GPW Recruitment has enjoyed much success over the years. The recruitment company, based in St Helens, has established itself as one of the leading recruitment consultancies in the North West. A well publicised and slightly controversial move saw the St Helens RLFC Stadium renamed as the GPW Recruitment Stadium. This however wasn’t the company’s first involvement with the rugby league team. GPW has had a long standing relationship with Saints, and it is this relationship and involvement that has lead GPW to their next venture.
Over the years GPW has been approached by numerous ex-players who, since finishing their careers in rugby, have found it difficult to find suitable employment. Despite having fantastic drive and ambition, many have had little or no work experience or qualifications outside of Rugby League. And for these athletes, who have enjoyed massive success in their rugby careers, suddenly to be at a loose end is quite unsettling.
With this in mind, GPW Recruitment has teamed up with Saints’ John Wilkin and is launching its newest division, Rugby League Recruitment. This new division will place current players into day release work placements with local companies to help them gain experience and a better idea of where they may want to take their careers after Rugby League. Players who have finished their career in Rugby League will be placed into full time work. Rugby League Recruitment has also teamed up with St Helens College to organise short burst training courses for the players to brush up on any basic skills such as numeracy, presentation, and basic computer skills.
The companies who recruit the players via Rugby League Recruitment will benefit from having a star athlete, and local celebrity, working for their company. Their fierce work ethic will help to motivate staff, and their presence will help raise awareness of the company within the local market place.
The RFL commented, “It has great merit and believe it will be beneficial to players”. Having consulted with the RFL, GPW plan to eventually take Rugby League Recruitment to other Super League clubs and help more players benefit from some work experience early on in their careers. Former Saints star John Stankevitch suffered a career ending injury to his shoulder and suddenly found himself needing work outside of the rugby arena. He commented, “It would have been nice to have something like this when I was playing. No-one goes into the game expecting their career to be over by their mid-twenties. An injury can do that, and it’s good to gain experience early on to ensure you have a career to pursue after Rugby League.”
Mark Parish, Managing Director of GPW, had the following to say, “Rugby League is such an exciting sport and it is fantastic as a company to have the resources to help these players with their future career prospects. We feel proud that GPW is able to give something back to the game, a game that gives its fans and supporters so much enjoyment through the skill, ability and passion the players display on the field. After years of working closely with Saints I feel we are in a great position to help the players, and also to give many local clients the opportunity to get involved with these acclaimed athletes”.