An entrepreneur whose company helps jobseekers get back into work is expanding his business thanks to a growth programme being delivered by the University’s Haydn Green Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Ian Grewcock, co-director of My Jobs Place, is one of 24 business people taking part in Growth 100, a Nottingham City Council initiative financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Growth 100, through a series of 12 one-day practical sessions, is designed to provide small businesses with the support and training that they need to expand.

In 2011, Ian, pictured,  and co-directors Tim Richards and Paul Knight, launched My Jobs Place after identifying a gap in the recruitment market. My Jobs Place uses software and video to help jobseekers create online digital profiles to increase their employability skills. The business now has contracts with further and higher education institutions across England as well as relationships with Job Centre Plus.

Ian and his colleagues visit Job Centre Plus sites and work with jobseekers on a one-to-one basis to develop video profiles and provide the candidates with interview tips and employment advice.

Ian said: “Unlike the majority of job sites, My Jobs Place offers support that goes above and beyond the standard service offered by the recruitment market.”

If the applicants need further help they are referred to a course with an approved training company. Ian believes that the Growth 100 programme has been instrumental in the recent growth of his company. My Jobs Place is expanding into Derby and Birmingham and looking to grow nationally over the next five years. Ian added: “I’d definitely recommend the Growth 100 programme to other small and medium-sized businesses. The aim is simply to help businesses like mine to grow, which in turn will hopefully give us the competitive edge we need to be successful and benefit the local economy.”

Professor Simon Mosey, from Nottingham University Business School, said: “Ian’s positive experience on Growth 100 is echoed by the other participants. In addition to the more formal training elements, they have also been sharing ideas and providing help and advice to each other. As a result of their experiences, they have gone back to their businesses and are now trying innovative new ideas, which is very exciting to see.”

For more information about Growth 100, visit
www.growth100.co.uk