Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Impact Report published

20 February
illustration of two people chatting at a table

Impact beyond jobs: Insights from the frontline of Employment Services.

We are proud to announce the release of our Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Impact Report. An accessible version is also available here. 

This report reviews the employment and wellbeing outcomes of 19,000+ people who have participated in our IPS employment support programmes which link work and health. We also share our insights from the frontline of delivering IPS, our impact to date and our recommendations for commissioners. 

As Britain’s largest provider of IPS, second only to the NHS, we have found that: 

  • Early help while someone is still in work leads to better employment outcomes. 62% of people who are referred to Shaw Trust IPS services while still employed are able to stay in work, taking on average 60 days off sick before returning to work. In comparison for someone who is unemployed when they start the programme, it takes an average of 90 days to find work. 
  • IPS helps people gain – and stay in – work. 73% of the people Shaw Trust supported into work sustained their job for 13 weeks, and 68% of those sustained it for 26 weeks. 
  • Work is good for health and wellbeing: 73% of those who found employment showed an improvement in their wellbeing score. 63% of those did not start work still improved their wellbeing and felt more positive about their job prospects. 
  • IPS boosts the economy with an average salary of £32,000 for those gaining employment through Shaw Trust IPS programmes – just below the national average. 
  • IPS saves taxpayer money: with an estimated return on investment in year 1 of £2.43 benefits for every £1 spent on an IPS Primary Care participant (often referred by their GP); this accrues over three years to £9.22 for every £1 spent. 
  • IPS benefits communities by boosting employment, contributing to better social and family relationships, and maximising use of locally available services. 

Our evidence is clear that when delivered correctly, IPS works. 

Learn more about how IPS links work and health to support people and communities in our explainer video. 

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If you want to understand more about our IPS services, visit our services pages.

If you’re in the process of Commissioning Connect to Work and want to learn how we can help with our IPS Centre of Excellence, visit Commissioning Connect to Work – Shaw Trust

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Carl Nicholson
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Carl is a senior managing director at Accenture, with c 30 years’ deep commercial experience in delivering large client contracts, and leading multi-disciplinary, global service delivery teams. As the global Inclusion & Diversity sponsor, Carl is passionate about creating a culture and environment that enables colleagues from all walks of life to achieve their professional aspirations. 

Carl joined Shaw Trust as a Trustee in March 2024, relishing the opportunity to bring his commercial expertise to support Shaw Trust’s goals and aspirations, in an environment where he can tangibly give back to society.

Christine Swabey
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Christine joined Shaw Trust in March 2024. Previously, she has operated at a senior level in the commercial, public and third sectors, notably in education, health and social care. She is passionate about the role of the Board in upholding values and supporting strategic ambition to enhance impact for all users.

Christine is currently Chair of St. George’s University of London, a specialist healthcare university based in South West London. She has led discussions on a merger with City University, which when implemented, will create the UK’s most comprehensive educator of the healthcare workforce. She has been a Board member of a number of NHS and charitable organisations, providing care to those experiencing poor health, mental and physical, and those living with disability. She was Chief Executive of Autistica, the UK’s leading research charity dedicated to improving lives of people with autism. That experience underscored her belief in the strategic importance of research in driving change.

In the schools sector, Christine is an experienced school governor and recently chaired the Independent Schools Inspectorate. She has first-hand experience of safeguarding from both a regulatory and provider perspective, including residential care settings.

She is genuinely excited about contributing to the Shaw Trust Mission to enable everyone to fulfil their potential through access to purposeful and life affirming employment.

Greg Allen
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Greg is an experienced CEO, chair, and Trustee/non-executive director. He has also been a Professor of Practice (Leadership) at the University of Exeter Business School since 2020. He is passionate about improving the lives of people of all ages and supporting the development of young people in their work and employment.

With a career spanning over 30 years, his board roles have covered the commercial (plc), public, third sectors and consultancy, with over 20 years working across health and care. Most recently, he has been Interim CEO of Blind Veterans UK, following four years as CEO of Future Care Capital. Both are health and care charities with long and rich histories.

He joined Shaw Trust as a Trustee in early 2024, following previous Trustee roles at Hospiscare in Devon and the national charity Arthritis Action. Other previous executive roles include CEO of the government’s national Centre for Workforce Intelligence, senior civil servant at the Department of Health, a national director of Nuffield Health and private banker at Coutts & Co. In his early career, he qualified as a teacher and served in the UK and abroad as an Officer in the British Army.

He is a keen road cyclist and Francophone/Francophile.

James Stewart OBE
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James became a Trustee in 2021 after a 30 year career spanning the public and private sectors. He started in the banking sector, led Partnerships UK and Infrastructure UK, and then spent ten years at KPMG finishing as a Vice Chair and member of the UK Board.

Much of James’ career has been spent in the pursuit of improving public services and he has been involved in the development of many of the leading UK infrastructure projects and programmes including Crossrail and HS2. James believes that skills are a key enabler to the regeneration and growth of the UK economy and helping young people to have the opportunity to acquire skills and have the best chance of employment is his motivation for joining Shaw Trust. He is attracted by the Shaw Trust operating model and believes that social enterprises can have a greater role in delivering public services in the future.

Steve Shaw
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Steve is passionate about using his extensive HR Leadership experience to make a positive difference to the lives of others. Throughout a career spent at the helm of global matrix organisations devising and implementing expansive change initiatives, Steve has utilised extensive HR experience to deliver substantial revenue, growth, and organisational development.

Steve has represented HR in Board positions for more 15 years, most recently as Chief HR Officer for the Apogee Corporation, leading on HR, real-estate, and environmental strategies.

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Stephen Pegge
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Stephen is a career banker and has also been a board director of several institutions with a public interest including the National Centre for Work Experience, the Institute of Small Business Affairs and is a former chair of a charity founded by HRH the Prince of Wales supporting older people into economic activity.

He is part of the senior executive team of UK Finance, the leading financial trade association and leads on commercial finance, sustainability, dispute resolution and international trade. He chairs an advisory group for the UK government on creative industries and is part of a minister led boards on business finance and promoting female and black and ethnic minority entrepreneurship. Stephen is a director of the UK Business Angels Association, the trade association dedicated to promoting angel investing and supporting early-stage investment in the UK. He is also a director of the Business Banking Resolution Service, a voluntary ombudsman scheme for larger SMEs.

Stephen believes Shaw Trust makes a vital contribution and has an even bigger potential role to play in employability, education and support for people to realise their potential whatever their backgrounds over the next few years. He is looking forward to playing his part in supporting it and our clients and hopes his experience and connections can be useful to colleagues and the wider network involved in this vital work.

Kalm Paul-Christian
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Kalm is an investment banker working in the Financial Institutions Advisory Team at NatWest Markets. There he advises executive management teams to execute strategic and corporate finance decisions for sustainable growth.

He began his career with Rothschild & Co in the Global Financial Advisory division before joining The Social Investment Consultancy where he advised charities, social enterprises, corporates and investment funds on revenue diversification, social business models and impact evaluation.

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He is a graduate of the University of Oxford, Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and a member of the Worshipful Company of International Bankers. He is also trustee of the Turn2Us and Switchback, a former school governor, and a junior adviser to Chatham House.

Lara Oyesanya
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Lara joined Shaw Trust in April 2021. Lara is a trustee of Plan International UK and a co-opted Member, Committee on Benefactions, External and Legal Affairs, the University of Cambridge advising the Vice-Chancellor.

The vision of Shaw Trust of a future where good employment is accessible to all in society irrespective of life circumstances resonates with Lara. Growing up in Nigeria, Lara was raised with strong values that included a great sense of social justice, responsibility, accountability, respect, and care for everyone in the community. Shaw Trust’s outlined outcomes for education and skills, children and young people’s services, and health and well-being are areas that Lara believes are essential for a fair and equitable society. This vision is a big draw for Lara as a Shaw Trust trustee and she hopes that the work of Shaw Trust will continue to promote social justice and mobility to address the causes and consequences of poverty in society.

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Mike Nussbaum
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Mike joined Shaw Trust in February 2016. Mike sits on the boards of RNIB, Guide Dogs, Vision UK, the Equality and Diversity Forum and supports numerous other charitable organisations.

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Annamarie Hassall MBE
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Deborah Dorman
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Audrey Coutinho
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Diane Côté
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Diane holds a number of board roles including at Societe Generale SA and X-Forces Enterprise.

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Paul Baldwin
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After two decades working in the banking and finance industry, in 2009 Paul decided he would rather spend his time working on the causes that he is passionate about.

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Olly Benzecry
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In addition to being the Chair of Shaw Trust, Olly is a Trustee of Movement to Work and advises WithYouWithMe, an international provider of skills-based talent management solutions. He is Chair of the Corporate Development Board of the Natural History Museum (NHM) and a member of the Corporate Partnership Board of Cancer Research UK. Olly advises Faculty, a world leading AI provider, as well as being a CEO advisor more broadly.

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Chris Luck CB MBE DL
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Chris joined the Trust in May 2019, after a distinguished career in the armed forces.

Chris had not planned to move into the voluntary sector, however, his life experiences, personal values and strong sense of purpose made him the perfect fit to lead Shaw Trust. Ensuring those we support are at the heart of everything we do, Chris has implemented a new organisational structure, reviewed our strategic direction and championed new initiatives, including the Shaw Trust Foundation and Shaw Trust Policy Institute supporting and advocating for social mobility through opportunity.

To find out more about Chris follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.