Youth Empowerment Takes Centre Stage as Launch of Serve Legal Foundation Announced
Added: (Fri Sep 01 2023)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
1st September 2023, United Kingdom – Serve Legal, a pioneering provider of ID and compliance testing services in the UK & Ireland, is thrilled to announce the launch of the Serve Legal Foundation. This initiative underscores Serve Legal’s unwavering commitment to nurturing and empowering young talent as they embark on their professional journeys within the organisation. Accompanying this dynamic launch is the announcement of the inaugural Serve Legal Foundation Award recipient, Catriona Jolley.
Serve Legal’s stature as the UK’s leading ID compliance testing service is underpinned by over 100,000 annual audits for national retailers, leisure operators, convenience store franchises, symbol groups, late night venues, bookmakers, knife retailers and broadcasters across the UK & Ireland. Founded in early 2006, Serve Legal was the result of a genuine predicament experienced by its founders, Ed Heaver and Julian Sargeson, both of whom were former alcohol retailers. Their quest for a reliable and cost-effective age-verification and compliance service yielded no fruitful results, and post identification of a major gap in the market Serve Legal was born.
Now closely working with over 4,000 auditors of their own, Serve Legal provides bespoke auditing programmes to check staff and monitor regular site performance on behalf of their clients. With over 23% of these auditors being 18-19yrs old, Serve Legal has announced a game-changing initiative to empower and catapult young talent into the fast lane of their careers within Serve Legal.
As the Foundation hits the tarmac, Catriona Jolley, the first recipient of the Award states, ‘I feel incredibly privileged to be offered the Serve Legal Talent Sponsorship. This bursary will financially support me with my tuition and living costs as I begin my Master’s degree. I also have the greatest blessing of job security following University, with a guaranteed place as Serve Legal’s full-time Marketing Executive commencing in Autumn 2024. Whilst many students are concerned about finding employment in their final terms at University, I feel honored that Serve Legal have offered me both financial and job security for a role that I am passionate about. I cannot thank the team at Serve Legal enough for their consideration of my personal and educational wishes, alongside employment. Upon hearing that I wanted to complete a Master’s degree, the team not only encouraged me, but actively sought to support me as much as possible. This Talent Sponsorship is the biggest motivation to work hard in my degree, press on to my Master’s and continue to progress in the working world with Serve Legal as my biggest support.”
The Serve Legal Foundation aims at providing opportunities to support auditors and internal staff with a financial reward to help support and improve their education and work experience, giving the recipient an opportunity to pursue further studies, receive training opportunities, access to career guidance, professional workshops and ultimately a guaranteed two-year contract at Serve Legal after the completion of their education.
'At Serve Legal, we recognise the potential and enthusiasm that young professionals bring to our organisation,' says Ed Heaver, CEO of Serve Legal. ’With the Serve Legal Foundation, we are formalising our commitment to their growth and development. This initiative aligns with our mission to not only ensure compliance, but also foster a dynamic community of talented individuals who will drive the future of our industry.’’
Jenni Garratt, Sales and Marketing Director, said ‘I’m thrilled that Serve Legal can support Cat with this opportunity and even more thrilled that she’ll be joining my team full-time when she completes her Master’s Degree! Cat has shown fantastic attitude, work ethic and skill in the various part-times roles she’s held since joining our internal team, as has played a significant role in our more recent rebrand and social media development. We’re always looking for talented people to support and develop within the Serve Legal team and Cat is a great example of this – congratulations!’
Seth Uden, Operations Director, said ‘Serve Legal is dedicated to providing high quality and meaningful work to its auditors and supporting them in their career development, whether that be within Serve Legal where 77% of our staff are former auditors, or elsewhere. This new scheme which makes up part of our SL Foundation initiative further demonstrates our desire and commitment to invest in good people. I’m delighted that Cat will be the first recipient of this grant having proven herself to be a dedicated auditor, excellent operationally and now a creative and dynamic Marketing Executive. We are delighted to have her as part of our team and look forward to having her on a full-time basis once she completes her studies’.
With an aim to provide continued support to their young auditor community, the Serve Legal Foundation will continue to be an ongoing initiative where Serve Legal’s staff, auditors, and new external applicants will have the opportunity to apply for the Award and qualify for the chance to receive sponsorship and employment opportunities at Serve Legal. More information about the application process to follow soon.