M&S, Asos and Lush join initiative to employ refugees

M&S, Asos and Lush are amongst the major UK businesses that have joined an initiative to offer jobs to Ukrainian refugees when they begin to arrive in the UK.

The consortium of more than 45 large businesses is also calling on the government to make it easier for refugees to enter the country.

The initiative will be led by British entrepreneur Emma Sinclair, CEO of Enterprise Alumni, who told the BBC that those who have signed up have “thousands of jobs to fill every day of the week”, adding that “people are inherently generally good, and people want to help”. 

The aim of the project is to help “tens of thousands” of refugees secure employment in the UK, find accommodation and gain language skills. The move is reportedly in its early stages, with many of the details still “unclear”, however.

Sinclair is due to have a meeting with Minister for Refugees Richard Harrington today (14 March) to discuss the project further, and has also been in contact with Number 10 Downing Street.

She told the BBC: “We [businesses] want people, we need people, and we want to help. We want to see movement on rising numbers of refugees.”