Pictured above: (l-r) Christopher Podmore, from Dudson Ltd, Jane Holmes, from Human Resources at Dudson Ltd, and Pertemps People Development Group client Chris Ashworth

Dudson Ltd, an historic Stoke-on-Trent ceramic tableware company, is bucking the economic trend and creating new job opportunities for local unemployed people - recently recruiting six people.

Employment experts Pertemps People Development Group (PPDG) have been working alongside the family-owned company - the oldest in the UK hospitality tableware sector.  This successful relationship has led to a fresh start for a man who was unemployed for two years after being made redundant by JCB.

Many of the successful candidates have secured work at Dudson Ltd after being referred to PPDG by Jobcentre Plus under the Flexible New Deal (FND). PPDG is delivering FND in Stoke-on-Trent and across Staffordshire as part of the Government's Welfare to Work strategy.

Chris Ashworth is one of the lucky six whose unemployment ordeal has ended thanks to PPDG and Dudson, based at Scotia Road, Tunstall. Chris, aged 31, from Stoke, had been unemployed since November 2008 after losing his job as an assembler at JCB. He was referred to PPDG in September of this year and within two months had found employment with Dudson as a labourer.

He said: "PPDG have been excellent for me - I really couldn't thank them enough. Within two months I had found employment at Dudson. It is fantastic to get back into work after nearly two years being unemployed. It is great that PPDG are working with a company like Dudson, giving people like me an opportunity to get back into work. I think it is just brilliant for local people and the local economy."

Dudson spokesman Rob Thomson, operations manager, said: "When I first met with PPDG, I was very impressed with the passion, energy and enthusiasm shown in getting people back into work. The scheme works with a wide variety of people from many backgrounds and with a number of different skill sets, which provided Dudson and PPDG the opportunity to work together to fill several current vacancies successfully."

Dudson is also taking PPDG clients on work placements and recently staged a tour of the company to give unemployed people an insight into the ceramics industry. The Work Focused Training initiative provides vocational training opportunities and employability skills to 18 to 24-year-olds. The initiative is part of the Government's Backing Young Britain campaign, in partnership with the Future Jobs Fund and the Community Taskforce, which encourages organisations to provide young people with the opportunities they need to get into work.

PPDG's team of employment experts provide advice on benefits, confidence building, one-to-one support, CV and interview preparation as well as finding the right job or training course. In partnership with DWP, the Ministry of Justice and Jobcentre Plus, PPDG delivers a diverse range of employment and training initiatives including Flexible New Deal, Working Neighbourhoods Fund, Learndirect and many ESF funded programmes. More than 100,000 job seekers have been helped into sustained employment by the company since the projects began.  It has trained 130,000 people in vocational skills, and over 175,000 people have benefitted from professional information, advice and guidance services.