Alliance & Leicester boost ‘green’ project with new appointment » Communities » 24dash.com

Alliance & Leicester’s latest recruitment has helped reach an environmental milestone, it was revealed today.

The appointment of Wayne Blakemore as Area Business Manager was a double celebration after recruitment specialists Career Prospects gave the bank the opportunity to plant a tree at its Leicester head office to mark the occasion.

Little did staff know at the time, but the planting of the Japanese Acer represented the 200th placement as part of the ‘green project’, taking the amount of carbon offset to 51 tonnes.

Career Prospects’ Mike Sedgwick picked up the story: “We give every client with which we place a candidate the chance to plant a tree to mark the occasion and so far tens of businesses from across the UK have taken us up on the offer. Some place them outside their offices, but the majority make use of our sustainable forest in North Wales.

“Protecting the environment is an important issue for our business and we are delighted that an organisation of Alliance & Leicester’s reputation has agreed to support the initiative, which allows us to remain ‘carbon neutral’.”

Fiona Pizzey, Group Diversity and Corporate Responsibility Manager, commented:

“This initiative fits very well with our desire to benefit the local communities in which we operate and underlines our commitment to protecting the environment.

“We also enjoy working with like-minded clients, who are good corporate citizens and can see that being ‘green’ can have its own business benefits.”

Wayne Blakemore takes up the position of Area Business Manager for the South West for Alliance & Leicester, which covers several branches across Worcestershire, Bristol, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Cardiff and Swansea.

His role will be to oversee the efficient operation and sales performance of each branch, including products, staff development and recruitment.

A former Regional Sales Manager at HFC Bank, Wayne was headhunted by Career Prospects’ ‘Search and Selection’ division as part of its ongoing relationship with Alliance & Leicester.

He concluded: “I’m really looking forward to the new challenge and the fact my appointment has helped boost an excellent ‘green’ initiative is an added bonus.”