The team is based within the Innovation Centre at Victoria Business Park, which is run by UK Steel Enterprise, part of Tata steel. The former British Steel site has been set up as part of an economic regeneration project for the area.

Odette Flower, Branch Manager and her team are exceptionally proud at being able to invest in the region. Just over three years ago Blaenau Gwent was reported to have had the highest rate of unemployment in the UK. Odette comments “We offer a really bespoke provision to our clients. No matter the region or area, there are individuals with specialist care needs that require support. We are glad to be able to help add gravitas to the economy and deliver a vital service”.

With unemployment in Wales currently standing at 8.9% the team have been able to place people like Leonie Madden into employment, she says of New Directions “I have been consistently employed by the team for coming up to ten months. The role is really rewarding, not only personally, but professionally too. Our area deserves investment and the service sector is one way of encouraging that”.

The team also worked with the local job centre, recruiting Rhys Jones through the ‘work trials’ programme. Initially employed for an eight week period to gain knowledge of the industry, he then secured a three month contract supporting the team within the office. Rhys comments “This has been a fantastic experience; I feel I have been given a chance to prove myself at a time when young people are really struggling to find work”.

Amanda Barnes, ND Care and Support worker

Birthday Cake

Guests enjoying the food

John Andrews, Rhys Jones, Odette Flower, Becky Ford, Kerry McCabe, Jeff Tune

 Gerald Lyons, Chief Economist for Standard Chartered remarked “the UK has already slipped back into recession this quarter, and firms are thinking twice about making investments”.

 In direct response to the report John Andrews, Group Director of Operations for New Directions Holdings Ltd says “As one of Wales recognised fastest growing companies, we continue to thrive despite the reported downturn. We acknowledge any change within the country’s economy cannot be ignored; so as we look to the future we try to develop new markets to keep Wales buoyant.”

 New Directions Holdings Ltd continues to diversify into new markets. In recent years they have expanded into the rest of the UK with offices in Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and London.

This event will take place on: Tuesday 21st June between 10:00am-14:00pm and will be held at:

The Motorpoint Arena
(Formerly Cardiff International Arena, CIA)
Mary Ann Street
Cardiff
CF10 2EQ

This is an open session for Residential/Nursing Home/SEN Managers to attend and fully appreciate the services both Vitalyz and New Directions can offer.

**If you would be interested in attending then please call us on: 02920 390150 (option 1). – Social Care Team

To mark the landmark event Lesley Griffiths AM, Deputy Minister for Science, Innovation and Skills, presented special lapel pins to staff of The Royal Hotel Cardiff, the first hotel in the Welsh Capital to undergo ‘WorldHost’ training. The programme is regulated by People's 1st, the Government's sector council for hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism. A locally-based consortium of New Directions Training in partnership with Christie Wells Associates were awarded the contract to deliver the training, and will be expanding the programme to other public-facing organisations including hotels, shops and taxi companies.

Speaking at the hotel, located close to the Millennium Stadium which will also host 11 of the men’s Olympic football matches, Lesley Griffiths AM said: “The London 2012 Olympics are clearly providing further impetus for Wales to further improve its visitor offer. It is excellent to see the public and private sector coming together in partnership to boost customer service skills levels in the hospitality and leisure industry, which is a vital component of our tourism economy. I commend the Royal Hotel staff on becoming the first to qualify in the WorldHost programme.”

People's 1st adopted WorldHost following its successful implementation at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, where it was used to train 39,000 volunteers and tourism staff. It aims to license 400 trainers around the UK to train 200,000 hospitality and tourism personnel ahead of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Phil Raynsford, Strategic Programmes Director of People’s 1st said: “We have recognised that the UK needs to raise its game in customer service standards to take advantage of the estimated £2bn to be generated from visitors to the Olympics and WorldHost is a key part of that drive. The UK is ranked 14th in the international customer service rankings and we need to convince businesses to take on fresh new customer training ideas. Our research has shown that sixty-eight percent of businesses in the UK which implemented customer service training said generating repeat business was a key benefit while 18 percent said they saw increased sales.”

Jon Swingler, Manager of The Royal Hotel said: “Cardiff is well practiced in hosting international sporting events, and our hotel being so close to the Millennium Stadium, is no exception. But there is always room for improvement to boost the capital’s tourist reputation; we welcome the opportunity to adopt and champion the very latest in Olympic-oriented customer service standards.”

WorldHost training covers four customer service training components. These encompass the principles of customer service, an ‘ambassadors’ workshop, service for customers with disabilities and service across cultures.

Victoria Deane of New Directions Training and Kevin Christie of Christie Wells Associates are delivering the WorldHost programme in Cardiff.

On behalf of their partnership, Kevin Christie and Victoria Deane said: “It is important for hospitality businesses to take on board innovations in customer service training which were well proven as recently as the Vancouver Winter Olympics last year. Staff at the Royal clearly found WorldHost a refreshing and motivating adjunct to in-house training and to help their businesses and the economy we would to see many more organisations follow their lead.”

‘Action for Children supports and speaks out for the most vulnerable and neglected children and young people in the UK’. Through their vision of a world where all children and young people have a sense of belonging and are loved and valued, a world where they can break through injustice, deprivation and inequality to fulfil their potential, shape their destiny and experience the joy of life.

Liam Healan – Sales Manager said ‘Here at New Directions we are proud to be an approved supplier for a very well known and worthy UK voluntary client. This preferred supplier award shows that as a company we have the knowledge and experience to work with Action for Children and this is complimented by recruiting the right people for the right jobs’.

Odette can be contacted at her new office base in the Ebbw Vale Innovation Centre on 01495 356729. Why not go along and see her..!

As a premier recruiter of staff to the Social Care sector we provide a dedicated bespoke service to all. We are always committed to providing the highest level of service and we strive to offer the best candidates to suit the requirements and specifications of all our clients.

Our experienced consultants deal with both private and public sector clients and our state of the art Training Centre at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff supports large volumes of staff every year with their Training needs.

Through our ofices in Cardiff, Ebbw Vale, Swansea, Wrexham, Bristol, Birmingham, and Liverpool we are actively recruiting for a wide range of job roles within the Social Care Sector in addition to having a market leading Education Department who specialise in placing teachers, more information can be found at - http://www.ndteach.co.uk/

Liam Healan – Sales Manager stated "We have joined Facebook to interact more closely with our candidate base and offer immediate updates to all who are registered or seeking employment. Over recent years Facebook has seen tremendous growth in the Social Network arena and we aim to play our part in this". 

Our most recent job vacancies are always listed in the vacancies section of our site,  however to keep up to date with our latest news please click on the facebook link below

By bringing together autism organizations all around the world, we will give a voice to the millions of individuals worldwide who are undiagnosed, misunderstood and looking for help. Please join us in our effort to inspire compassion, inclusion and hope.

We are planning to hold some events to celebrate World Autism Day – Cardiff culminating in co sponsoring “Holly’s Ball” which is held in the Millennium Lounge at The Millennium Stadium on Saturday 2nd April 2011.

As a number of our service users and employees are affected by Autism it is vital we support such a worthy cause and look forward to increasing the awareness locally and throughout our company network.

Please all remember those less fortunate than yourselves and help & support where you can, it all helps no matter how small.