“Employers need to think more creatively about recruitment”: Samantha Graham, Clean Sheet

“It’s great to see the difference a job can make to people,” says Samantha Graham, CEO of Clean Sheet. “It gives people back their self-esteem, it gives them a sense of community, purpose and belonging.” 

Clean Sheet is a charity that works with adults with criminal convictions to help them find employment.  

Graham acknowledges there is a stigma around people with criminal convictions that prevents many employers considering candidates, even if their conviction has no obvious bearing on their ability to do the job. And she believes such organisations are missing out on untapped talent, as well as an opportunity to make a significant contribution to society.  

“There is also a shared societal benefit here. Employment reduces reoffending,” she says, citing Government data that shows offenders employed after leaving prison are far less likely to reoffend. 

Collaborating on a societal problem

“I know for some that may not be an effective argument, but if we want to make our streets and society safer and reduce the cost to the taxpayer of maintaining our prison system then we can all play a role in creating opportunities.” 

Government figures state the cost per prisoner in 2024 was £51,108, up 7.7% from £47,434 in 2023. 

A number of factors are putting this issue more firmly on the agenda, says Graham. The first is Brexit and the impact it has had on limiting access to EU workers.  

The second factor has been the Government giving greater consideration to this issue, including the appointment of James Timpson, now Lord Timpson, as the Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending. Timpson has long been an advocate for businesses playing a more active role in rehabilitation, with his eponymous chain of high street shops providing careers for people with convictions. 

A difficult conversation

Clean Sheet has built relationships with many potential employers and also provides coaching and advice to its members to help them navigate the job market. This includes training in the difficult area of disclosure — sharing with potential employers the details of their conviction “including what they regret about their actions, how they've moved forward, and how they've changed”.  

Graham says members taking control of that difficult conversation is an important part of reframing the narrative. Seeing the person behind the conviction is also the reason Clean Sheet supports an initiative to “ban the box” — asking employers to remove the tick box about convictions from application forms to limit the likelihood of automated rejection.  

“Over 100 organisations have signed up to take that box off an application form,” says Graham. “Then if the question about a conviction needs to be asked down the line, it can be, but it means someone's got a fairer chance.” 

Clean Sheet also partners with organisations, including PwC UK, whose employees volunteer to provide training in interview skills and mock interview practice.  

Graham says there are some industries where its members have typically been more successful. “Hospitality and catering is a key one,” she says. “As are construction, warehousing, manufacturing, distribution and retail.”  

In many instances those will be a first foot on the job ladder for Clean Sheet’s members.  

“But sometimes we work with people from a variety of professional backgrounds who have already enjoyed very good careers,” she says. “But something has gone wrong, and they’ve ended up with a conviction. And while they may not return to their previous career, they've got transferable skills and experience that employers are looking for.” 

Moving forward

Closer collaboration between businesses and prisons is also helping to upskill people with convictions prior to release.  

Graham gives the example of working with a prison in Leicestershire that provides vocational barista training as well as plastering, bricklaying and painting and decorating. However, she identifies a catch-22 situation affecting these opportunities. While such initiatives can help reduce reoffending, they can’t always be supported due to resources being stretched by the size of the current prison population — the majority of which is made up of reoffenders.   

That highlights the extent to which this is an issue with many complex interdependencies, and a requirement for large scale collaboration and cultural change. But it is also an issue that has a deeply personal significance at an individual level.  

“One guy we worked with got a job in hospitality and catering and he just flew in that role,” says Graham. “He had a good interview, he had to disclose what had happened, which was emotional for him and for the interviewers, but they thought ‘you could do well in this role’, and he really has. We check in with people for 12 months after they find work and he told us he felt a part of something, he finally felt he was moving forward and getting settled.”

“We often see that someone who's been given a second chance will work doubly hard to be the best they can be, because they know just how precious that chance is.”