impact story employability

For people rebuilding their lives after displacement, finding work can be an important step towards independence and stability. Yet many refugees entering the UK labour market face barriers such as unfamiliar recruitment processes, limited professional networks and difficulty having overseas experience or qualifications recognised.

Tent UK is part of the global Tent Partnership for Refugees, which brings employers together to help refugees access meaningful employment. Bidvest Noonan joined the coalition to help remove barriers to work and create stronger connections between talented people and employment opportunities.

Turning awareness into practical support

Our involvement began by helping Bidvest Noonan colleagues better understand some of the challenges refugees can face when looking for work.

We then brought that learning into practice through a Career Connector Workshop at 25 Ropemaker, where refugee jobseekers received practical support from colleagues across our business.

Participants received CV guidance, mock interviews and career advice designed to help them present their skills and experience with confidence and navigate the recruitment process more effectively.

Colleagues connected with DLR, Metroline, and Savills also took part, sharing insight into different roles, workplaces and potential career pathways.

Building confidence and connections

The workshop gave participants direct access to people with recruitment and workplace experience, helping them build confidence, understand employer expectations and explore potential routes into work.

Purpose in Action means using our people, expertise and business relationships to help create better access to opportunity. Through our work with Tent UK, we are helping talented people build the knowledge, confidence and connections that can support their journey into employment.

Every summer, Bidvest Noonan supports the UCD residences programme, which creates one of our largest seasonal recruitment requirements in Ireland.

Rather than viewing that demand simply as a need to fill more than 300 roles, we saw an opportunity to use the recruitment campaign to connect more people with work, including those who can face barriers to employment.

Opening recruitment to more people

To widen access to these opportunities, we worked with Down Syndrome Ireland, WALK, Avista, the Department of Social Protection, Intreo and Business in the Community Ireland.

These organisations brought valuable community, disability inclusion and employment expertise to the campaign. Together, we created a more direct route between people looking for work and genuine vacancies within the UCD summer operation.

Candidates were introduced directly to Bidvest Noonan recruitment teams and live roles, helping make the journey from initial connection to employment more straightforward.

From opportunity to employment

The campaign resulted in multiple candidates being hired on the day, showing what can happen when customers, recruitment teams and community partners work towards the same goal.

Purpose in Action means looking at the needs of our business and asking how they can create wider opportunity. In this case, a major seasonal recruitment requirement became a pathway into work.

For many refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Ireland, the challenge is not a lack of talent or experience. It is access to the right opportunities.

Through our partnership with EPIC, Business in the Community Ireland’s Employment for People from Immigrant Communities programme, we are helping people build the confidence, skills and connections they need to move towards sustainable employment.

Since 2022, Bidvest Noonan has contributed €250,000 to EPIC. Our support also includes CV and interview preparation, mentoring, employability workshops, ESOL support, recruitment events, work placements and access to employment opportunities.

From support to employment

Ola is one example of how that support can lead to a real employment opportunity. As an EPIC participant, Ola received CV and interview support before completing the training, vetting and licensing required to become a Security Officer. Ola is now building a career with Bidvest Noonan.

This is Purpose in Action: creating practical pathways that help people turn their potential into opportunity.