Trainees Are In Safe Hands Date: Monday, December 05, 2011 Source: This is Staffordshire

Last year's World Cup, next year's Olympics – and English professional football matches in between – are all likely to have something in common. The safety and security of their spectators and sports stars alike will probably be in the hands of stadia and events staff trained by Nantwich company ESTC. Six years ago that firm didn't exist, yet today it is a market leader – at home and away – and has some 70 people on its payroll. And, through offshoot ESTC Employment Services, it also has more than 400 apprentices – formerly unemployed youngsters – in paid, full-time jobs with clients around the UK and Ireland. Turning over more than £2 million last year, it has grown by a staggering 900 per cent in two years, and still has its foot hard down on the growth pedal. Now it is a multiple nominee for The SentinelBusinessAwards, presented in association with North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce and Stoke-on-Trent City Council. It is a contender for the UK Trade and Investment-sponsored International Trade category and the Staffordshire University-backed Small Business of the Year Award, while trainee Amy Blackburn is up for the Stoke-on-Trent College-supported Apprentice of the Year category. In the Premier League it counts Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham and Arsenal among its customers, a client list stretching all the way through the Football League to Nantwich in the Evostik. Staff at Lords and Edgbaston cricket grounds have also completed its training as have door supervisors and close protection personnel, also known as bodyguards. Contract and administration manager Michelle Gauntlett said: "We excel at what we do. That's not just our opinion – we get most of our new business through satisfied clients' recommendations." ESTC makes the most of a niche market which, world-wide, adds up to significant sums of money – and jobs. The 2010 World Cup saw it training 2,500 stewards to help underpin public safety and it has just won a 10-year contract with Greece to help improve safety and security at national sporting events. Michelle added: "We are also training 24, Level 4 spectator safety managers in Ireland." While it trains people in leaving nothing to chance, ESTC came into being almost by chance. Founding managing director Cliff Simpson was running Crewe Alex's stadium in 2005 when he interviewed Eileen Williams, who became co-founding managing director, for a steward's job. She had been an Ministry of Defence training specialist. Michelle said: "He knew the market, and she had the necessary specialised learning knowledge, and they went from there." Proof of their personal credentials came when Cliff was offered the swimming venue manager's job for the 2012 Olympics, and Eileen the city operations manager's role for London. ESTC Apprentice of the Year candidate Amy Blackburn is also a rising star in her own right, having just completed an apprenticeship in business and administration. She has now started out on a second academic qualification. To read the article click on the link below. This is Staffordshire Courtesy of SecurityOracle.com - The Secury Industry's Portal