An interview with Michael Corrigan, CEO, Bridge of Hope Careers.

Michael Corrigan has always been a ‘get on and do it’ person. It’s a characteristic that took root making and selling biscuits at school and took him all the way to a partnership at Deloitte. Unfortunately, a search for a new challenge went badly wrong, and suddenly he was serving 16 months in Brixton prison for a banking offence. But even there, he got stuck in and started organising routes back into work and temporary release for offenders nearing the end of their sentences, with the prison’s full support.

From these first seeds has grown an umbrella social enterprise whose first goal was to reduce reoffending ratesby improving job prospects, and which has now dramatically expanded its remit with BRIDGEOFHOPE.CAREERS.

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What inspired you to launch the Bridge of Hope?

The Bridge of Hope careers portal was formed on the back of the work that we had previously been doing – Prosper4 Group had established what we think was the largest digital jobs board across Europe working with a niche sector – the ex-offender sector.

We’d had significant social success – we worked with over sixty progressive employers willing to offer meaningful work to hundreds of ex-offenders. But we wanted to do more. So, what we decided to do at the beginning of 2020 was to broaden that out – to take the programme and make sure that as many people from as broad a range of society as we can are included. That includes people aged 16-24, who’ve been the worst hit by the pandemic; it includes people who experience racism in recruitment, people who might be veterans, or have lost their job as a result of Covid, people who might have a criminal record – it doesn't matter what your background is.

What we've also found is that, increasingly, employers really want to represent society – they want as broad a range of people working for them as possible. We’re careful to only work with properly inclusive employers who want that diversity, and then we work with them very closely.

Some of them want to simply post jobs onto our careers portal, BRIDGEOFHOPE.CAREERS, and enable candidates to apply for the jobs and see what they get. Others come to us with a specific need – for example, we’re working with one big company that wants to employ people from particular backgrounds to drive their vans and trucks around. As a result of Covid, there is much more distribution going on across the country and they need more drivers. And we’ve got the technology to match our candidates directly with that specific need.

I think what makes us different is that we're really a people business.

It's growing incredibly fast. What's made that possible?

Well, we’ve had a fantastically committed team who’ve been working with us since day one and have really come together. We’ve also been able to broaden our team, partly based on additional funding from organisations such as Nesta, Big Issue Invest, and Innovate UK. And then we work with some great technology providers: industry leaders like Bullhorn, Volcanic and Textkernelwho’ve come together to provide what we call our “tech stack”. This technology means we can obtain jobs from employers where we’ve got their permission, bring them onto our site and then match them with our candidates.

And a critical part of our opportunity here is to work with our referral partners. These organisations – and they may be third sector organisations, charities or universities dedicated to widening participation – connect their pools of untapped talent with us, get people registered with us – sometimes en masse. That support means that, over the last few months, more than 5,000 people have been registering on the portal every month, uploading their CVs and applying for jobs. In fact, our application rate for jobs right now is also running at more than 5,000 jobs every month.

There are lots of jobs sites out there – what makes the Bridge of Hope different?

I think what makes us different is that we're really a people business. We talk about the fact that we've got a great tech stack and that we’re able to include modern-day and cutting-edge technology, but actually at the core of it, we’re about the people.

So, we work with some fantastic recruiters who want to employ people on a diverse and inclusive basis. We work with some brilliant referral partners who help some of our most marginalised candidates to get back on their feet and re-enter the jobs market through our site.

And as a team we very much reflect our market: people with lived experience that’s similar to our candidates – so we employ people with disabilities, neurodiversity, and veterans, for example. There are also the wonderful benefits we get from the experience and wisdom of older team members, the energy and optimism of our younger staff, and the rich, lived experience of people of colour. And it's all those people – they’re what really makes the difference. Our USP is people.

Not everyone that signs up through Bridge of Hope will find work. How else can we help?

We recognise that getting a job is the ultimate ambition of people who come ontoBRIDGEOFHOPE.CAREERS, and that employers want to recruit those people. The transition that we're making from being a jobs board to being a careers portal is adding further benefits for both candidates and employers.

A job could be the result, but it may be that people take up a training course or other in-depth learning opportunity. And from our own lived experience as a team, we understand the well-being that comes about just from simply being able to apply for a job where you know that the employer is committed to seeing the whole person and looking past lazy labels – that is so important. It’s a real confidence-builder, too, and we want that for all our candidates.

What's your vision for the future of the Bridge of Hope?

At the moment, our numbers are going ever upwards. The scale is only limited really by the number of jobs that are out there and the number of people applying. Certainly, for the next few years, as we all come to manage the fallout from Covid, we expect to only grow in our capability to meet the aspirations of both employers and job-seekers.

We want to become a significant player in the area of marginalised or inclusive recruitment – to be the go-to organisation for both employers and jobseekers. We've got the technology, we've got the team that can bring all of this together. And we really mean it.

How a generous grant changed the game for Bridge of Hope

We were delighted last year to be awarded a substantial grant from Innovate UK, to put new technology to good use helping marginalised people back into work.

As 2020 dawned, our website was a pretty niche affair. As Prosper4Jobs, we were dedicated to helping ex-offenders rehabilitate into sustainable employment, supported by dozens of national and regional employers posting vacancies. But the vacancies had to be posted by hand, which was time-consuming for a small team, and difficult to scale for noticeable impact.

And then the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

As the economy stalled and the government set up various schemes to support businesses and furlough staff, the unequal impact of the disease and its economic consequences became ever more apparent. We soon recognised that there were many marginalised groups, alongside ex-offenders, who found it difficult to access secure, meaningful employment. We knew we needed to scale up our proposition to help all sorts of people whose identities or histories presented barriers to employment, but the costs of the technology required were a challenge.

That’s where Innovate UK stepped in. They’re part of UK Research and Innovation, a government-sponsored public body set up to invest in high-tech jobs of the future and high-tech solutions to unemployment. Last summer, they invited us to bid for funds to kickstart our development, after a previous funding application had narrowly failed.

We wanted to help the full range of marginalised groups, whose numbers had been growing during the pandemic and applied with a plan to invest in new staff and new technology to help us achieve that. We called our project ‘Getting Britain back to work post-Covid’ and won the full amount that we had bid for.

The power of a job

The heart of our case for the economy is simple. Having people out of work costs the country money: in benefits, in lost tax revenue, in lost expenditure (from all that unearned income), not to mention the negative impact on families and mental health. Government figures estimate that every person employed is worth around £18,000 to the economy. And Innovate’s generous grant allows us to start to meet that challenge at scale.

With their help, we’ve invested in software, and with the help of technology partners, we have designed an ‘API’ that automatically feeds new, live, jobs from a carefully selected group of inclusive employers straight into our website every day.

We already had a network of well-established employers like Timpson, Boots and Virgin who we’d been working with for years, and to these, we added some of the services companies designated essential by the government during Covid, such as food-chain distributors, suppliers and logistics companies, medical support services and so on. This automated jobs feed, supported by industry-leading software, has freed an expanded team to spend more time on targeted recruitment work, IT development, digital marketing, training and sales, to bring more progressive employers, referral partners and candidates on board.

If a job is rocket fuel for the soul, Innovate’s investment was a turbo boost for the Bridge of Hope. In four months, we’ve grown from having a few hundred jobs on our site to having over 20,000 live jobs with inclusive employers available to search and apply for. That’s attracted an additional 20,000 candidates over the same period and partnerships with dozens of new referral partners and employers.

And we’re only just getting started. We’re planning a site upgrade launch after Easter where the full impact of our funders will be apparent – watch this space!

If you want to take advantage of our diverse pools of talent in your next round of recruitment, you can find more information about how we work with employers here on our website, or get in touch with us for a personal call.

Nesta's website

Bridge of Hope's growing careers portal receives a major boost

We are thrilled that BRIDGEOFHOPE.CAREERS has been chosen by Nesta as a Rapid Recovery Challenge semi-finalist from a pool of 148 entries.

As the UK’s innovation agency for social good, Nesta’s latest £2.8m Challenge fund is designed to invest in new tools and services that improve people’s access to employment and money across the UK, especially those most affected by the pandemic-fuelled economic shut-down. The project is supported by JP Morgan Chase, theDepartment for Work and Pensions and the Money and Pensions Service, and aims to support a million people over the next two years.

In particular, their focus is on three cohorts of people: 16-to-24 year-olds, people earning less than £18,000 a year, and people in insecure roles like zero-hours or part-time contracts. And while we’ve only recently started to make young adults a target group, thanks to our partnership with Resume Foundation in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, we estimate that well over half of all our existing Bridge of Hope candidates fall into the second and/or third categories.

Each of the 14 semi-finalists has been awarded £125,000 to rapidly scale up their solution to Nesta’s ‘Job Recovery’ or ‘Financial Recovery’ challenges. In our case, our task is to scale up our new Bridge of Hope portal to reach many times the number of marginalised people it does now, by working with many more high-quality referral partners and inclusive employers, and investing in further improvements to our technology. We’ll also look for ways to work with the other semi-finalists – we might be competing for the next round of funding, but we’re all invested in the same outcomes: a more secure and equitable jobs market.

Why a Rapid Recovery Challenge?

COVID-19 has been a massive economic shock to the system. Early on, as we clapped for the NHS and praised our teachers and waste collectors for soldiering on, we all recognised our economy’s ‘key workers’ as never before. But we also discovered just how fragile many people’s jobs and economic security were, as millions missed the thresholds for economic assistance, and unemployment among the youngest members of our workforce rocketed.

Applications for Universal Credit nearly doubled in six months, with six million people now on benefits to supplement or replace their income. Unemployment has more than doubled over the same period, and the end of furlough seems likely to make that worse.

Nesta’s challenge is to invest in innovative projects that will help the most financially vulnerable get back to work fast and address some of the longstanding, underlying challenges for the lowest-paid and most precariously employed members of our society.

You can read more about the rationale behind the challenge on Nesta's website.

How we’ll make a difference

Our work on the UK’s Europe’s biggest jobs board for ex-offenders has proved to us that a growing number of employers are committed to being more inclusive. They are looking outside their existing recruitment models to attract people with diverse life experiences who more fully reflect their customers. We’ve already attracted funding from Innovate UK to scale up our site, and Nesta’s funding will allow us to take on more staff to scale up recruitment to match: to bring on more employers and offer them a more bespoke service, to bring on more referral partners who want to help their service-users find work, and to attract more candidates looking for inclusive employers.

With the support of Nesta and their partners, we’ve committed to reaching at least 10,000 deserving job seekers from their target groups, with at least 10,000 jobs for them to choose from, by the spring. We think we can do much better than that – in fact, by next September we aim to have helped around 300 of the people Nesta want to target find long-term, desirable employment, and a further 500 enter work-related training through our partnerships with other bodies.

With Nesta’s help, and by collaborating with partners in this field, we can help many hundreds of people who’ve struggled historically with the jobs market to find long-term, meaningful employment.

If you think you can help us deliver more jobs and training opportunities to the UK's marginalised pools of talent, please contact us and tell us how you think you can help - we'll be straight back in touch.

James Thomas is Head of Employment Services for BRIDGEOFHOPE.CAREERS.

How to kick-start your career during the COVID-19 pandemic

“Only 3 months into my first job, now I’ve been made redundant – waste of three years of studies for a degree ...”

“As a mum trying to re-enter the job market after caring for my children, I was ignored before COVID , so I’ve no chance now …”

“I was made redundant a year ago, at 55 years old – recruiters told me I was classified as being ‘out of the mainstream’. Now I suppose I’ll never work again ...”

Familiar comments? Yes, and frequently heard nowadays, too – but do they reflect reality?

Despite the Government’s attempts to cushion employment with its post-furlough schemes, inevitably unemployment figures are rising, and low (if any) growth is forecast across most sectors. So, it’s not going to be easy. We are definitely facing an unknown future, unprecedented in recent times. It can be hard to remain positive and focused, but it's important to remember that the economy will recover and you will bounce back.

But how exactly are you going to change that tune and get back up top?

If we're going to be positive and focused, let's start with the here and now.

What can you be doing over the next 30-120 days? Can you be creative? Use your time to seek out new opportunities, or even reconsider an opportunity that you may have previously dismissed. We all have skills which, although sometimes not obvious to us, can be made better use of or applied creatively in new sectors.

• Were you a senior crewing scheduler for an airline, with fantastic logistics organisational skills that could be applied in running a distribution centre for an online store?
• Are your caring skills transferable to the multi-roles being searched for in the NHS as it recruits across all disciplines to ensure we are prepared for the approaching winter and beyond?
• Could your IT prowess be invaluable in another discipline other than your degree, or help a new start-up business?
• Have you considered volunteering some free time in helping essential services charities to gain additional insight and skills?

While key industries such as Aviation, Hospitality, Catering and traditional retail have slumped, others have thrived and grown across the country. The growth in online retailing has boosted the demand for products and services from distribution giants, such as Amazon and the Royal Mail, plus all the major supermarkets for home delivery.

Additionally, technology-driven companies are seeking talent to train and employ for all kinds of positions, ranging from food preparation to computer-game design to data science.

Remember, as these are short-term measures, a prospective employer will not look at you unfavourably if you seek a job outside your skill sets or chosen career pathway. On the contrary, this positive attitude may even enhance your CV, illustrating your resourcefulness and making you more marketable.

Talking about CVs, now is the opportune moment to rework and enhance yours. It may be stating the obvious, but a well-written CV and cover letter will always rise above the rest, irrespective of the type of job or career that you are applying for. If you don’t have experience with this, please don’t ignore it, seek assistance.**

Of course, you will need to highlight your relevant experience and qualifications, as well as skills or attributes which could bring value to an organisation. This needs to be presented and formatted in an easy-to-read format. The narrative needs to be factual but captivating to the reader, to ensure that you stand out from the crowd.

As most recruiters nowadays will receive an enormous volume of applicants, many will use applicant processing tools, some of which use Artificial Intelligence to perform initial screening. You don’t want to miss this boat in this exercise, so make sure that you’ve understood the job requirements and that your CV reflects them.

However, remember there is no one correct format for a CV, so don’t be intimidated by online career support services that try to push 'one right way' to write one.

Email us at [email protected] if you need help.

Time for your virtual interview

Remember the three Ps: Preparation, Practice and Patience. All of these will put you in good stead for your interview, which these days will most likely be virtual – either via video call, phone call or both.

These simple guidelines will help you:

• Behave as you would if face-to-face. In other words, be punctual, act naturally and dress appropriately.
• Make friendly eye contact, try to relax, and be aware of your body language.
• Be positive and enthusiastic, answer the questions, but don’t be tempted to waffle away!
• Prepare a quiet, tidy, well-lit space to practise, and ensure that you’re not interrupted.

If possible, film and record yourself, and adjust and improve from that recording. If you're being interviewed by telephone, have all relevant documents to hand, including your CV, the job description etc. Learn about the company beforehand from its website, what it does and where, and prepare and practise any questions that you have for the interviewer.

We all hope that the COVID-19 pandemic will pass, the economy will recover and that all companies will begin to rehire; but until then, think NOW, short-term, be creative, enhance your CV and prepare for a brighter future.

Find out more about becoming a Bridge of Hope candidate, or sign up!

Haymarket Media Group is a global media, data and information company that has been creating world-class, media for over 60 years. Shaping a better future with remarkable content through live, digital, print, education, data, tech services, video and audio, our brands inspire, inform and empower clients and communities internationally.

Our 1,300 talented professionals make us who we are. We invest in our talent: creating great workplaces, great learning opportunities – and great careers.

We are a socially and environmentally responsible business. As we serve our audiences, clients and communities, we are committed to driving the meaningful change necessary to build a better world.

The principles of diversity, inclusion, respect, responsibility and sustainability are at the heart of our business. As we grow, we need to attract and develop the best talent in our markets – and our specialisms.

If you are creative, smart and obsessive about excellence we want to hear from you – whether you’re interested in content creation, selling advertising, analysing data, managing events, engaging with technology or developing audience insights.

Brands to love, Careers to last.

For over 200 years, Molson Coors has been bringing people together over a cold beer. Our award-winning portfolio features iconic brands like Coors, Carling, Madri Excepcional, and Blue Moon, alongside a diverse range that includes popular names like Aspall, Rekorderlig, Staropramen, and Doom Bar. We’re also expanding into premium spirits with brands like Black Cow Vodka, Bandero Tequila, and Tarquin's Gin.

As a global leader in the beverage industry, we are committed to promoting responsible drinking and driving sustainability.

With a presence in over 100 countries and a workforce of 16,000, we are focused on building a sustainable future for our communities and advocating responsible drinking on a global scale.

Better things happen when we belong

Why You Belong with Us

Belonging means being truly valued for who you are. At Molson Coors, we provide you with the space to be yourself and make a meaningful impact. We endeavor to understand what’s important to you, and no matter where your journey begins, we are committed to challenging and inspiring you to reach your full potential throughout your career with us.

Our commitment to leaving a positive imprint on our employees, consumers, communities, and the environment is showcased in our Our Imprint 2025: People and Planet strategy. In 2021, we became the first major UK brewer to transition to 100% renewable electricity at all our UK locations. We exceeded our goal of reducing absolute emissions across our direct operations by over 50%, nearly four years ahead of schedule.

We are honored to be recognized as one of the Top Employers in the UK and Europe. Our flexible work programs, including initiatives like "Moments That Matter," help you maintain a healthy work-life balance. We place a high priority on the physical and mental well-being of our employees.

As a Equal Opportunity Employer. We seek, value, and respect everyone’s unique perspectives and experiences, understanding that we are stronger together.

Our aim to build a skilled and highly engaged workforce that unites around our shared values and reflects our diverse marketplace; and​ foster a workplace where all employees ’unique talents, skills and perspectives are valued and leveraged – where all people feel that we are #BetterWithYou.​ This makes our talent strategy simple – we want the best talent in all our roles, regardless of their background.

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Join the Timpson Family
At Timpson, we recruit entirely on personality. We are a family-run business, and we never forget that; without employing great colleagues, we wouldn’t be where we are today. All of our colleagues are considered to be part of our family, and looking after them is our number one priority. We know that as long as we employ great colleagues and we look after them well, they’ll provide our customers with amazing service.

Training & Development
We don’t expect you to know how to cut a key or repair a pair of shoes when you join us. We believe in investing in and developing our own people. This is why all of our colleagues begin a comprehensive training scheme on their first day with the business. As a general rule, we promote from within, so we love ambitious people who want to progress in their careers with us. To this end, we recently completed building works on the Nest building which will house the Timpson University. James Timpson (CEO), Gouy Hamilton-Fisher (Colleague Support Director), Perry Watkins (Retail Director) and all of our Area Managers began their careers with us working in one of our shops. This goes to show that there are lots of opportunities for career progression in our fast-growing business.

​Opportunities for all
Timpson is a true equal opportunities employer with a simple and transparent recruitment model - we look for great personalities! We will consider anyone and everyone for a role within our business, regardless of their background or history. This includes ex-offenders and other marginalised groups.

Supporting over 3,500 people with complex needs

​Voyage Care is a sector-leading provider, with over 30 years of experience in specialised care and support. We support over 3,500 people with learning disabilities, autism, brain injuries and other complex needs across the UK.

Our commitment to quality is demonstrated by our sector-leading quality ratings. In England, 95%* of our registered locations are rated as Good or Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission. 100%* of our Scottish and Welsh registered locations are rated as compliant by the Care Inspectorate and Care Inspectorate Wales.

Whether it’s supporting someone in their own home, to access the community or in a registered care home, we provide exceptional person-centred care and support. We enable people to live as independently as possible — where, how and with whom they choose. Voyage Specialist Healthcare and Children’s Complex Care provide clinically-led support to children with complex health needs in their own homes.

Our highly trained, specialist teams use an individualised approach to support. We’re committed to supporting people in a way that works for them – with reliability and consistency. The people we support and their loved ones can be assured that their needs are at the centre of all we do.

We are experts in supporting people with a range of needs, such as:

• Learning disabilities
• Autism
• Brain injury rehabilitation
• Prader-Willi syndrome
• Physical disabilities
• Complex care needs
• Mental health conditions
• People in transition
• Intensive support requirements
• Nursing needs
• Challenging behaviour

Unlock your potential with your next career step

At Rullion, you'll find hundreds of jobs with leading organisations and companies across the UK.

We are inclusive, collaborative and forward-thinking. To help our talent truly flourish, we also offer industry-leading training and development opportunities across all areas of our organisation. The Rullion culture is truly unique in the recruitment industry. We are a high-energy, fast-paced organisation with a passion for providing amazing customer experiences for clients and candidates alike. We are an innovative business where new ideas are encouraged, rewarded and adopted.

We recognise that everyone is unique. Our vision as a business is to ‘unlock the potential in all of us’; at the very foundation of this is ‘inclusion’. We are committed to our work environment being one where everyone is treated fairly and people feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work (if they want to). We celebrate uniqueness, individuality, and different perspectives.

A life at sea - and much more

​Throughout the course of history, a life at sea has always attracted those with a taste for travel and adventure. But there are plenty of other reasons to consider a challenging and wide-ranging career with the Royal Navy.

The Royal Navy is, first and foremost, a fighting force. Serving alongside Britain’s allies in conflicts around the world, it also vitally protects UK ports, fishing grounds and merchant ships, helping to combat international smuggling, terrorism and piracy. Increasingly, its 30,000 personnel are involved in humanitarian and relief missions; situations where their skills, discipline and resourcefulness make a real difference to people’s lives.

A job in the Naval Service means adventure, camaraderie – and lifelong prospects. Every day you make a difference. And no two days are the same. You could be policing the world's oceans, delivering humanitarian aid when natural or man-made disasters strike. Or you could be deployed in combat. No matter what job you do, you'll be a key part in operations around the world. Are you ready to go places?