 During this period the firm became one of the first two private sector companies implementing the Blair government's Welfare-to-Work programme, christened by Labour as "The New Deal".Paymaster General Geoffrey Robinson contacted Alec Reed in 1997 with a proposal to outsource some of the work of traditional job centres, with Reed providing training and support to those out of work for 1–2 years or more.Reed refused at first, changing his mind only when learning that rival agency Manpower was interested.