Now here's the deal

By now even the most dedicated ostrich should have heard of the New Deal. The Government's scheme to get unemployed young people into work has been beamed into the nation's living rooms in a high-profile TV advertising campaign. And in April it goes live in job centres across the country.

New Deal attempts to close the gap between the skills employers want and those that young people have to offer. The Government has committed £3.5b to the project over four years and most of the major hospitality businesses have signed up to participate in the initiative.

John Deighan, general manager at the Swallow Hotel, Sheffield, was involved in setting up New Deal in the Sheffield pathfinder area. He believes the so-called "gateway" process is what makes New Deal different from other schemes.

exploring options

During the "gateway" period candidates are encouraged to explore what they would like to do. They might be able to try a taster week in a hotel like Deighan's to find out if hospitality is for them, or they may be sent on a short course to learn a skill essential to the job they are looking for.

Deighan has just interviewed four or five candidates for a vacancy for a trainee receptionist, and other positions at his hotel are likely to be filled by New Dealers in the coming months. "I see New Deal as helping to bring people in to certain posts which we're finding hard to fill," says Deighan.

Although Swallow Hotels receives a Government subsidy of £60 a week for each New Dealer for six months, the job is a real one, with the same terms and conditions that would apply to any other full-time position. Whoever takes the receptionist job is guaranteed the position will still be there in six months' time, even when the subsidy runs out. All they have to do is succeed in the job, as any other employee must.

"As time goes on there will be more opportunities in Swallow. Our managing director, Peter Catesby, is very committed to this," says Deighan.

Hospitality businesses are ideally suited to New Deal because the processes for training people on the job are already there, due to NVQs and Modern Apprenticeships, he says. "I'm not saying you can fill every position through New Deal. But if you are looking for people to train internally, this could be a good route," he says.

Large organisations like Swallow are not the only ones who can benefit from New Deal. Many New Deal jobs will be created by small businesses and entrepreneurs. Also in Sheffield, Nadeem Khan has found work as a waiter in one such small business: Yorkshire's first African-Caribbean restaurant.

Khan was looking for a full-time job after studying for A levels for six or seven months when he found out about New Deal. The employment service put him in touch with Godson Ogwudire, the owner of UK Mama African restaurant.

Ogwudire wanted someone who was eager and could work the way his restaurant works. But without the financial support to train Khan, he probably would have looked for someone with more experience. Now Khan is working full-time at the restaurant and is shortly to begin an NVQ, which has been arranged with the £750 training subsidy.

"We're hoping to develop Nadeem into being a supervisor, possibly the manager in time," says Ogwudire. The Nigerian-born restaurateur has been running the 75-seat UK Mama for four-and-a-half years and thinks New Deal is the best government scheme he has seen.

"Small businesses are given an incentive to help the young people get out of the trap of unemployment," he says. "I have been able to give Nadeem more money than if there were no subsidy, because the subsidy helps you to pay someone without experience. After six months they will have learned the job and they will be more useful to you," he adds.

Joanne Gibbs, Khan's personal adviser, has worked in the employment service for 14 years and has seen many Government training schemes come and go.

So why should New Deal work where others failed? "The point of New Deal is to do what the young person looking for work wants. We can look at things on our files but it's got to be their decision," says Gibbs.

Ogwudire will shortly be interviewing more candidates for New Deal jobs. "In my opinion the system will help young people to be more committed and transform them from failures to victors," he says. At the same time, he realises, the young people he takes on will help his business grow.

Pathfinder areas

Simon Ward, director of strategic affairs at Whitbread, is also optimistic about New Deal's prospects. A number of Whitbread's businesses are already involved in pathfinder areas, including the Marriott hotel in Newcastle upon Tyne and a number of Beefeater Restaurants in the North-east.

At the hotel, recruits will be taken on in areas such as housekeeping, porterage and as waiting staff. At Beefeater, jobs in the kitchen and front of house will hopefully be filled by New Dealers.

"We will take them on to our normal training programmes to work alongside other trainees," says Ward. This scheme is different from those that have gone before, he says. Like other employers, he singles out the gateway programme as the aspect of the scheme which has really made a difference.

Whitbread's early involvement in the pathfinder areas has been promising. "We think it will work on a national basis and hope there'll be some success stories for Whitbread," he says.

The whole hospitality industry needs to see success stories if it is to find sufficient employees to keep pace with the industry's growth.

By breaking the cycle of "no job, no experience" in which many young people find themselves, New Deal may prove to be just the solution hospitality employers are looking for. As for Khan, New Deal has introduced him to a career path. "I've got money now and I've got something to do," he says. "I think I'm good at the job. I've got potential. I can go far."