York insurance brokerage ‘desperate’ for workers (From York Press)

York insurance brokerage ‘desperate’ for workers

6:37am Saturday 4th September 2010 in

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THE boss of a growing York insurance brokerage says that, despite rising unemployment, young people are failing to knock on his door looking for work.

Vincent Ford, managing director of D E Fords, of Poppleton, which has clients across the UK and is currently planning significant expansion, said people often heard about the problems faced by young people in securing long-term stable employment.

“We have also recently witnessed the announcement by Royal Bank of Scotland regarding widespread redundancies, some of which are within the North Yorkshire market,” he said.

“Despite this, I cannot recall the last time that anyone took the initiative to research local businesses and identify the excellent opportunities which are out there.

“If we were to encounter hungry applicants who have taken the bull by the horns and are knocking on doors to progress themselves, then we would look extremely favourably on them as they are clearly demonstrating an economic awareness and commercial drive.”

He said he wanted to know where were the high-quality individuals leaving education or facing redundancy, and struggling to find jobs in the financial sector. He also wanted to know whether people were taking active steps to improve their situation. “We are fully prepared to assist with securing professional industry qualifications, and arguably these are more meaningful to employers within the finance sector than university degrees.”

He said D E Fords was launched in 1976 and had gradually expanded over the years. It now employed nearly 50 people and it was seeking to fill several vacancies with either A- level leavers or graduates.

“We are desperate,” he said. “We used to ring schools and ask if they had any good pupils who did not want to go down the university route, but now we are told they all want to go to university.”