• Over 97,000 of the UK population are serving sentences in prison.
  • People serving sentences under supervision of the probation service is known to be over 238,000.
  • £76 is the amount of ‘gate money’ a prisoner gets when leaving prison to reform their life.
  • The likelihood of an ex-prisoner reoffending within 6 weeks of freedom is 34.5%.
  • The likelihood of an ex-prisoner reoffending drops by 97% if they are in meaningful employment.
  • The UK Construction industry requires 250,000 workers by 2028 to meet public infrastructure demands.
  • Are we missing a trick?

At Hercules, we are committed to delivering meaningful social value that aligns with our clients’ priorities. Across the East of England, two major clients have expressed an interest in supporting HM Prison and Probation Service in Norwich and the surrounding areas. Consequently, opening up site vacancies to a very specific pool of talent that are often aimlessly looking for work and facing barriers in doing so due to their backgrounds. 

As a result of a collaborative approach to social value with Galliford Try and Skanksa across various improvement schemes, we are proud to have employed our first operative.  Hercules attended a recruitment event organised by HM Probation Service in Norwich to identify eligible candidates for roles on site. Ex-prisoners, prisoners eligible for release on temporary license, and prisoners serving in the community were invited to meet employers interested in recruiting.

We met lots of great candidates who are eager to reshape their lives after going through forms of rehabilitation and getting back to work. Mike was one that really stood out for us. Mike is serving 60% of his conviction in the community after being relocated to approved premises in Norwich. We are proud to offer Mike a second chance and employ him as a Traffic Marshall on site. Mike is doing well in his first few weeks, he’s loving site life, and he has commented on how grateful he is for the opportunity and being in employment! We really hope that we are giving Mike the foundations to rebuild his life. Mike’s positivity and motivation to do well in his new role is inspiring, and we’re hopeful that we’ve contributed to improved wellbeing and way of life for him.

This is just the beginning of our relationship with HM Prison & Probation Service, and a collaboration that hopes to see even more success as we ramp up Sizewell C and other surrounding schemes in the East of England. Next up, we will be scouting out our next site talents in Ipswich in July.

Further reading on the Social Value Model 2025 sees this direction correspond to Outcome 5: Support the reduction in crime, and Outcome 6: Employment & training for those who face barriers to employment. Meaning that our efforts in this focal area are directly  impacting our society in the eyes of public procurement.

Impacts on:

  • Reducing re-offending rates
  • Reducing unemployment
  • Increasing community safety

A testimony from an Ex-Prisoner

After many years trapped in alcohol addiction I ended up with a custodial sentence. During my time in prison, I reflected back over my life and made the decision that alcohol was no longer going to be part of my life. From making this decision I used every facility that prison had to offer me to change my life.

I started by getting my health back into order. I signed up for all the gym sessions available to me. In the gym is where I found CrossFit, I was drawn into it for the discipline and increased mental strength it offered. I also found prison employment in the form of a Shannon Trust mentor. This is a role to support other inmates with their reading / writing and maths. I really enjoyed this role and over a period of time was offered a red band Shannon Trust mentor role. This was a trusted position, meaning I could move between wings in the prison offering support rather than only operating on the wing I was based on.

I see prison as a blessing for what it offered me to start my life changes. I feel without it I would have continued drinking alcohol with no regard to the safety of the people around me and in the community.

I was released from prison to an approved premises also known as a hostel. This gave me a good base to start life back in the community. After a few weeks ‘lay down’ my probation officer gave me the go ahead to start looking for work. I immediately began to reply to job advertisements and send my CV to potential employers. The stumbling block was my convictions and previous relationship with alcohol. As you can imagine when I told potential employers this during the interview I could tell it wasn’t going to progress.

After a good few weeks of trying and not having any joy, a lady at the Job Centre asked if I would like to attend a job fair at the local probation centre. She said the employers were aware that candidates attending the job fair had served a custodial sentence, but were willing to try and offer them employment. Working my way around the various stalls at the fair I came to Hercules PLC and introduced myself to Emma and Steve, they were friendly, approachable and keen to see if they could help me gain employment. After a chat they said they’d be in touch.

Within a few days I received a call from Emma saying they had found me employment as a Gateperson on A47, a Galliford Try Highways Project. Being on probation meant that it wasn’t a straightforward procedure into the new position. Probation had to complete checks and make sure the job would comply with my licence conditions. The staff at Hercules were very patient and went above and beyond to get me a start on site. Nick and the Hercules team worked to process all the training requirements required for me to start on site after the Easter Bank Holiday. For this I’m very grateful.

Having a place of stable employment has been the foundation for rebuilding the rest of my life. It allowed me to make a start on repaying debts I’d accumulated in my past, buy a car and find decent accommodation. From this I’ve also been able to make a start on a passion of mine. This is completing fitness challenges to raise money for animal protection charities, and even securing a place in the London marathon 2026!

Another really memorable part of the journey since leaving prison and being back in employment is. My brother was looking for work so was able to recommend him to Hercules, we now work on the same site!

None of this would have been possible without having stable employment. I would like to thank Hercules PLC for giving me the opportunity to get back into employment after serving a custodial sentence. It’s been truly life changing, a big thank you to the Hercules team!