Here's to 2010

First of all – a very happy new year. And it does feel like there’s a very real prospect of that – something I’m not sure I could have said with any certainty this time last year.

Despite a very shaky start to 2009, it feels like, as the year has progressed, we’ve found ourselves on a much more even keel. Some of that is down to the green shoots of confidence which started to appear in the economy. A lot of it is down to the sheer hard work and determination of all at ACR to retain, gain and develop our business.

Throughout 2009 our core business remained strong as we continued to fill permanent, contract and temporary positions, win new contracts and increase our client base. This is despite industry figures showing the recruitment market has contracted by more than 20 per cent during the year.

But some of our proudest moments came from achievements in those areas which we have integrated into the business in our efforts to ensure we employ best practice in everything we do.

Our Paperless Office Project reached its culmination and we didn’t just shout about it, we won an international award for it! Recruitment partner Karen Dykes joined me at a very special ceremony at the Houses of Parliament to receive our Green Apple Award presented by no-less than a former Bond Girl! The contacts we made there have enabled us to become even more green – sourcing new eco-friendly suppliers for much of our office equipment and supplies for instance.

The ties we have with our local community – through business awards, Young Enterprise, Opportunity Peterborough, Chamber of Commerce, CIPD, etc – have been built upon. We were one of the first local businesses to throw in an offer of help to the newly launched Back to Business Club. Our connection with this gave us the ear of our local MP Stewart Jackson. We have used that contact to lobby Mr Jackson about forthcoming legislative changes – something which has been encouraged by our trade body the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.

Their last Report on Jobs showed the best numbers for permanent and temporary jobs in the past 18 months – a good sign for all of us.

Communication has always been key for us and that has increased hugely in the last 12 months. We send out regular e-newsletters, post blogs here and use Twitter.com profusely to reach new candidates and keep current ones up to date.

And so here we are – at the end of one of the toughest years anyone in business can remember – and on the threshold of one that, hopefully, can only be better.
Already we are noting a new air of confidence among our clients, a definite positivity which hasn’t been apparent for many months.

And we’re looking forward to helping build on that during 2010.

Let’s hope, that for all of us, this year really does prove to be a happy and prosperous one.

Building Britain’s Recovery: Achieving Full Employment

The Government’s White Paper on Jobs published this week - Building Britain’s Recovery: Achieving Full Employment – recognises the valuable role private sector recruitment agencies have to play.

And it’s a role we’re only too happy to step into.

As professional recruiters we know that the longer people are out of work the harder it becomes for them to find the right opportunities. Therefore the sooner practical support is given the better. But it must be the right kind of support. And that’s where we can help.

Recruitment agencies have extensive local knowledge – we know what kind of help is needed and where it is best placed. And we would be delighted to share that knowledge with public sector employment services which, after all, share our aim of getting more people into the workplace.

We’re already involved at ground level. From its inception we have been involved with the Back to Business Club in Peterborough – a weekly group aimed at higher-end jobseekers. We regularly feed job details into the club and I’ve run a workshop to help people focus their job search.

There is a need to stimulate demand too, something we are concerned will be further hampered by the introduction of the Agency Workers Directive.

We’re continuing to work with our regulatory body the REC, to find out where we as an agency can add value. It’s vital that everyone in our industry continues to seek out opportunities – for the sake of individuals, agencies, companies and, let’s face it, the country.

Santa….and 500 of his friends….came early

For anyone who wasn’t feeling very Christmassy the sight of more than 500 Santas running round Burghley Park at the weekend provided the perfect festive mood boost.

For the second year running, we were proud to sponsor the Rotary Club of Stamford Burghley’s Santa Fun Run. As well as entering a team we provided mince pies and hot drinks – including mulled wine – for all the finishers.

And there were over 500 of them – all dressed as Santa!

All that red and white was the perfect antidote to the mud which made the going on the 5km course rather slippery in places. But even that didn’t stop the most enthusiastic participants completing the full three laps.

The sun shone and the atmosphere was wonderful – the whole event had a real feel good factor to it.

And that was, of course, helped by the main aim of the day – to raise loads of money for good causes.

Last year, the total raised by the runners was an amazing £15,000 which went to a number of good causes.

Our team Anne’s Reindeer Recruiters, made up of staff, friends and family, was raising money for our chosen charity the NSPCC. There’s still chance to sponsor us if you haven’t already by logging on to our justgiving page

To everyone who supported us – financially or by cheering us on – thank you so much.

And we’ll see you next year!

Peterborough Salary Survey

The results of this year’s salary survey won’t come as a surprise to many people – the figures show wages have slipped by an average of 3.6 per cent since last year.

We’ve been involved with producing the salary for 12 years and this is the first time it has recorded a drop.

This year 24 of Greater Peterborough’s most high profile companies fed in information about the pay and benefits received by a total of 4,800 employees.

That’s a good sample size and the fact that different industries and sectors were represented means the results provide the most accurate overall picture locally that we have.

We suspected this climate could deliver the first fall in salaries since the survey began but we were surprised by some of the figures – warehouse and store staff were among the hardest hit with their pay dropping 10.2 per cent while call centre and customer service staff saw a drop of 7.5 per cent.

As the figures are averages, they may not represent a real drop in the money in an employee’s pay packet but rather provide a reflection of the result of redundancies or pay freezes.

However they’re interpreted, the figures unfortunately paint a generally negative picture. But then that’s pretty much how the year has panned out in business. The best it seems we can hope for is that the start of 2010 brings with it some market confidence to give business, staff – and salaries – a welcome boost.

We used our visit to the House of Commons (to pick up our silver Green Apple Award for Environmental Best Practice) as an opportunity to lobby our Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson about the Agency Workers’ Directive - again.

We are heavily involved with our industry body the Recruitment and Employment Confederation to ensure the introduction of the new legislation – now due in October 2011 - is managed in the most efficient way possible for agencies, clients and workers.

We have been speaking to Mr Jackson on a regular basis, discussing our concerns about the legislation and the effect it may have on the economy and unemployment.
He has visited our offices - but this time we saw him on his own turf in the House of Commons.

He has previously told us he agreed the directive appeared ‘unworkable’ and he seems to agree with our belief that while the principle of protecting ‘vulnerable’ agency workers remains admirable the effect on all agency workers and those who use them could prove disastrous.

He listened to our thoughts and assured us it was something he would continue to take an interest in.

We look forward to seeing some direct action from him on this as the new session of Parliament progresses.

Green Apple Awards

We were delighted to find ourselves on the international stage at the Green Apple Awards for Environmental Best Practice and Sustainable Development.

Our paperless office project saw us pick up a silver award in the Services Industry category. With over 500 entries this year to be one of just 80 companies receiving awards made us rather proud of ourselves!

Our paperless office project has been a huge undertaking and although we can’t verify we’re the first business in the country to operate virtually paper free we haven’t come across any who have converted to an electronic office to such an extent.

And that was endorsed by our award which we were presented with by former Bond girl, actress Alexandra Bastedo in front of companies, public sector organisations and VIPs from as far afield as Brazil,Eritrea and India – at the Houses of Parliament no less.

Our blue print is going to be used by the awards organisers to encourage others to follow our example and at least take steps towards a more environmentally friendly way of running an office – which we’ve found to also be cost effective and more efficient.

We’re doing a bit of trailblazing ourselves – talking to clients about little things they can do to follow our lead.

We’re happy to share our thoughts if you want to get in touch.

Santa Claus is coming to town – in force!

Last year the mud and frost left us all looking far worse than Santa ever looks even after dropping down endless chimneys! But we were rather pleased with ourselves after the three mile ‘run’ round Burghley Park which helped us raise well over £500 for the Peterborough branch of the NSPCC.

We entered a team in the Rotary Club of Stamford Burghley’s Santa Fun Run which saw 10 of us, dressed as Santas, taking part in the event.

And I must say – it was funny! Seeing around 300 Santas of all shapes and sizes running, walking and sliding, in some cases, around Burghley Park certainly helped drum up some Christmas spirit!

So, this year, we’re taking part again. And once again we’re sponsoring the refreshments, giving out mince pies, mulled wine and hot chocolate to the finishers.
Overall, the 26 teams in last year’s event raised a colossal £15,000 for charity – what a positive way to head into the season of goodwill.

If you feel able to give a donation please go to our justgiving page. And if you are up for a bit of a giggle do come and cheer us on at Burghley Park. We start at 11am on Sunday, December 13.

I’ll let you know how we get on.