Hiring people with a criminal record would boost the talent pool of businesses and provide much-needed social benefits to the UK, a podcast has heard.
Huddersfield entrepreneur Jacob Hill, the founder of Offploy – which specialises in supporting ex-offenders back into work – said there were millions of people of working age across the UK with a conviction.
Speaking to the Let’s Talk Value podcast, Jacob said many major firms had already opened the door to former offenders and were reaping the benefits.
He said employers “will see the benefits straight away”, while exploiting the “absolute human potential” that exists within people who have turned their lives around following a conviction.
Jacob, himself a former prisoner, said his organisation had worked with more than 5,000 people across the UK, finding them important roles in some of the country’s best-known businesses.
Jacob said: “Employing people with convictions is something every business should be looking to do, and there are many benefits for that business and for society.
“It should be done in a business-as-usual way – not just because it needs to be done for a specific type of contract bid.
“They will see the benefits straight away, and it will make those existing employees with a conviction feel amazing in the process.
“More employers out there than ever are doing this now.
“There are millions of people in the UK of working age with a conviction – and we know that for every 100 people we support, there are 55 fewer offences committed.
“It was while I was in prison I saw the absolute human potential in there, so I came out with the idea for Offploy.”
Jacob made headlines as a 19-year-old when he set up a company called The Lazy Camper selling tents and all the equipment people need to go to music festivals, secured major investments for the business and was named Yorkshire’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
But when the business hit a tough financial period Jacob turned to selling drugs at Leeds Festival to try to make some money but was caught and jailed for two years and four months in 2015.
