ACR unveils new offices to the city’s business community

It’s been exactly one calendar month since we moved from our Park Road offices in the city centre to our new home on the Lynch Wood business park.

To celebrate, we hosted an evening drinks reception for clients and guests yesterday, on Tuesday July 16.

The team and I were delighted to welcome over 70 invitees – including Lord Brian Mawhinney and Cllr Marco Cereste – to the new offices at 25 Commerce Road for drinks, canapés and a guided tour.

It was a proud moment for the business, bolstered by the many compliments we received about the design and layout of the new building. We have Peterborough based designers QED and Tim Lloyd to thank for that, who were also there for the evening.

Their hard work made for a smooth transition as we quickly settled in to our new working environment. The ground floor is entirely open plan, making it easy for us to meet our clients and candidates as soon as they arrive for appointments.

The first floor boasts a range of bespoke meeting rooms and interview suites, as well as an IT training space for candidates.

Thank you to all those who attended the official unveiling yesterday. While this latest move means a fresh and modern look for the company, our intrinsic business values remain firmly the same.

We look forward to the opportunities our new location will bring, and hope to welcome many more faces through its doors.

If you weren’t able to attend the unveiling, please get in touch with one of the team on 01733 235298 who will be happy to arrange a suitable day/time for you to have a look around. 

ACR is moving to Lynch Wood

It’s been a busy three months for the team and I as we have been preparing for our upcoming office move.

Now I am delighted to announce that we will be operating from our new offices at 25 Commerce Road on the Lynch Wood Business Park from Monday 17^th June.

This is an exciting move for us and simply reflects the way in which recruitment has changed. The digital revolution has transformed the ways in which we interact with both clients and candidates, meaning that a city centre base is no longer a necessity for the modern recruitment agency.

When Anne Corder Recruitment began life 18 years ago, the business advertised vacancies in the local media and relied on candidates dropping in hard copy cvs or faxing them through to our city centre offices.

The process – whilst being thorough – was slow and labour intensive.  Being in the city centre was important for us, keen to attract candidates looking to register with their cvs or apply for vacancies during lunch breaks or city centre visits.

Now, vacancies are advertised on our digital ‘shop window’ – our website – as well as in different specialist forums, to which candidates apply almost instantly with digital cvs and application letters.

Even psychometric testing is done digitally nowadays.  Location is less important in this modern world of recruitment.

Our new premises have been immaculately refurbished to provide a fresh and contemporary office environment that is much more user-friendly. We have more space; more interview and conference rooms and we are in the midst of many of our existing and potential business clients.

There is ample parking space to make attending interviews that much easier and the business park has excellent public transport too.

Technology is a wonderful tool but it is only ever as good as the diligence of the people using it – and that is where there is simply no substitute for recruitment experience when interviewing candidates prior to presenting them to clients.

And that is where professional recruitment agencies add real value to clients and candidates. Clients require short lists of qualified candidates to speed up the recruitment process and find the right person. Candidates are equally keen to ensure the potential employer is right for them. Bringing all those pieces together is the real art of recruitment.

Recruiters rank third highest in professional stakes

While I continuously take pride in my work within the recruitment sector, it’s always great to see and hear the industry being recognised as one of the best, particularly when it comes to professional standards.

A study undertaken by The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) has revealed some interesting facts and figures around the simple question: ‘Who are seen to be more professional?’

Recruiters were given a very respectable third place – keeping in good company with teachers and lawyers who took the top two spots.

Director of REC Anita Holbrow attributed the success to the 80-year heritage of recruitment and its professional bodies in the UK, and claimed we have a lot to be proud of.

I couldn’t agree more, which is why ACR has been a member of REC for the past 18 years. We regularly have input into REC group discussions, notably with the Office Professionals Sector Group, who will undoubtedly by thrilled by this positive piece of research.

It really is a fantastic result for the industry, achieved in spite of the rather negative outlook surrounding the jobs market currently.

Take a look at our Latest News page to see what we’ve been doing to champion professional standards and best practice lately.

Paris Brown: A sobering lesson for us all

IF you ever needed an example of the dangers of social networking in the recruitment industry look no further than the case of Paris Brown – the 17-year-old appointed Youth Crime Commissioner by Kent Constabulary.

When she was 14 or 15 she tweeted inappropriately about racism and homophobia and when her past caught up with her as the media scrutiny intensified on her life – she was left crying and embarrassed and eventually resigned from her post after only a week.

It’s a sobering lesson for Paris – who will now fully appreciate the enormity of the implications of inappropriate social media activity.  But it should also serve as a sobering lesson for the Police Commissioner for Kent Constabulary – who should never have allowed the situation to arise in the first place. 

Whether Paris should have kept her role as a bridge between police and young people and seen out the media storm with support from Kent Constabulary or whether she was right to walk away from the position, are arguments open for lengthy discussion.

What is indisputable however is the renewed focus on the implications of apparently casual tweets or Facebook postings which can be used by employers to provide a deeper insight into the personality traits of job candidates.

Had the Police Commissioner for Kent Constabulary checked out Paris’s social media history before the appointment, a more measured approach could have been adopted and a media storm avoided.

Concerns over city’s unemployed

While our recent pay trends mini survey revealed some positive news about Peterborough and its businesses, the latest statistics regarding unemployment in the area have resulted in concerns being raised.

A total of 6,710 people are currently unemployed, making up for 5.6% of the local population. It is only a slight increase from the figures released this time last year, but one that reflects poorly on the city in comparison to the rest of the region.

Lincoln, Cambridge, Northampton, Grantham and Stamford all reported figures that were more representative of the national rate, which currently stands at 3.9%.

A number of local organisations were contacted to comment on the news, including ACR. Recruitment partner Nel Woolcott spoke with BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on our behalf, talking candidly about why the figures were so high.

Much of the discussion focused on the impact of seasonal roles, many of which will have recently come to an end following the busy Christmas period, as well as the recent influx of people without jobs moving into the area.

We can certainly relate – having had a busy start to the year – but we still have a variety of job roles currently available and have even identified some skills gaps in the market.

In short, we still have something to be confident about in spite of these disheartening statistics. We know that Peterborough is a job creating city, with a 17% increase in the number of new companies being set up within the last 12 months.

We’ll be keeping cautiously optimistic as we continue to work with clients and candidates alike towards a much-anticipated boost in the city’s economy.

Budget 2013: relief for the jobs market

While George Osborne’s ‘aspirational’ budget may not have convinced the entire nation, it has revealed some positive news for those still struggling to find work.

The Chancellor opened his speech with some encouraging statistics for 2013: an additional 600,000 people to be employed by the end of the year, 60,000 fewer benefits claimants and six private sector jobs being created for every public sector one lost.

All of this indicates some relief for the jobs market and a welcome reduction in the level of competition for individual roles. And with additional supportive measures such as the new personal tax and employment allowances, we are expected to see “more people in work than ever before,” according to The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC).

Locally, business leaders and politicians in Peterborough have largely embraced the budget and recognise its value in boosting the city’s economy. In particular, the reduction in National Insurance Contributions has received praise from small businesses and firms, who will now be in a better position financially to create jobs and start hiring.

It’s these kinds of measures that will help to generate a much needed boost of confidence in our local jobs market, confidence that the team here at ACR will naturally support and help to implement.

As REC rightly observes, “tweaks to the tax code that cut the cost of hiring, rewarding workers with more take-home pay and reducing the corporate tax burden on businesses are positive examples of some targeted steps that our industry should welcome.”

We’ll be working closely with our clients to encourage and develop future job roles, as well as providing our candidates with new and exciting opportunities for work in the local area.

ACR is moving!

I’m delighted to announce that the ACR team will be moving offices in a few short months.

Work is now under-way at our new premises on the Peterborough Business Park at Lynch Wood.

It means leaving our city centre base on Park Road, however the move will be instrumental to our ongoing business development plans by bringing us closer to our existing and potential clients. And with all candidates now sending in their CVs digitally, a central location is no longer a necessity.

The accessibility of Lynch Wood was also a contributing factor to the move, as it is close to the A1 and boasts excellent public transport links. The new building has ample parking space and more interview rooms to make life easier for our meetings with clients and candidates.

Having launched the business 18 years ago, I have witnessed first-hand the many ways in which recruitment has changed and the adjustments that have had to be made in our day-to-day operation as a result.

Our latest move reflects our long-term commitment to remain fresh, modern and contemporary without losing the intrinsic business values which have helped us retain so many clients over the years.

We are hoping to make the move late spring/early summer, with business continuing as normal at our Park Road office in the meantime.

We will be making sure we keep everyone up-to-date with the latest news regarding the move but please do get in touch if you have any queries, either via email or by telephoning us on 01733 319 888.

With 2013 already off to an exciting start, I look forward to what the rest of the year will bring as we welcome clients and candidates to ACR’s new home very soon.