C&C : Creating impactful employment opportunities with Big Issue Recruit

Big Issue Recruit and C&C Group partner together to change people's lives by creating impactful employment opportunities

Six people have recently joined C&C after a dedicated employment pathway is set up, empowering people who have previously faced barriers into supported permanent jobs

Pictured: Mokhammed Moradi, who has joined C&C as a Warehouse Operative in London (Rory Lindsay)

As part of its ongoing commitment to support the communities it serves across the UK and Ireland, leading drinks manufacturer and distributor C&C Group ('C&C') has welcomed six new colleagues as part of a dedicated employment pathway with Big Issue Recruit, aiming to impactfully change lives through enterprise.

Together, as part of a thriving three-year partnership, C&C is collaborating with Big Issue Recruit - a specialist recruitment service from the Big Issue Group, dedicated to supporting people who face barriers into sustainable employment - to provide at least 45 job opportunities at C&C for people to transition into supported employment by 2025.

Building on C&C's legacy of existing outreach initiatives which have empowered people from marginalised communities into work, and as part of its established Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Agenda, the employment pathway is also set to extend across C&C's wide network of customers, partners and suppliers within the UK hospitality industry. This will allow even more people to benefit from employment opportunities together with crucial pre, during and post-employment support within the industry that is the UK's fourth-largest employer, at a time when access to talent remains a key issue.

Doug Haggart, C&C's HR Lead for Customer Service and Logistics, comments:

"It's been really exciting to be involved with Big Issue Recruit, and to identify how to bring their candidates into C&C. The colleagues who've joined us all interviewed strongly, had really researched us, and have settled in well. It's one of the things we've done that makes me smile, giving people a well-earned start or step up the career ladder."

Mokhammed Moradi is one of the six new colleagues who has recently joined C&C and, just 12 months after leaving Ukraine and fleeing to the UK with his young family when the war broke out in early 2022, now works as a warehouse operative in a London depot. After meeting a Big Issue Recruit Job Coach at a recruitment fair, having been out of work for months since he arrived in the UK, Mokhammed grabbed the opportunity to change his life with both hands.

Shak Dean, Big Issue Recruit's Job Coach, adds:

"I've been buzzing since Mokhammed got the job. It's a reminder for me about where I've come from as well. And it's so easy, you're living your life and something happens and your life gets turned upside down. But it's about having someone who takes the time and the effort with you to guide you, rather than ticking boxes."

In addition, C&C and Big Issue Group are delivering a further three wide-reaching social programmes tackling challenges and providing social and economic opportunities for Big Issue vendors, people from underrepresented and less privileged backgrounds, as well as social enterprises and charities:

• Sheltered pitches and on-street support initiatives - creating opportunities for vendors to reach more customers;
• Big Issue Breakthrough and Big Issue Invest investee mentoring - offering practical mentoring, training and skills development to the individuals and organisation Big Issue Group supports; and
• Cause-related Marketing Campaigns - collaborating on joint campaigns, including colleague fundraising initiatives.

For further information about C&C's ESG Agenda, visit our ESG page.