FOLLOWING last year’s successful speed networking event in Forres, a former RAF general engineering technician has been recruited by a Moray-based estates management company.
David Burkinshaw, 47 spent over 27 years in the RAF and was unsure what he would do when he left in April last year, so he was delighted when he started working at Turner Estates Solutions Limited.
The company employs 60 people at its Lossiemouth and Kinloss bases and works in partnership with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Defence Estates (DE) to provide a complete estate management service.
Every year, many servicemen leave the RAF bases at the end of their stage of duty. Whilst some find new employment and choose to settle in Moray, many others leave the area to further careers elsewhere.
In an effort to encourage more RAF leavers to stay in Moray, HIE Moray organised a speed networking in October last year. Twelve local businesses attended the event to promote available employment opportunities to around 50 RAF leavers who came along. Speed networking offers a chance for employers and potential recruits meet in an intensive way, each having five minutes to sell themselves before moving on to the next employer.
Turner Estates Solutions was one of the businesses that attended the event and, as a direct result of them meeting there, David was recruited the following month as a quality health, safety and environmental adviser.
David said: “I went along to the speed networking event not knowing what to expect, but it resulted in a great job with Turner Estates Solutions, formerly called AMEC Turner. There was only limited time for employers and potential employees to get to know each other so everyone has to be quite focused.
“I approached a team from the company on the evening and left my cv with them. Shortly after, I was contacted about the position, so I was really pleased about how quick it all was. The event opened my eyes to opportunities I could never have thought about myself and I was amazed at how many companies attended.”
HIE Moray set up the RAF Task Force project team in January 2006 to mitigate the local impact of RAF redundancies through a broad range of projects planned under the Moray 2020 Strategy.
Paul Hughes from HIE Moray’s RAF Task Force team, said: “We are delighted that David has benefited from attending the event. He is one of many highly skilled individuals leaving the RAF – up to 80 per cent of whom want to stay and work in Moray. We are working closely with the RAF to make sure that these leavers can find positive outcomes in their search for a new career.
“We held two very successful speed networking events last year – both of which resulted in companies that attended recruiting a total of eight RAF leavers and making many contacts for the future, so it works very well and consequently we are in the stages of planning the next one which will be held on April 23 at Horizon Scotland.”
Five companies have already signed up to attend April’s speed networking event. They are, Scottish Electronics International, BAE Systems, Moray Council, Synergie Scotland and MacPhersons Limited.
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Contact: Mairi Gillies
Phone: 01463 244235
Email: Mairi.Gillies@hient.co.uk
Website: http://www.hie.co.uk
