The news coming out of the UK jobs market has certainly suggested that spring is already warming up rapidly.

16,000 fewer people are now out of work according to the Office for National Statistics – putting total number of jobless at 1.42 million – a figure not seen since 1975.

But perhaps the most significant news for recruiters to come out of the ONS this week was the fact that wages are finally on the rise, with a 2.8% increase in the year to February 2018.

That means the hunt for talent is getting hotter and businesses are finally accepting that pay packets have to be that bit more competitive to secure the best talent.

Paul Mizen, managing director of the Recruit Venture Group, which helped launch, and continues to support, 43 recruitment agencies said the messages from the ground were also positive.

He said: “All that I’m hearing from the agencies that we support is that they are busier than ever. Some businesses are absolutely desperate to fill positions, and that is of course filtering to agencies, many of whom are now actively seeking new staff of their own to cope with demand.

“That is a nice problem to have and the uptick in wage growth is something many of us in the industry have waited for, for a long time.

“That means employers are getting bolder and aiming to be more competitive with their rivals to secure the skills they need. Similarly, employees themselves are fed up with sitting on wages that are either flatlining or barely keeping up with inflation. Now that wages appear to be growing – and the evidence we have seen certainly bears that out – I would expect the jobs market to continue to get hotter.

“Low interest rates and low inflation have been mirrored in wages, but now I think things are starting to seriously turn. The noises I’m hearing from the agencies we support is that the rest of 2018 could be very positive indeed.”

But there are still many constraints in the labour market and a key one is skills. It is acknowledged that the UK has a large productivity gap with other nations like Germany or France. That has been blamed on the lack of necessary skills to supply the economy with the labour it needs.

That 1.42 million jobless figure would surely be significantly lower if the labour force had the right skills, because many industries simply can’t fill posts.

Mr Mizen said: “Productivity has long been touted as a key problem for the UK economy, but we have to accept the issue is likely to be around for a long while yet.

“What recruiters must do is recognise the issue, particularly given the Brexit transition period from March 2019. Net migration may well fall significantly further if the Government doesn’t put in place plans to allow workers with the right skills access to the UK jobs market. That could mean even more posts unfilled.

“So it will be more important than ever that recruitment agencies are in touch with the demands of their local economy. Robust and smart planning to secure and invest in finding potential new candidates with the right skills will be essential for agencies wanting to grow.

“The Government is taking steps to address those skill shortages with, among other things, apprenticeships and T-levels. It remains to be seen how effective these programmes will be but recruiters should be alive to opportunities, understand what new skills could be in the pipeline and plan for how it might shape future business strategy.”

While statistics in themselves are never the full story, huge demand in various business sectors for labour is forcing wages higher. This should see more employees taking interest in new positions and a livelier jobs market.

Lower unemployment and better wage growth suggests signs of blooming spring in the recruitment sector, and possibly a hot summer.

For recruiters working in a salaried position, but who know their patch, their business sectors and geography, now could be a hugely favourable time to start out on their own and take full advantage.

Recruit Venture Group has launched 43 businesses, has a turnover of £138 million and offers a support network of 40 experts on tap.

By putting up the necessary investment to launch the business, as well as vital back office support, including HR, legal, IT, accountancy and marketing, the Recruit Venture Group has successfully helped start businesses in far less favourable economic circumstances than were revealed this week.

To find out more, get in touch with us today.

Can talented recruiters learn any lessons from the most talked-about sports story of the last week?

Well, let’s start with Wenger’s record as a recruiter. Particularly at the start of his career with Arsenal, he was second to none. For example, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars, Nicholas Anelka, Robert Pires, Thierry Henry and Robin Van Persie were all signed for a relative pittance and went on to be stars.

He knew the talent the team needed and the skills it required. Moreover, he identified where to find those skills for a bargain price. Wenger’s ability to source the best talent marked him as a hugely talented recruitment master down the years.

When Wenger joined Arsenal 22 years ago in 1996, he inherited a team which was underperforming, where a drinking culture was ingrained, and where players didn’t look after their bodies in the way they should. Wenger changed all that by bringing in continental, analytical, science-based methods, and not only transformed Arsenal, but also influenced the Premier League generally, where every team then had to up its game.

Wenger’s key legacy is not just the transformation of Arsenal, but also the fresh thinking he brought that helped push English football into the 21^st Century.

What can talented recruitment agents learn from the successes of Wenger’s dynasty?

Much of the key to Wenger’s success was the freedom he had to shape Arsenal into a club in his own mould and vision. But it is important to recognise the exceptional and talented back room support he had.

First was his relationship with then vice-chairman David Dein. When Wenger wanted a player, Dein secured it, when Wenger wanted to improve the training facilities, Dein backed him and when Wenger wanted to test new ideas and approaches to coaching, Dein supported them.

The point is, Wenger was allowed to flourish because he had the support from the back room to let his approach take root. He was not one of these football managers being told who to sign, how to do training and which team to pick. He could get on with what he did best and was the master of his own footballing destiny, knowing long-term support was in place. This meant he wasn’t just another ‘one season wonder’ manager, but one who built his own legacy and wrote his own chapter of football history.

The Recruit Venture Group offers very much that same backroom support to the 43 businesses they have helped launch. In each case, talented recruiters have been given the necessary financial, legal, marketing, IT, HR, accountancy and other back office service to allow them to get on with the work they do best – matching people with jobs.

Because the Recruit Venture Group offers 100% of the necessary finance to help talented recruitment staff take their first steps in setting up their own business, there is no need for things like re-mortgaging the family home or living nervously off credit cards for months or years.

Managing Director, Paul Mizen, said: “Arsène Wenger would never have had the opportunity to create his legacy without being given time and support.

“We understand that when recruitment agents have talent, all they need is a few key pillars of support to unlock their ability to create their own successful businesses.

“So many salaried recruiters out there, with a few years’ experience under their belts, are constrained by their employers. They are not given the freedom inject new ideas, new approaches and working styles like Mr Wenger was able to in the 1990s. And they don’t always get the just rewards for the work they do.

“Many of the businesses we support are already many years into their ventures and being run in their own styles. And unlike many small ventures, or indeed football managers, these are no ‘one season wonders’ which are here today and gone tomorrow. These are businesses moulded by their owners’ vision and backed by long-term support to create a lasting business legacy.”

To label yourself an ‘entrepreneur’ can carry a lot of baggage. Perceptions of what being an entrepreneur means can stir images of the likes of Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, or dare we say it, Donald Trump.

Do you have to be big risk taker? Someone who gives their life to their business? Are you tough enough to survive in a dog-eat-dog, ruthless business world?

Actually, beyond the usual business celebrities, the perception of entrepreneurship throughout the world is generally one of admiration and positivity. Telling anyone at a dinner party that you run your own business commands instant respect.

This is backed up by a new survey on global entrepreneurship by the Global Entrepreneurship Research Association (GERA).

GERA’s latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report for 2017 states that 70% of people hold entrepreneurs in high regarded and enjoy a respected status in their societies. Meanwhile, two thirds of people in the global economy consider entrepreneurship a good career choice.

In the UK the perception of entrepreneurs is even higher than the global average, where 75% of the population believe those to start their own business are worthy of respect. The underlying spirit and goodwill towards entrepreneurs in this country is still alive and well, and in fact is very positive, including in the media, the report says.

So recruitment agents who make the break from their existing job and strike out on their own will have the admiration of many. But why?

The GEM report suggests that people who start their own business are recognised as disruptors, and innovators – challenging the market with new ideas, more efficiency, or better customer service. Entrepreneurs employ people, the get the economy moving, and people respect what it takes to start something from scratch and make it successful.

Paul Mizen, Managing Director of the Recruit Venture Group, which supports recruitment agents who want to start their own business, said: “I’m not surprised at all at the GEM report findings which suggest that people who start their own business are held in such high esteem.

“We successfully helped start 43 such enterprises, and I’m proud and indeed admire every single one. So many people have misconceptions about what it takes to be an entrepreneur, but from the businesses we’ve supported, the one thing they all say is: ‘I wish I’d done this sooner’.

“We see so many recruitment agents under pressure, with huge workloads to manage, and dwindling resources, in roles far more demanding and less rewarding than being an entrepreneur. With our team of experts behind them, the start-ups we support are given the freedom to really flourish.”

The Recruit Venture Group is all about finding out what’s stopping people from taking that next step to entrepreneurship and breaking down those barriers.

Those barriers feed in to the one metric on the GEM report which is fear of failure. In the UK, 36% of the population is put off starting their own business for this reason – which is about average for the global economy.

The Recruit Venture Business model has been successful precisely because it knows what lies behind those fears. Finance clearly majors among those reasons, so Recruit Venture Group offers all the money needed to support the business plan and get the business off the ground. No living off bank loans and credit cards, or even contemplating re-mortgaging the house.

Its central services operation, led by experts in their field, takes care of the payroll, HR, legal, technical, IT and other back office support every new business needs, but often struggles with.

Paul Mizen added: “What we do is allow recruitment agents to make that leap and focus on what they do best – matching people with jobs. The results of the 43 businesses we support speak for themselves – we’re turning regular salaried employees into entrepreneurs.”

Source: http://www.gemconsortium.org/report

 

The economic potential of Bicester has been hailed by the directors of a recruitment agency which has moved its office to the growing town.

Thorne and Wait, which specialises in recruitment for the transport, logistics and manufacturing sector, has moved from Kidlington to Bicester’s Market Square to be closer to its client base in those industries.

The office is also in a prime location in the town, with an on-street frontage, meaning the agency will benefit from better visibility and greater footfall.

Company directors Steve Thorne and Wesley Wait, who set up the agency just two years ago, were also excited about the economic prospects of the Bicester area.

Mr Wait said: “Bicester is a rapidly growing town, which has recently approved the construction of 10,000 new homes and many more industrial units over the next 12 years.

“This will help to grow the potential pool of labour within this marketplace and the ability to supply a quality local workforce to local companies is one area we’re very good at and keen to see grow.”

Mr Thorne added: “Bicester is one of the most rapidly growing towns in Oxfordshire and we have noticed similar growth in the demand for labour. There’s more roles out there than there are people to fill them right now, but hopefully the delivery of this new housing will expand the workforce.”

Thorne and Wait’s own story has also been one of growth. Mr Thorne and Mr Wait began their venture in May 2016, having both had 16 years of experience in recruitment behind them.

In their first financial year the business turned over £500,000, and during the most recent financial year, 2017/18, the business has nearly tripled that turnover to £1.4 million.

The success means that the business is this year recruiting two extra people of its own, who will join commercial manager Emily Owen and the two company directors.

Mr Thorne said the success was down to hard work and quickly building a reputation. He said: “Our success so far has all been down to the service we offer our clients. We may only initially be asked supply a client a few candidates, but once they see the quality, we then get trusted to supply more and more

“We know there is a lot of competition in the sector, but myself and Wesley have nearly 40 years’ experience in recruitment and we are keen to continue this growth and expansion.

“We’re really excited with the move to Bicester, we have already had great feedback from our clients that we are already supplying there and are looking forward to adding more to our portfolio.”

Thorne and Wait’s specialisms include driving positions, commercial office workers, logistics staff and manufacturing jobs and the agency caters for temporary, contract and permanent roles, skilled or unskilled, and at a range of levels from entry and junior, through to senior managerial.

For more information about Thorne and Wait, visit the website, www.thorneandwait.com, or visit their new office at 50 Market Square, Bicester.

 

Teaming up with The Recruit Venture Group will put you at an unrivalled advantage when setting up your own recruitment business.

Our model has successfully allowed 57 recruiters to say goodbyeContinue reading

One of the most important things you can learn as an entrepreneur is where your strengths lie.

Knowing the areas in which you excel is incredibly important if you’re going to turn your business into a success and if you’re going to stand out from the crowd.

As a recruiter, your main strengths are probably sales and communication. Putting yourself at the forefront of your new business, and using these skills to make your company work, is the best way to turn your fledgling enterprise into a real contender in the industry.

The model leaves you free to make the most of your talents and give your business the attention and the energy it deserves.

Running a business takes more than just one skill so it’s important you have a team of experts to rely on.

 you choose where you are located, how you look, and pull from what resources you would like. Help is there throughout and nothing is an extra.

We leave you to make the most of your strengths.

Make that leap without worry

A great deal of talent and successful business is lost to the world for want of a little courage, The Recruit Venture Group gives you the support to bolster your courage and ensures you can make that leap without financial worry or loss of focus on your goal.

You can create your team from the best people you can find from launch, no financial restrictions holding you back.

Build a motivated team of professionals, set your quotas, focus your targets purely on sales and sourcing and everyday do what you do best while we take care of the rest.

 

Seldom are people put off starting up a business because they feel they are not talented enough. Most people feel they could make a genuine success of it if not for all the extra baggage that comes with launching and maintaining a new business.

The same goes for recruiters. There will be many with some solid years of experience under their belt who feel they could spread their wings and start up their own agencies.

They are not held back by how good they are at sales and recruitment, but by all the other risk factors that go into starting a business.

Those financial, legal and other administrative obligations that go into starting and running a business can also take budding recruitment entrepreneurs away from the thing they do best – filling vacancies.

The Recruit Venture Group was founded on the basis that there is a huge amount of talent in the recruitment space that, given the right support and guidance, could make the jump to starting their own agency.

They understand that talented recruiters can’t be a number-crunching accountant, a legal eagle, an IT whizz and a marketing maestro and still expect to excel in the sales and recruitment they do best. And, just as importantly, they realise that most recruiters are not always sitting on a pile of cash to get things moving either.

The Recruit Venture Group backs its businesses with 100% of the funding they need to launch and provides the necessary back office support to allow the business to immediately start generating revenue by letting recruiters what they do best.

Paul Mizen, Recruit Venture Group Managing Director, said: “It is totally understandable why, with the amount of money, stress, worry and risk associated with starting a new business, that some people think that it could never be for them.

“Those very reasons are the foundation of why The Recruit Venture Group was started in the first place. There’s a huge amount of recruitment talent right across the UK, but once those people have been successful for a few years, what’s their next step? Logically, one of the best options would be to start their own business and our job is to break down those barriers and help unlock the potential of their very own enterprise.”

“I’m delighted to say that this model has been hugely successful so far, and businesses which have been started with the help of The Recruit Venture Group are filling vacancies, generating revenues and are growing year-on-year.”

“It is clearly not only satisfying for those recruitment agents who have started their own businesses from scratch, but also hugely rewarding for us to see these new enterprises continuing to go from strength to strength.”

Running any small business still takes a lot of time and energy, but the right back office and financial support is key. With that in place, talented recruiters will be able to avoid sweating the small stuff and focus on where their abilities lie.

Most importantly, they will also avoid becoming just another failed small business statistic.

SOURCE: (ONS) https://www.ft.com/content/cb56d86c-88d6-11e7-afd2-74b8ecd34d3b

 

 

The apprenticeship levy presents smaller recruitment agencies with a huge opportunity, if they choose to seize it.

It is smaller agencies that may well be best placed to take advantage of apprenticeships and get on with the job of matching people with placements, without all the big agency angst

The apprenticeship levy only comes into effect for employers with a payroll of £3 million or more. Large agencies with large numbers of staff, including any temporary agency staff which counts towards the £3 million, are hit by the levy.

Indeed, as Phil Hammond has diverted £80 million of tax payers’ hard-earned cash to small business apprenticeships, it may well be those smaller agencies, with local knowledge or a high street presence, that can really seize the opportunities that may come about.

The direction of travel from the government is clear and apprenticeships are here to stay. Recruiters can play their part, if they want to.

While some of these recruitment giants may well have had concerns about the technicalities of how the levy might penalise them if they had, for example, a large number of temporary workers on the pay book, many of them failed to see the opportunities apprenticeships offer.

By focusing on apprenticeships, the government is trying to get more young people into work, at the same time as addressing the nations skill’s shortages and alarming productivity shortcomings.

If it delivers as promised, this will be good for the health of the UK workforce.

‘Do what you do best’

Paul Mizen, Managing Director at The Recruit Venture Group, who help recruiters launch their own business, said: “Keeping up with the latest legislation and government announcements on things like apprenticeships is not always easy, and it can be particularly difficult to accurately analyse the effects they will have on the industry and the opportunities they may bring.

“And while we have seen a lot of hand-wringing in the industry over apprenticeships and the apprenticeship lvey, what good recruiters need to think about is how to work with the system, not against it.”

“This money for small business apprenticeships certainly seems to throw up some interesting potential, particularly for the smaller agencies that we support.”

“At The Recruit Venture Group we support recruiters who have the talent and drive to start their own business. That’s all about giving them freedom to do what they do best – matching people with positions.”

“Our compliance team makes sure we’re always one step ahead of changing regulations.”

“We don’t think they should have to be bogged down with having to keep up with shifting political or legal sands. We can do that for them, and, if we see opportunities, like within apprenticeships, we can pass that on to the recruitment businesses we support.”

Many talented recruitment staff may be put off from starting their own business because of the feeling of being cut off from other talented, experienced staff.

One of the key pillars of Recruit Ventures is about offering new businesses up-to-the minute information on the issues affecting the industry to ensure they are never caught out – including when the Chancellor makes his next big announcement.

 

Full Stack Developer!

You need to be honest here. If you’ve racked up about five years experience in recruitment there’s a fair chance that, when you started, the job title of ‘Full Stack Developer’ didn’t exist. It wasn’t a role you placed a candidate into.

If you are brutally honest you might not be certain of what a ‘Full Stack Developer’ is even now. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. There’s a  lot of debate as to what it actually means. Most pundits now seem to agree that it’s someone with an overview of technology, not specialising or expert in any one, but pulling it all together, making it happen.

Sounds a bit like a recruitment consultant in a way! But that’s not the point.

The recruitment business moves quickly.

That’s the point.  We’re in a world where, as recruiters, you’re placing candidates into roles that didn’t exist five years ago. Roles within technologies that didn’t exist five years ago. And it moves so quickly that one of the newer job titles is already one of the fastest growing highest paid jobs around. For the moment. Because it will move on again. Quickly. When it does, you’ll need to be moving with it. In fact, ideally, you’ll need to be one jump ahead of it.

It’s like jumping on to a moving merry go round.

That’s what it’s like. The business is moving and you want to jump on to it. Now. That can be dangerous. When you’re planning a start up recruitment business you have to be engaged with a huge number of disciplines. Finance. Premises. Branding. IT and Systems. You’re running from one thing to another, keeping the plates spinning, trying to get your great idea off the ground, and you’re rapidly approaching the moment when you have to take that leap. On to the fast moving merry go round. One false move, and you slip.

Be sure footed when you launch your recruitment start up.

The best way to make sure you don’t slip is to be completely organised, at every level. To have plans in place for the immediate short term and, at the least, the medium term as well. We think we can help. At The Recruit Venture Group we have only one aim. To help recruitment professionals set up their own businesses with such a firm footing that they  can get on with the job of recruiting, and growing their business, no matter how quickly things are moving around them.

How does it work?

Our business model is based on our Joint Venture concept. We provide 100% risk free funding. We deliver legal help and guidance on everything from incorporating your company to finding your premises. We help with your marketing and website.  We give you access to our back office systems, ensuring that you’re operational and efficient from the moment you start your start up.

It’s your business. You’ll run it. But with us behind you, you’ll have several key advantages. You’ll be able to pay yourself a salary, which gives you tremendous freedom and peace of mind.  The constant presence of a mentor is a great help too. And with our support your finances and cash flow will be monitored and under control.

You’ll be up to speed.

As a Joint Venture with us you’ll be able to focus on what matters most to you. The recruitment business. Free of worrying about repayments to the bank, unencumbered by the stress of meeting your domestic bills and running tried, tested and compliant systems you’ll be fully operational. All of that means you’ll be able to focus. You’ll be able to keep up to date and up to speed with the changes and developments that happen all the time. Like the arrival of new jobs, and new job titles.

 

Be honest, you’ve been dreaming about running your own recruitment business. Being a  director. The boss.  Lots of recruitment professionals feel the same. Running that desk, finding clients, placing candidates, hitting the numbers – it’s as good as running your own company anyway. Except the rewards aren’t quite as good.

One of the problems that many new start ups face is that suddenly the entire business of dealing with the media becomes an issue. Inside your employer’s team you’ve been somewhat protected from establishing a deal with the job boards for instance. You’re posting lots of roles on them, but someone else is looking after the monthly cost of that.

 

And people do love the job boards!

Yes, they’re important. Recent research has shown that the job boards are still the favourite means for recruiters to source candidates. They are a means of accessing talent. So you’re ‘on trend’. You’re doing the right thing as a hard working consultant. But then again, they’re not the only source open to you are they? And that’s where it starts to raise questions.

 

The questions.

Well, let’s start with the one we’ve already alluded to. You’re trying to run your new, just started up, recruitment business. You’re not used to dealing with ‘the deal’ by which you negotiate the rate for using the boards. And as a new business you don’t have a credit record with them either. It’s going to be a challenge.

Then there’s the question about the future. Will the job boards be the future? This is a digital, social media, world and new media opportunities emerge quickly. Some make sense and have potential. Some don’t. But they all need examining and as a recruiter you’ll need to make an informed decision about using them or not.

 

The answer is rooted in your being able to find the time, and have the ‘space’ to make those examinations and decisions. It’s about you having the status to do business with the media on favourable terms too. Which is why we think our Joint Venture model is the perfect answer for you.

At The Recruit Venture Group we specialise in helping recruitment professionals start up their own businesses. We provide 100% risk free funding. You get shares in, and dividends from, your own company. You’ll be able to pay yourself a salary from the start, which means you have the freedom to concentrate on recruitment.

 

We give you full access to our back office and systems so you’ll be operational from the outset.

And we’ll be behind you with our reputation to support you in your dealings and in your intelligence gathering. While you’re concentrating on recruitment – your business –  we’ll be monitoring the business. We’ll be watching the trends, the new media and the latest techniques so that we can feed it back to you. So that you can make the right moves, and get the right deals.

To give that amount of support we do need to know you’re serious about starting up. We want to know you’ve got five years continuous experience in recruitment, and you’ve specialised in a sector. We’d like to see your business plan.