Back-to-work firm KDS Training on brink of £500k deal

A SMALL Scottish training firm that uses unusual motivational techniques to get the long-term unemployed back into work is understood to be on the cusp of winning a £500,000 government contract.

Paisley-based KDS Training, which runs four-week academies for job seekers, is negotiating a deal with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to roll out its Scottish programme UK-wide.

The firm would not comment on the tie-up, but sources confirmed the contract could be worth up to 50m.

This week, the Office for National Statistics is expected to reveal unemployment continued to grow in February, reaching a 13-year high. With professionals and graduates likely to make up a significant number of the 2.7 million unemployed, economists say prospects for the unskilled, long-term jobless are bleak.

KDS Group claims more than 90 per cent of the graduates on its current programmes have secured – and managed to keep – jobs. The firm has run 17 academies specific to various sectors, including logistics, care homes, call centres, food manufacturing and the hospitality industry.

The firm works with a number of employers, including Independent Living Services (ILS) and FedEx, which agree to interview each graduate and place them if successful. KDS offers the programmes on behalf of a number of local authorities and recruitment firms in Scotland. Potential students are recruited through Jobcentres and open-day events.

The KDS academies are the brainchild of Stevie Kidd, who set up the firm in 2004 – initially as a distribution business. After leaving school, Kidd studied "neuro-linguistic programming" techniques, which he uses to promote "soft skills" such as confidence and interpersonal skills.

"People of working age who have been in long-term unemployment find the transitions from unemployment to getting into work difficult due to low levels of self-belief, lack of confidence and little motivation, and they tend to face other barriers that have an added effect such as issues relating to mental health and wellbeing," he said.

"The KDS employability training academies aim to meet this transition need by providing each individual with skills and tools to deal with and move beyond as many of these barriers as possible."

Kidd said his rise from being out of work, insolvent and overcoming personal tragedy to running a successful business ensured his appeal to his core audience. He said he has experienced "a hell of a lot of trauma" stemming from the suicides of friends and family. "The people on academies relate to what I teach and deliver," he said.

A deal with the DWP is expected to transform KDS, which predicts turnover of 2m this year. But the firm anticipates that recruitment for trainers could be a barrier to expansion.

Andrew Craig, head of training for KDS, admits only one out of 200 applicants have the suitable "wow factor" to lead academies. Currently the group employs four trainers and launches three academies each month.

On the back of Kidd's success with young people and the unemployed, he is also launching motivational seminars in Glasgow and Edinburgh aimed at the corporate market.