Welfare To Work UK Advisors Out Of Work And Need A Job

Cee-Mac in administration by Daniel on 23 Mar, 2009 

Northampton-based provider Cee-Mac have gone into administration today and made all staff redundant. Cee-Mac hold a number of LSC contracts, but their main DWP contract is the Norfolk ESF prime contract from last year's bid round.

There are some complexities to the story, though. It appears that the DWP contract has been transferred by the DWP from the company in administration, CeeMac Projects (UK) Ltd, to its still-solvent parent company, CeeMac Ltd. This means that the contract is theoretically still live.

Since the parent company is a holding company only, the contract would now belong to a company with no delivery staff, no previous contracts delivery, and the same managers who led the previous company into administration with debts of hundreds of thousands of pounds owed to the LSC. It also appears to ignore TUPE obligations that come with the contract transfer.

I'll update this story as more comes in, but feel free to comment or get in touch if you have more information.

by Stuart Norey on 24 Mar, 2009

Up until today, I was employed at CeeMac in position of Business Development Manager and actually wrote the DWP tender - I hasten to add that I was in no way involved in delivery and am not one of the management team mentioned!

The company did owe the LSC a large amount of money following a £600k + payment made to the company but never earned. They also had several hundred Train to Gain learners on their books for whom they had again been paid but not put the capacity in place to deliver to.

It was this financial position and failure to build capacity, combined with a grade 4 Ofsted inspection, that tipped the company over the edge.

Seems they set the entire thing up - I am also aware that they purchased a company car (used by a member of staff they were taking with them) from the failing company in advance of deciding, out of the blue, to go into administration. They must also have copied all the DWP client info from their server and moved the files etc.

All this happened while the MD was telling staff he was working hard to save the company!  He simply turned up on Monday, made everyone redundant, then drove to his new offices a few miles away to work on the DWP contract... the other director actually turned up in a new car to shut the company down!

The protestors targeted the A4E and Work Directions offices by Lothian Road due to the involvement of these companies in the government’s compulsory schemes for claimants. They delivered a letter to the companies, insisting it be faxed to their Head Offices.

The letter warned : “Any involvement by your company in the compulsory and punitive measures of the Welfare Reform Bill outlined above will inevitably meet with strong and determined resistance……While our intention is that this campaign be entirely peaceful we cannot rule out activities such as civil disobedience, pickets, demonstrations and widespread publicity which would adversely impact on your company’s situation.”

WorkDirections at Festival Square complied with the request, but at A4E on Earl Grey Street managers were hostile and summoned the police to remove the protestors from the building. Several claimants forced to attend A4E expressed their support for the protest, which continued at the building entrance.

“I have been a client of A4e and was appalled by how I was treated.
I will start by telling you a little of my background. I had hit rock bottom in my life, lost my job and was living in a hostel with a lot of debt and was trying to rebuild everything I’d lost. I was waiting to start university and had already been accepted. Because of the situation I was in at the time I could not afford to take a minimum wage job and was waiting for council housing to become available. I was in a supported hostel for young girls and if you start work while living there the weekly rent is extortionate."

Who we are and What we do

Established in 1999, CeeMac specialises in the design and delivery of training and development solutions to organisations and individuals.

Our services generally relate to skills and employment and are focused on three main areas:

• Business Consultancy, Support and Development.

• Workforce Training and Development to National Occupational Standards, including Work Based Learning, Distance Learning and e-learning.

• Supporting workless individuals in developing vocational skills and securing sustainable employment.

Our services are contracted and funded by public sector bodies including Learning & Skills Councils, Department for Work and Pensions, Sector Skills Councils, Regional Development Agencies and other Local and Central Government Agencies. Current provision is funded via European Social Fund and co-financing and mainstream initiatives such as Train to Gain.

Our Services are delivered both within the workplace and via a network of training centres.  We also offer online, distance and blended learning options.  We are able to work within all English regions.

CeeMac holds the Matrix Standard for provision for Information, Advice & Guidance (IAG).  Our vocational training provision is accredited by City & Guilds and The Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM).  We are an approved provider to both the Learning and Skills Council and the Department for Work  & Pensions.  These standards and accreditations demonstrate external recognition of the quality of the provision we offer.

We employ a range of specialist staff and work partners and associates throughout the country, enabling us to offer solutions tailored to each business or individual with whom we work.  We are proud to have achieved the Investors in People standard, recognition of the investment made in the training and development of our staff to best meet our clients needs.

Our delivery of publicly funded programmes has benefited in excess of 750 organisations and 20,000 individuals to date.