A leading recruitment and training firm, which has an office in Brynmawr, has been appointed as preferred supplier of staff to the education sector in Wales for a second successive term.

New Directions Education has been appointed by the National Procurement Service after a rigorous tender selection process.

The business has now been officially named by the Welsh Government as the ‘go-to provider’ for cover staff in their official report for schools and local authorities ‘Effective management of school workforce attendance’.

In a series of guidelines highlighted by the report, all 22 local authorities in Wales have signed up to use the framework agreements that the National Procurement Service has put in place. This highlights New Directions as the organisation schools will be expected to use to meet their supply teacher requirements.

The business was originally awarded the contract back in 2012.

The ‘All Wales Award’ was established after an original government report ‘Spending Smarter in Tougher Times’ identified a need for consistent spending across the public sector.

Since New Directions were awarded preferred supplier status, they have saved schools across Wales more than £3m in supply staff costs.