Company which helps Wigan prisoners keep on the straight and narrow to receive royal recognition

Procure Plus Holdings has been recognised with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise after helping thousands of people from disadvantaged communities in to sustainable and meaningful jobs.

While Procure Plus Holdings supports many communities which are disadvantaged, its support of ex-offenders is especially exemplary.

A subsidiary of the company based its first factory inside HMP Hindley, employing those serving custodial sentences.

When PPH created OSCO Homes, to deliver affordable housing using off-site construction methods, it saw the opportunity to integrate social value in its business model to the benefit of the individual, company and community.

On release, prisoners are guaranteed roles within OSCO or its supply chain and are provided with access to a range of personal support to ensure they succeed on the outside. It’s resulted in reoffending rates at OSCO of just six per cent, compared to rates of up to 59 per cent in the wider prison population.

PPH also specialises in the procurement of goods and services for the social housing sector, helping providers secure cash savings of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent with no reduction in quality or service.

Surpluses generated from the procurement business are used to train and develop people who find themselves distanced from the employment market, using a range of training and support mechanisms, and working with local communities.

This pioneering work has supported 2,534 people into sustainable employment over the last five years, with 90 per cent of these beneficiaries having significant barriers to the labour market.In order to ensure employment is truly sustainable, ongoing in-work support is provided for both candidates and employers, leading to over 87 per cent of candidates remaining in work for longer than six months.

Gwen Beeken, Managing Director of Procure Plus said: “I am incredibly proud that we have been awarded a Queen's Award for Enterprise in Promoting Opportunity by Her Majesty The Queen.

“Procure Plus is a business with a commercial head and a social heart. To be recognised by the most prestigious business awards in the UK is a huge honour, and one that I share with our employees, clients and everyone who we were able to help into work."

The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the most prestigious awards for UK business – often thought of as a knighthood for business’ – with Her Majesty The Queen personally approving the winners.

They recognise and encourage outstanding achievements in the fields of Innovation, International Trade, Sustainable Development and Promoting Opportunity through social mobility.

Over 200 businesses from across the UK have been given awards this year but Procure Plus Holdings is one of just nine to win in the Promoting Opportunity category.