Case Study

Mike masters his most important role yet

24 Feb 2025

For Mike Collins, Head of Integration for the Restart Scheme in Central and West London, moving to Ingeus in mid-2021 was a natural step. Having packed roles in retail, youth and health settings into his ever-expanding career, plus a spell travelling around Asia and settling in Sydney, his ability to quickly engage with people was just what Ingeus needed for the launch of the Restart Scheme. Going live on Mike’s 30th birthday, just a few weeks after he joined us, was a taste of the varied and fast-moving role to come. 

“I’d previously seen Ingeus at work as a supply chain manager for a commissioner working with the Ingeus youth division,” says Mike, who is now 33 and lives in Essex. “I’d been impressed with the focus on people and sense of fun, wrapped in a genuinely strong culture of performance and professionalism. I could see that delivering good work matters to Ingeus. 

“I joined at an exceptionally busy time, mobilising the Restart Scheme. I was impressed with the feeling of everyone being in it together; we all went through onboarding together, hierarchy wasn’t important.” 

Mike and his team are integral to supporting the Restart Scheme, which supports unemployed people back into work. Along with two partnership managers and six local integration leads, he finds and onboards charities, councils, and specialist skills, health, and wellbeing services to provide additional wrap-around support to jobseekers.  

“I’m very proud of what we do – it’s a good thing. With our partners, we support thousands of people into work – those big numbers really motivate me,” he adds. 

When baby Jacob arrived 14-months ago, Mike took five weeks off, safe in the knowledge that his partnership manager (a role he specifically created to allow for career progression within his team) would step up to his role. Fast forward nine months,  with wife Steph returning to work, Mike used split paternity leave to have an additional, uninterrupted three months off with Jacob: 

“Having that time has been amazing,” adds Mike, who, typically, loves exploring on long country walks with Jacob. “I’ve built an even stronger bond with Jacob and understand first hand what my wife handled while I was working. She’s been able to step back into her career, while I know mine is in safe hands.  
“I’m a huge advocate of people taking parental time off if they’re able. No matter how busy your job, people will cope, and I’ll certainly never regret having this time with my son. I’m so lucky to have done it.” 

Asked what other benefits he appreciates working for Ingeus, he cites the ability to purchase extra holiday and access to private medical cover – something he’s had need to call on as a result of occasional mishaps skiing and motorbiking. 

Now back in his busy role, Mike is never one to sit still: “Responsibilities shift constantly at Ingeus and I now also support bid activity and shaping our services for the new Connect to Work contracts. I enjoy new challenges and learning new things. Much as I love time at home or out on my motorbike, it’s easy to go to work at a company like Ingeus.”