Seetec (South East Essex Technology Centre) is a training provider in the United Kingdom and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Founded in 1984 as a company limited by guarantee and registered charity, Seetec was originally established to deliver IT training to the

unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the referen ...

through government funded and private provision. Seetec programmes include

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

s, Train to Gain, New Deal for

disabled people Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

, Work Choice, Pathways to Work and Work Programme.

History

Seetec was established in 1984. Its directors were from

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It has 75 councillors, elected from 70 divisions, and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. The council meets at County Hall ...

Rochford District Council Rochford is a town in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford, the county town. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish, which includes the town and London Southend Airport, had a popu ...

and four private sponsors from the IT industry: Access (now Mastercard),

British Telecom BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...

(BT), International Computers Ltd (now

Fujitsu is a Japanese multinational information and communications technology equipment and services corporation, established in 1935 and headquartered in Tokyo. Fujitsu is the world's sixth-largest IT services provider by annual revenue, and the la ...

) and Sony. In 1989 Seetec Business Technology Centre Ltd was formed, taking over the operational contracts and services of the original company. An employee-owned business since January 2020, it operates across the UK and Ireland, with its head office in Essex. On 1 February 2015 the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

transferred ownership of the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Community Rehabilitation Company (KSS CRC) to Seetec. In May 2016 Seetec acquired Outsource Training and Development, a London-based training provider with experience of delivering training in key industries, including media and

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

, aviation and logistics. In February 2019, the Ministry of Justice appointed Seetec to deliver

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

services in

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. On 1 April Seetec acquired Pluss CIC, an employability community interest company. In June 2019 Seetec confirmed the start of its latest business line Seetec Pluss Ltd, responsible for managing Work and Health programme contracts previously delivered by Pluss CIC in addition to DWP ESF sub contracts. In August 2019 Seetec Outsource Training and Skills Ltd had started trading, delivering apprenticeship and skills training across the UK. In January 2020, founder and 80 per cent shareholder Peter Cooper sold 51 per cent of the company into an

Employee Ownership Trust An employee ownership trust (EOT) holds a permanent or long-term shareholding in a company on trust for the benefit of all the company’s employees. An EOT provides indirect (trust) employee ownership of a company. Among the different forms of em ...

for the benefit of the company's 2,500 employees. This is in addition to an existing employee benefit trust established in 1990 which owns 18 per cent of the company, and the 1.5 per cent stake held by the charity Your Ambition. Retaining a 29 per cent stake in the business, Cooper announced in January 2020 his decision to step down as executive chairman, with the intention to chair the main board as a non-executive director. John Baumback took over executive leadership of the company as the group managing director as of 1 April 2020.

Services

Seetec delivers

s and skills development programmes across a range of UK industries. Employer services include workforce and apprenticeship recruitment and

Apprenticeship Levy The Apprenticeship Levy is a UK tax on employers which is used to fund apprenticeship training. Introduced at the start of the 2017/18 tax year, it is payable by all employers with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million, at a rate of 0.5% ...

management. Seetec also delivers employability support, advice and guidance to individuals who are out of work, helping them to find sustainable employment. Seetec's justice division works with prisons, government and criminal justice agencies to

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

offenders.

Criticisms

Critics of the company have accused it of being insensitive to the needs of disabled individuals who are referred to its programmes. Along with other job-creation companies, Seetec has been criticized for operating on a per head business model, where the company receives a fixed payment for each person it routes off of the welfare rolls and back to work.

References

{{Workfare in the United Kingdom Companies based in Essex Education in Essex Information technology organisations based in the United Kingdom Rochford District Workfare in the United Kingdom