Iceland Foods executive chairman Richard Walker has been appointed chairman of a new advisory board for charity Second Chance Partnership, which was spun out of the supermarket’s internal prisoner recruitment scheme with the aim of creating thousands of roles across the food and drink supply chain for prison leavers.
The advisory board will be made up of eight members from business, political and military backgrounds, including Virgin group advocacy director Matthias Stausberg, Independent Office for Police Conduct director of investigations Nicola Marfleet, Golden Point Global co-founder and executive chair Truett Tate, and Major General Timothy Cross.
The appointments come as the charity continues to expand the adoption of its employment model, which has already helped more than 500 prison leavers secure work through major firms including Iceland Foods and GXO. It now operates in more than 90 prisons across the UK.
Last year, Iceland opened its first ‘supermaket’ in a prison at HMP Oakwood in Staffordshire and earlier this year the frozen food retailer opened five more branded stores in UK prisons.
The stores, which are entirely staffed and run by serving prisoners, aim to provide core retail skills like stocktaking, handling deliveries and managing inventory. They are then offered interviews with the Second Chance Partnership, with a view to gaining a role at one of its member organisations ahead of their release.
The shops operate like a regular supermarket, serving the prison population. Prisoners can earn up to £15 a week in credit to spend at the store. Iceland provides the fit-out, stock and uniforms to the charity at cost.
“Our new advisory board will be critical in our year of major expansion as we seek to give people a second chance in life,” said Second Chance Partnership founder Paul Cowley. “There are thousands of ex-offenders who want to work and create a better life for themselves and their families.
“Second Chance Partnership ex-offenders are proven to be the most reliable and dedicated employees, and we can’t wait to harness the expertise of our advisory board to bring this model to more businesses.”
Early programmes found that employees recruited through the Second Chance Partnership had retention rates around 20% higher than the wider workforce.
Cowley added: “We help employers access motivated candidates, while giving prison leavers a genuine opportunity to move forward.
“I’m delighted that such an experienced and respected group of leaders has agreed to join our advisory board. Their insight and expertise will be invaluable as we work with more businesses to create opportunities, strengthen communities and demonstrate the benefits that second chances can bring to employers and society alike.”
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