Two years ago a homeless man was sleeping behind the Savoy Hotel in London – a popular spot for rough sleepers. These days he’s working there using the front entrance.

He’s just one of 120 homeless people who have been helped off the street and into work by Connection Crew, a social enterprise set up nearly three years ago that provides crewing companies for the events industry.

“Work is still the most successful route out of homelessness,” says Colin Glover, chief executive of The Connection at St Martin’s, which works with London’s homeless community and receives Connection Crew’s surplus profit – a handsome £50,000 last year.

Connection Crew came about when Jamie Clark, now operations director, met a friend who ran a large corporate events company and they shared a business plan. In the past two years Clark has adapted the model to employ ex-homeless people as crew and also provide a comprehensive employment support service.

Trainees start off on a two-week placement where they are effectively an extra pair of hands on-site. This allows them some time and space to adjust to the stresses of work in a professional environment.

“In corporate events you are often exposed to the public, not hidden away backstage, so it’s important, for example, that trainees learn to drop street language when talking to business clients,” says Clark.

The crewing work takes ex-homeless people to places that must seem another world from the proverbial gutter. Recently, Connection Crew has fulfilled contracts at a polo match on the Duke of Essex’s estate and a private party at Sting’s house. One of its most determined recruits is now working as a freelance electrical technician having taught himself while crewing.

Clark says he is no longer marketing Connection Crew as an employer of ex-homeless people. “For lots of people homelessness means beards and super-strength lager, whereas it actually comprises a very broad spectrum of people, especially during a recession.”

Glover adds: “Corporate companies like the feelgood factor of helping the homeless but they are ultimately reluctant to take risks. We are learning lessons from Connection Crew in terms of management, recruitment and employment practice.”

When Streetwork ran a survey of 50 “street drinkers” two years ago, of the 2,000 homeless individuals it helps each year, 80 per cent said they’d be willing to work. What’s more 60 per cent admitted to having a trade.

Helping someone off the street and into steady work is a process of stepping stones, says Josie Sutar, assistant manager at Streetwork, a social enterprise based in Edinburgh that works with 40 homeless people a day at its crisis centre.

“We have to manage their fear, build up their skills and self-esteem and assess their readiness for employment,” says Sutar. Questions asked include: Are they able to manage their new housing tenancies and budget responsibly? Are they able to swap rough sleeping for a routine, meet deadlines and turn up for training?