Advanced Smoke Group investing in the Future

"Youth will be a Key Driver to our Future Growth and Success"

It has been well publicised of the recent record highs in youth unemployment in the UK. With fewer companies providing fewer opportunities to the young, there is an extensive range of skills and potential available in the market that is being wasted at the moment.

The construction industry was one of the hardest hit sectors in the recession and in the UK is still struggling to regain sustained growth. With many organisations downsizing or defaulting, the Advanced Smoke Group are going against the trend and aiming for high growth for the future. A major feature of this high growth strategy is the employment of young workers who have the skills, determination and potential to be valuable members of the organisation. By working closely with the local University and Government skills funding agencies the Advanced Smoke Group are recruiting graduates and apprentices from the local community and providing them with the opportunity to gain further qualifications and valuable experience. The Advanced Smoke Group is a company specialising on smoke control and smoke ventilation systems in buildings, providing protected escape routes for residents and quick access for fire-fighters in the event of a fire.

Calvin Barnett who graduated in 2010 from the University of Leicester with a BA in Management and Marketing explained that even though he had achieved a first in his course, his lack of experience held him back from being able to get a marketing position in a company and there were very limited internship opportunities in the East Midlands.

Calvin explained, ‘The majority of firms I looked at wanted relevant experience as well as a degree but it seemed most work experience and internships seemed to be unpaid in London so I was in a Catch 22; I couldn’t afford to travel from the East Midlands to London daily for unpaid work or live in London unpaid and I was unable to find any experience opportunities in the town I live in to get a role in the career I wanted. If it was not for the Advanced Smoke Group providing me with the opportunity and taking me on as a marketing assistant, I do not know where I would be at the moment.’

Darren Wale, Technical Sales Manager for Advanced Smoke Group commented, ‘Many of the unemployed youth want to work, have the abilities and are eager to go; all they require is the opportunity. We want to help develop and grow these individuals and in turn they will help develop and grow the company.’



Right to left: Calvin Barnett, Jade Brown, Danish Ahmad: The ASG
Young Guns



The young prospects all have an incredible work ethic and each showed real progress, contributing to some major developments in the company. Danish Ahmad was the first intern taken on by Advanced Smoke Group after completing his MSc in Advanced Electrical and Electronic Engineering from University of Leicester in 2009 and is now a full time employee of the company as systems developer following on from his internship where he was instrumental in developing and patenting a new product. Danish is now responsible for product design and development and states ‘Working at ASG is an honour; we have a very friendly environment with a very supportive team. This makes the workplace a very enjoyable place.’

Richard Brooks, General Manager of the Advanced Smoke Group states, ‘at the moment, downsizing and redundancies will not help local communities, organisations, industries or the economy. There needs to be investments into the future in order achieve sustainable growth and the youth have a lot of potential that will be valuable to the Group and provide a competitive advantage in the long term. This is why we are looking at developing bright and enthusiastic young prospects that have a lot to offer and provide them with training, hands on experience and real responsibility.’

Jade Brown, having recently finished her AS Level's is now an apprentice within the Advanced Smoke Group as an adminstration assistant and working towards gaining her level 2 NVQ in business administration. Jade says 'this apprenticeship gives me the opportunity to get hands on experience and training in the position. I am learning a lot and each day is different which has helped me gain a lot of different skills. The team is always there to support me and although I only started in November, everyone is really friendly and has made me feel at home straight away so I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here.'


Over the last 12 months the Advanced Smoke Group has taken on two graduate interns and an apprentice and are planning on taking on another graduate in Accounting in early 2012.