Shaw Trust

About Shaw Trust

• Shaw Trust is a charity that is helping to build a future where rewarding employment is accessible for all.
• The organisation was founded more than 30 years ago and employs 2,500 people supported by 1,000 volunteers.
• Services include employability programmes, residential care for children and targeted careers support for young people.

Case Study Overview

Shaw Trust is a remarkable charity which provides a truly diverse range of services. Each year, the organisation provides support to thousands of children and young people, helping them attain the education and skills they need for a successful future. It also supports adults into the workplace, enabling them to build confidence and develop their careers.

Most recently, it was selected by the government to run its critical Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) scheme across several areas of the country. Backed by £238 million in funding, JETS was launched in response to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic and was aimed at assisting people who had been out of work for three months. Under the provision of the scheme, those looking for a job would be able to speak to specialist advisors to gain valuable support in areas like interview coaching and CV writing.

As Shaw Trust started to look at the provision of the JETS service, it became apparent that it would need to implement a cloud-based telephony and contact centre solution to support a fully dispersed workforce of around 600 people. Each of these individuals would also need to be provided with hardware such as laptops to enable them to perform their roles.

After assessing Shaw Trust's desired business outcomes, CDW’s specialist Cloud Community team considered solutions from a global ecosystem of more than 100 technology providers, before proposing a communications-as-a-service platform developed by 8x8.

In parallel with this work, CDW was also selected to help Shaw Trust leverage its Microsoft 365 environment, applying Modern Management with Autopilot to configure Dell Latitude 5000 devices so that they were ready use out of the box.

The collaboration between Shaw Trust and CDW meant that the contact centre was deployed within six weeks. The solution enables a truly flexible ‘working from anywhere’ strategy, with customer services operatives and employment advisors working closely together to provide specialist advice and help people get back into employment.