Stamford Mercury Business Awards success

It was an absolute pleasure to attend last night’s Stamford Mercury Business Awards at Greetham Valley Hotel, Golf and Conference Centre.

I jointly sponsored and judged the Business of the Year category which proved to be an incredibly difficult job this year.

It was a struggle to cut the entry list down to the final four and picking a winner involved an awful lot of discussion following our visits to each entrant.

It was Human Touch which finally took the honours. They’re a local ambulance provider also offering first aid training with an impressive business plan to take them into the future.

I was incredibly impressed with the business’ offer and the team in place.
A large number of them were at the ceremony and were obviously thrilled to have won the award.

The whole evening was a wonderful celebration of local businesses. People talk about recessions and difficult times but seeing the number of small businesses not just starting up but flourishing was testament to the entrepreneurial people and spirit that exist in the Stamford area.

The Greetham Valley venue deserves a well done too for the delicious food and delightful setting that helped create such a lovely atmosphere at the ceremony.
It was an honour to be part of something so special.

Agency Workers Regulations

There are just four months to go before the Agency Workers Regulations come into force in October. And our seminar on that subject is less than three weeks away.

There is no doubt this is going to prove a landmark law change for recruiters and it is vital that both us – and HR departments – understand exactly what is needed to ensure compliance.

The seminar has been designed – along with the employment law experts at Hegarty LLP Solicitor – to ensure delegates leave with a comprehensive knowledge of the regulations and also hints and tips as to how current processes can be tweaked to ensure all requirements are met.

The main speaker will be Hegarty’s Martin Bloom whose presentation slides will be available in the form of a handout.

For more information about the breakfast seminar – taking place on June 9 – or how to access the presentation after the event please get in touch with us.

Diversity training – and so much more

Even when business is busy it’s important to remember the bigger picture.

We had a lesson in that last week when the team took time out of the office to engage in some diversity training.

This is a key area for recruiters. We have to be on top of the latest legislation, understand the theory and not only be able to put it into practice but to demonstrate to our clients it’s importance and it’s practical interpretation.

The latest diversity session with People HR proved very worthwhile. And, by involving every member of the team in one of the two sessions, everyone heard the same message.
This kind of training helps us all brush up on our knowledge levels and be confident we are adding genuine value to the recruitment process for our clients.

The other advantage is that training sessions offer a good opportunity for a spot of team bonding. Having everyone sitting in a room, listening and learning together creates a great sense of ‘team’ and is an excellent motivator. Everyone came out fired up and buzzing with ideas and energy.

A morning well spent!