MOST people have a vague idea about Remploy helping people with disabilities into the workplace.

Few would know this is one of Britain's leading manufacturers or that its turnover is about £260m a year.

The organisation claims to be the world leader at getting the disabled into full-time work and enjoying real independence. It wants to treble its activities over the next five years and the only barrier to this is the supply of disabled people.

So the rallying cry from 43-year-old Pontypool-born Guy Phillips is: "For goodness sake get in touch with Remploy if any form of impairment is preventing you from entering the workplace."

A trained solicitor, for the last decade Mr Phillips has served as legal adviser and company secretary.

He explained how lots of people who need some help choose not to come forward because of old-fashioned stigmas associated with disabilities.

"But those ideas are ridiculously out-of-date. So sod it, just shout. And remember, you won't lose all your benefits just because you enter a workplace."

Now living on Richmond Hill in west London, Mr Phillips enjoyed a burgeoning career in the private sector with American Express and city regulator IMRO before being offered the Remploy job by a head-hunter. In fact, he was offered two jobs, the other being a highly-paid position in the tax haven of Guernsey.

The proposition was one of those forks in the road that people sometimes face.

Mr Phillips said: "I recalled my school experiences in Pontypool and remembered how isolated the kids with disabilities often were.

"If I knew then what I know now I could have said to them, 'Don't worry about this, support structures exist which can help you get to as good a place as anyone in your class'."

The Remploy opportunity proved the more attractive to him because he had the opportunity to set up a legal department and company secretariat.

"I was able to take all the strands of experience I'd acquired before and combine them in a new facility.

"In addition to this there was the opportunity to help change people's lives for the better. That's why I'm still at the company."

Although he could well be a role model to today's Pontypool pupils, it wasn't the case in the early days.

"I failed my 11-plus," he said, cheerfully. "You could hardly call me an over-achiever in those days."

Fortunately his parents got him into St Albans RC School and he prospered there before studying law at Wolverhampton and his professional articles at a law practice in Richmond.

Remploy employs about 13,000 people in the UK, some work at its own factories. The organisation is a leader in the production of automotive components such as brake assemblies and wiring looms and has other prosperous niches in textiles and furniture-making.

Customers include Volvo, Honda, Ford, Rover, Aston Martin, JCB and BMW.

Other Remploy people are trained for work at over 50 partner organisations such as Tesco.

"Remploy has gone through a profound change over the last five years, moving from a model of isolation from the mainstream workforce to one of complete integration," said Mr Phillips.

Tomorrow he will be hosting Assembly education minister Jane Davidson at the unveiling of a new 30,000 sq ft Remploy centre at Abertillery.

"Like all our centres now, it will feature a learning centre for all employees and for anyone we might be helping into a job elsewhere in the community."

Mr Phillips is looking for opportunities to create Remploy centres in Newport and Cardiff.

Out of the organisation's £260m turnover, about £160m comes from its own commercial activities. The rest comes in the form of a government grant.

Remploy wants to see the commercial figure rise as much as possible.

Not for the profit in its own right but to have the funds to help more people. Within the company a diversity strategy is in place to make sure a level playing field exists for all employees.

"Out of our 13,000 staff about 1,000 to 1,500 are able-bodied.

"There is a top management tier of about 300 and within five years we want to see a significant percentage of these jobs held by people with disabilities. But they will be there on merit and not by quota."

According to Mr Phillips that's not such a difficult thing to achieve.

"You often find that people with a disability are so keen to prove themselves they will easily out-perform able-bodied colleagues."

Mr Phillips feels empowered by the knowledge of thousands of successful case studies of disabled people who have been trained for the workplace and are now flourishing.

"It's incredibly important work because so much of people's self-esteem comes from the work they do. To deprive someone of this is to take away an awful lot. And it doesn't need to happen."

* If you have a disability and want help to get into the workplace, or if you represent a company which would like to work with Remploy call 0845 6015878.