WIREDGOV

Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones yesterday congratulated a joint effort which successfully helped the staff find new posts -suitable to their skills and experience - with a range of major firms in the City.

The 150 staff worked for Travel City Direct, a customer contact centre owned by the XL Leisure Group, the UK's third largest package holiday company.

Soaring fuel costs and the onset of the Credit Crunch caused XL to seek administration on September 12, grounding its fleet of 21 airliners, leaving nearly 70, 000 holidaymakers stranded abroad and thousands of UK - based staff facing the axe.

In Swansea, Assembly Government Officials, the West Wales Association of Communications Centres and Job Centre Plus organised a special Jobs Fair little more than a week after XL's administration was announced.

Even prior to the Fair, almost half the redundant employees had applied for jobs with other, local contact centres and were in the process of applying for jobs. And by little more than a week after the fair, every one of the remainder had been offered new jobs one or other of the leading employers who attended the Fair.

They were Communications Direct, Conduit, HSBC, Manpower, Admiral Insurance and Lloyds-TSB.

Mr.Jones said:

The rapidity with which these redundant workers found new opportunities is a tribute to their personal qualities. I am sure that their new employers clearly recognised that they would benefit from recruiting skilled and motivated staff.

It's also a very positive result for a co-operative effort by the West Wales Association, Job Centre Plus and Assembly Government staff who took immediate and very successful action to deal with a setback to the local economy and tackle the consequences.

I am delighted that their initiative paid off so decisively.