Thanks to an Aspire Award, David began running his own, successful company and now employs 15 staff.
Getting back on his feet
After the business David was working for collapsed, he wasn’t sure what to do. He had worked in HR for years, mainly running apprenticeship courses and wanted to increase his range of skills to try to bounce back in a competitive market, but didn’t have the money to pay for the training he needed.
David, of High Wycombe, applied for our ‘Your Career’ Aspire Award and was successful in his application. The award covered the cost of a CIPD Intermediate Certificate in HR Management Level 5 which he completed in June 2021. It has enabled him to now help workforces adapt to the changes brought about by COVID-19.
Running his own business
Less than four months after completing his course, David began running his own, successful company. He now employs 15 staff and his company, Constellation Solutions, currently has 10 clients.
“Financially speaking it was very tricky, having that pressure”, said David. “I thought if I could get this qualification it would really help. It’s really important. I was looking at job adverts and about 99 per cent of them said you needed it in order to apply.
“I have the experience and the skills but having that professional accreditation gives people who don’t know me the confidence that I know what I’m talking about. I wouldn’t say I’m well off but I’m comfortable. That wouldn’t be the case if it hadn’t been for the funding from Guinness.
I think Aspire is a terrific programme. It shows Guinness takes their social responsibility values seriously – it’s not just some policy idea gathering dust on a shelf.
How to apply for an Aspire Award
You can apply for an award by completing an application form. You’ll need to let us know exactly what you want the funding for, so make sure you’ve found the course you want to complete, how much the equipment you need will be, or what your community project will cost.
