is proud to be taking part.

Location: Anglia Ruskin University, Bishops Hall Lane, Rivermead, Chelmsford, CM1 1SQ

Visit Ixion, Hall 2 Stand 26, at the Chelmsford Showcase to find out how becoming a Volunteer Mentor can help the Essex community get into work, start their own business, or help with business growth.

It's a rewarding experience, giving you personal satisfaction and the opportunity to give back to your local community.

Ixion, part of Anglia Ruskin University, provides Government funded business support and people development programmes: delivering adult training and Apprenticeships, back-to-work contracts, access to Innovation Funding and support for new business startups.

Click here for more details

Your invitation

Ixion, are looking for specialist partners to support us in our delivery of ESF Families across London and the East of England.

The DWP recently announced funding for 120,000 families across England to be supported back into work. Ixion have been selected as a lead provider to support with the delivery model for the tender submission to the DWP on the 30th August 2011.

We would like to engage with local partners across London and the East of England.

If you are interested in working with us then please email aisha.izzet@ixionholdings.com by the 5th August 2011.

At the local Chelmsford Museum, 2 new positions were created as part of the Creative Work Placements project. Ixion spoke to the employees taken on through the scheme to learn how this initiative has helped them better their future job prospects. These findings have been documented in a video as well as a case study.

June 1st saw Ingeus launch the new Work Programme to get unemployed people back to work across West London. Ingeus has already supported more than 34,000 people to find work in London since 2002 and has teamed up with a network of specialist and local partners to deliver the Work Programme from offices across West London.

John Govett, Group CEO of Ixion, says, “Ixion are delighted to be working with Ingeus in the delivery of the Work Programme in West London and we relish the opportunity to engage with a range of people, some of which will be the most vulnerable people in the heart of our communities, helping them all to secure sustainable employment or self-employment. We will help the customers of this programme with the chance to enhance the quality of their lives by enabling them to move away from welfare dependency and explore their true career potential through motivation, support and skills development and most importantly, working with them and with employers to ensure they want to stay and do stay, in worthwhile employment”.

View Press Release

The Advantage Luton programme, whose lead partner was Ixion Holdings, was created to stimulate local businesses in two key sectors for which traditional funding routes did not offer provision with the flexibility to address their development needs. The creative industries and businesses in and around Luton airport were consulted to determine what accredited and non-accredited training would benefit them most effectively. With the programme now completed; funding from Luton Borough Council under the Council’s ESF programme ensured over 50 employees received training that specifically matched the business development needs of their companies, leading to improvements in staff skills, individual performance and business productivity.

For more information, visit ESF Work Projects

Ixion is pleased to announce the appointment of Jon Trigg as Non-Executive Director of Ixion Holdings Ltd and also as the Chairman of Ixion CG Ltd from the 30th March this year. With the forthcoming announcement on the results of the Work Programme, Jon's excellent understanding and experience in the sector will play a major part in the company’s goal of becoming a market leader in Employability services, with the wider Group benefiting from his broad knowledge of public service delivery.

View Press Release

At The Luminus Group in Huntingdon, 16 new positions were created as part of the Creative Work Placements project. Ixion spoke to the employees taken on through the scheme to learn how this initiative has helped them better their future job prospects.

Ixion Holdings Ltd, part of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), has achieved Grade 2 in its first Ofsted inspection and Grade 1 (outstanding) in its delivery to the engineering and manufacturing sector. This is a fantastic achievement and means they join only a small number of providers that have achieved this grade at first inspection.

View Press Release

In Ixion's third video, we visited The Salt. Company in London to talk to Nina Kolokouri, the Operations & New Media Director, and her Creative Work Placement employee. We got some more great footage, as well as a few additional and invaluable perspectives on the Government scheme and how Ixion has helped the young and unemployed.

Ixion is highly supportive of local communities, individuals, employers and businesses; providing work and experience to deliver social change. This dedication and passion drove Ixion to offer the winner’s prize - invaluable work experience through St Cuthbert’s Hospice for this years Durham Rotary Club competition.

Using ‘The Apprentice’ as the inspiration for the competition, 12 girls from Durham High School all signed up to take part.

The competition involved researching various aspects of the work done by the Durham Agency Against Crime (DAAC). The students were organised into different groups for each round, researching and presenting reports and being interviewed about the task. The winning team automatically progressed to the next round, whilst two of the losing team were subjected to those dreaded words “you’re fired”. The judges were Mr Bill Hook, who has been involved in the competition at the High School for the last three years, Bryan Russell of DAAC, David Wallace and Ixion Business Development Director David Jackson.

The interviews took place on Monday 14th February (a different but certainly interesting way to spend Valentines Day). The finalists, Sheyi Alamou, Victoria Curry, Catherine Harrison and Evie Ryves-Webb faced individual interviews about the proposed paid work experience prize.

The aim of this competition was to engage a range of people with aspirations in business and provide an experience to emphasise their individual strengths, weaknesses; team-working ability and leadership skills.

All the competitors said that they gained a great deal from being involved in the project, including research skills, teamwork and interview techniques. The final winner was Evie Ryves-Webb who impressed the judges enormously in her final interview and who aims to complete her work experience during a week in the summer holidays. Congratulations to Evie on her well earned success!

On Thursday 10th February Ixion Holdings, a training provider that delivers Apprenticeship contracts on behalf of the National Apprenticeship Service and Skills Funding Agency, organised a celebration event to raise awareness of Apprenticeships and encourage local employers to invest in an apprentice.

View press release in PDF format (516 kb)

Ixion journeyed to Harlow Playhouse to talk to Scott Ramsay, the general manager and the new employees offered roles through Ixion's Creative Work Placement project. We got some great footage of the theatre, as well as more perspectives on the scheme and how Ixion has helped the young and unemployed.

At Apsley Paper Trail we talk to the director, Peter Burford, and the employees he hired through the Ixion Creative Work Placement project. We got their views on the scheme as well as an insight into their progress and hopes for the future.

Key staff at Ixion Holdings Ltd talk about the company and it's Work Placement activity and how it has and will aid many young people in finding a job in the creative industries. There are views and perspectives from a number of people within the company, including that of the Chief Executive. John Govett, and Emily Thomson, someone who was actually hired through the scheme.

Ixion Holdings Ltd in partnership with five leading Welfare to Work suppliers, have formed  ‘Paragon Concord International’ with the principle purpose to help deliver the government’s Work Programme.

This consortium provides a wealth of experience in the Welfare to Work arena and expertise in supporting the workless back into employment with over 100 years combined experience of engaging with hardest to reach unemployed and economically inactive customers and moving them back into full-time sustainable employment.

The members of Paragon work with all the major co-funding agencies including DWP, SFA, RDA’s and LDA, and Local Authorities and have an unrivalled reputation for quality of provision, caring support, and exceeding contract outcomes and outputs.

The consortium has been formed with the purpose of offering high quality, innovative, and value for money solutions to the Welfare to Work agenda and the members have been chosen to ensure that, working as one entity, they can provide a service of excellence that will move many more people and families away from poverty and into a working career and prosperity.

Paragon Concord International is a leading example of how a consortium can be formed to bring together a variety of skills, resources and strength to work in partnership, and has been shortlisted on the Framework for the Provision of Employment Related Support Services in the South West and West Midlands.

Consortium members:

Ixion, Pinnacle People,Twin Group, Penna Communications, Acton Training Centre (ATC), Community Systems.

Aisha Izzet, Head of Commercial Relations and Development at Ixion Holdings has been recognised as ‘The Most Successful Professional Executive’ at the prestigious ‘Most Successful Turks Award’ in recognition of her success, innovation and ethics in business in the UK.

This is the first year of the awards from The Business Network (BIZNET), an organization that aims to enhance British-Turkish business and social relations, and acknowledged nominees for being the best of the best in their field.

Aisha’s award was announced at an Awards Ceremony on 27 October 2010 at White Hall, Banqueting House, where she was joined by other nominees and winners including Boris Johnson, Mayor of London who won the ‘Most Supportive British Award’ and Vodaphone which won the award for being the ‘Best British Investor’ in Turkey. Aisha was thrilled to receive her award:

‘Being nominated for this award was a complete surprise, and to be recognised globally for the work I have done is such an honour. It was a fabulous evening at Whitehall, and an ideal opportunity to meet and talk with a number of key people from across the globe who are currently involved in shaping up and responding to Welfare Reform, Austerity and Economic Exclusion.’

Aisha has worked in the Social Public Reform Industry for over a decade, providing governments with global and local solutions for dealing with: long-term unemployment; offender learning; skills and education; migration and citizenship; health issues; deprivation; and business start-up and enterprise. She has experience of building relationships with International, UK and particularly with Turkish private, public and third sector organisations to remove barriers for those that are most-disadvantaged. Examples of these are: Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Chelsea FC, Bank of Rome, Aydin University, ISKUR, Italia Lavoro, MUSIAD, Local Councillors, GP surgeries, Local Authorities and MPs.

During her career, Aisha has developed key working relationships to secure £235 million of government funded provision for thousands of hardest-to-help individuals.

Aisha joined Ixion Holdings earlier this year and is currently focused on supporting Ixion and Anglia Ruskin University to deliver Employment Related Services as part of the Department of Work and Pensions Work Programme.

Aisha Izzet, Head of Commercial Relations and Development at Ixion Holdings has been nominated for ‘The Most Successful Executive’ at the prestigious ‘Most Successful Turks Award’ which recognises success, innovation and ethics across business within the UK.

This is the first year of the awards where individuals and companies are acknowledged for being the best of the best in their field, and public voting commences on the 1st October to determine who should receive the award.

The awards will be announced at an Awards Ceremony on 27 October 2010 at White Hall, Banqueting House.

Vote for Aisha by visiting Most Successful Turk

Aisha has worked in the Social Public Reform Industry for over a decade, providing global and local solutions for Governments dealing with long-term unemployment, offender learning, skills and education, migration and citizenship, health along with deprivation and business start-up and enterprise.

Aisha has developed key working relationships to secure £235 million, to deliver government funded provision for thousands of hardest-to-help individuals.

She has experience of building relationships with International, UK and particularly with Turkish private, public and third sector organisations to remove barriers for those that are most-disadvantaged. Examples of these are: Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Chelsea FC, Bank of Rome, Aydin University, ISKUR, Italia Lavoro, MUSIAD, Local Councillors, GP surgeries, Local Authorities and MPs.

During her spare time Aisha enjoys volunteering and fund-raising for local communities and volunteered as a School Local Authority Governor for the London Borough of Havering. She speaks Italian, English and Turkish and enjoys cycling, history and travelling.

David Jackson (ex A4e director) as Strategic Business & Welfare to Work Divisional Director (who will be looking, for example, to take forward the new Government's DWP Work Programme agenda for Ixion etc) and John Danvers (ex Pera director) as our European Contracts director (who will be working very closely with Anglia Ruskin University).

David Jackson                    John Danvers

The Ixion-CG Apprenticeship Programme has been introduced to offer you Apprentices between the ages of 16-18 years old who are looking for employment.

There are a range of Apprenticeship options available to you, including the new Apprenticeship in Business Administration, which offer training and skills development to deliver real returns to your business bottom line.

Ixion contributed to the set up of the relationship with Harrods. More information at the BBC.

Ixions wins as a Prime contractor again with DWP for a c £3,269,500 contract. This is to create 500 jobs for long-term unemployed young people on Jobseeker’s Allowance in Areas of High Unemployment by 31 March 2011. Ixion will work with New Deal of the Mind to deliver these across London, Southern England and the East of England.

On 30th April 2010 Ixion Holdings Ltd acquired the £4m a year turnover Computer Gym (UK) Ltd and it has been re-branded Ixion CG Ltd and will stay as a separate legal entity but part of the Ixion Holdings Ltd group of companies and act as Ixions main delivery unit. Established in 1995 the acquired business is an outreach training provider that delivers Employment & Skills training programmes in line with policy informed by the Leitch Review of Skills and the Freud Report. It operates nationally across England, leading on contracts in London, Midlands, East, South East, North East & North West. Ixion CG provides a full complement of Integrated Employment & Skills interventions across three Divisions:

• Employability (Into Work)     

Initiatives - Skills for Jobs; Flexible New Deal; Response to Redundancy; Jobcentre           Plus; Regional Development Agencies.                  

Delivering - Short vocational courses; Employability & Soft Skills; Job Search & Placement.

• Workforce Development               

Initiatives - Train to Gain; Apprenticeships; Regional Development Agencies; European Social Fund; Employer funded. 

Delivering - National Vocational Qualifications; Skills for Life; Short Courses; Management Courses.

• Offender Learning                                                                                                                          

Initiatives - Skills for Jobs; Offender Learning & Skills Service; National Offender Management Service; Transition Funds; Next Steps. 

Delivering - Skills for Life (Literacy; Numeracy; ESOL); Employability; Vocational Courses; Advice, Guidance & Support; Jobs

Ixion CG Ltd has a very successful and strong track record in delivery of pre-employment training to unemployed groups, with end to end services that provide a full journey from engagement and initial assessment through to sustainable employment. This has included engaging learners through delivery of Skills for Jobs (including ASDAN employability qualifications), with employability elements and work placement services. We also hold London’s largest Jobcentre Plus Support subcontract, solely covering the Boroughs of Newham, Redbridge, Havering, Croydon & Kingston. We have significant experience working with disadvantaged clients (lone parents, aged 50+, BME, Offenders) including those furthest from the labour market. A focus is on training that combines vocational upskilling with in-depth initial assessment, employability skills development, intensive job support, IAG/mentoring & access to comprehensive signpost-advisory services.  Progression opportunities are maximised via pull-through to our current London Train to Gain & Apprenticeship contracts.

Ixion CG Ltd is also at the forefront of offender training and IAG (Information, Advice and Guidance) initiatives under its dedicated Offender Learning Services Division with over 2,500 clients supported each year. We are also one of the UK’s leading specialist Mobile Skills for Life providers, having delivered in excess of 3,000 Skills for Life courses since 2006 & with National Testing results consistently 10% higher than the national average (85-92% pass rate).

 Ixion CG Ltd sets out to engage with employers under its Workforce Development Division to understand their specific needs to tailor training courses, locations and timing to accommodate those needs. This approach has resulted in substantially higher pass rates than the national average in essential “Skills for Life” (literacy, numeracy and literacy). 

One of the key strengths of Ixion CG Ltd is the capacity to provide comprehensive outreach services via Laptop “Flying Squads” or even Mobile Learning Centres, which can be used for IAG, Vocational training, ICT and full job search activities.

www.ixioncg.com

Ixion Holdings Ltd has been awarded a c. £1 million DWP “prime” contract to deliver the Future Jobs Fund. FJF is a contract with the Department of Work & Pensions which places 18-24 year olds on Jobseekers Allowance into 6 month work placements.

We have been asked to deliver 167 jobs with 19 creative arts organisations within the London area. The majority of the contract will be delivered by our new partner called – “New Deal of the Mind” (they are a creative arts charity and a coalition of artists, entrepreneurs and opinion formers who recognise the economic, social and cultural value of Britain’s creative talent in London). http://www.newdealofthemind.com/

In addition to Business Link East of England recently re-winning the 3 year contract from EEDA for the main Business Link service in the East of England in December 2009, worth £20m per annum for an integrated Business Link and Skills brokerage. It has also won from the East of England RDA (EEDA) two new 3 year contracts, worth £4m p.a, for. UKTI contract (UK Trade & Industryand the Inward Invetstment contract),   that helps businesses in the region to market in and to countries around the world.

View press release in PDF format (23 kb)

View press release in PDF format (23kb)

View press release in pdf format (23 kb)

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) has today (9th Dec 2009) announced EEIDB Ltd as their preferred provider for the new and improved Business Link, incorporating the current skills support offered by Train to Gain and making it easier and quicker for businesses to access the support they need through a single point of access. 

For full report click to go to the EEDA PR pages

> View complete press release in PDF format (114kb)

> View complete press release in PDF format (102kb)

Ixion Holdings Ltd is pleased to announce that it was awarded The Matrix Quality Standard for information advice and guidance services. Ixion is delighted to be the first brokerage company in England to achieve this. The assessor was particularly impressed with Ixion’s customer focus and impartiality. Following on from this success we have been advised to apply for the Matrix Excellence Awards 2010.

The matrix standard is the national quality standard for any organisation that delivers information, advice and/or guidance on learning and work.

> View complete press release in PDF format (18kb)

> View complete press release in PDF format (91kb)

Working in partnership to develop and pilot a brand new NVQ qualification specifically for Courier Drivers.

> Read more

Ixion Holdings are pleased to announce the winners of the £32,000* Ixion Challenge. Origin8 Deli-Cafes LTD, Cambridge impressed the judges with its plan to survive and thrive in the current market conditions.

> View complete article in PDF format (37k)

Ixion Holdings annouce the three finalists of The Ixion Challenge. Finalists were chosen based on the quality of a survive and thrive plan submitted in stage 2 of the competition.

> View complete article in PDF format (37k)

Ixion Holdings is proud to launch an innovative new challenge to re-energise the business community in the East of England. The Ixion Challenge offers businesses in the area the opportunity to win a package up to £32,000 of financial support to help them grow and develop.

> View complete article in PDF format (20kb)