SOLOMAN's Manufacturing Competencies Retention Programme (MCRP) has helped Robert Excell to continue his career in manufacturing at a time in life when he believed that he had no future in the employment market.

Robert has spent his entire working life in the manufacturing sector - a total of 35 years. In November 2005, at the age of 53, he was made redundant from Smiths Aerospace in New Addington, where he had worked for eight years as a laboratory technician. Smiths were closing down their local plant and the Jobcentre Plus Rapid Redundancy Team had asked Soloman to work with them on helping the company manage the closure programme.

Because of his age Robert was pessimistic about the prospect of finding another job that would allow him to utilise the skills he had acquired during his career. Sylvie Ciacciarelli, one of SOLOMAN’s redundancy and recruitment specialists, could see that Robert had a high level of skills and experience that would be of real benefit to another manufacturing business. However, she recognised the need to work closely with Robert to help convince him that he still had a future and plenty to offer another employer.

First, Robert was given help to produce a professional CV. Then, a check was carried out for manufacturers seeking to recruit skilled staff so that the matching process could begin. A suitable vacancy was identified at Endecotts Ltd, who are based at Merton in South London. The company is the world’s leading manufacturer of laboratory test sieves, filters and related laboratory equipment. Robert was given intensive coaching in job interview techniques to ensure that he was well prepared for his interview with Endecotts.

The interview was successful and Robert took up his new post in January 2006. "The support I received from Soloman helped to restore my self belief", said Robert. "It gave me the confidence, in turn, to convince Endecotts that my skills and experience would be of real value to their business." Robert is working at Endecotts as a Design and Research Engineer where he is involved in the design, development and prototyping of their range of quality products. He is delighted with his new job and feels he is now working much more at the sharp end of operations.

Endecotts are pleased with the progress that Robert has made and believe that he has become a valuable member of the Endecotts 'family'. "Our company recognises it is important to operate an open and fair recruitment process", commented James Townsend. Endecott's Managing Director "Age is not a barrier for us. Quite the contrary, in fact - Robert’s knowledge and background in manufacturing has helped him to settle in quickly and make a significant contribution to our core business".