Pictured: Environment Minister and MP for Meriden, Caroline Spelman, joins in the casino training with Pertemps People Development Group client Matthew Bruce at Chelmsley Wood

Environment Minister Caroline Spelman has witnessed first hand some of the support available for North Warwickshire unemployed people when the chips are down.

Mrs Spelman, MP for Meriden and Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, recently visited employment and training experts Pertemps People Development Group's advancement centre at Chelmsley Wood where she was given a guided tour by operations director,  Ken Blythe.

Mrs Spelman was following in the footsteps of employment minister Chris Grayling who also visited the PPDG centre recently. PPDG delivers the Government's Work Programme at the centre and at other offices across Birmingham, Solihull, the Black Country and across the UK.

Mrs Spelman said: "I was delighted to visit this venue and see first hand the good work being done there to help local unemployed people into sustained jobs, training or further education. Employment and training companies like Pertemps are particularly valuable at a time like this when we are trying to get as many jobless people as possible into employment."

Ken Blythe said: "We were delighted to have an opportunity to demonstrate to Mrs Spelman how we are able to help local unemployed people find a way back into work. It was clear that the minister supports the model of personal advisers working closely with clients, offering a sense of continuity and sharing the aspiration of securing sustained employment."

More than 100,000 job seekers have been helped into sustained employment by PPDG. It has also trained over 130,000 people in vocational skills, and more than 175,000 have benefited from professional information, advice and guidance.

PPDG's team of employment experts provides 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 and many programmes financed by the European Social Fund. PPDG came fourth in The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For 2011.

For more information about Pertemps People Development Group, please visit their website here: www.ppdg.co.uk