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De Poel to launch ‘association’ of agencies and employers

Tue, 26 Jun 2012
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Temporary labour procurer de Poel is to launch a membership body, the Tempo Agency Club, in the autumn.

Described to Recruiter by a de Poel spokesperson as an “association of recruitment agencies and hirers”, it will operate on a paid-for membership model, with regular meetings and elected committees, with de Poel at the heart of the organisation.
Even in its infancy, the new development has already attracted the attention of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC), which wrote to de Poel last Friday (22 June) “to relay the concerns of REC members about their new Tempo Agency Club”, according to a statement posted on REC’s website on the same day.

Joe Tully, de Poel managing director, says Tempo is “a response to the changing industry landscape, the raised expectations of hirers and a desire to remain competitive at a time when de Poel’s clients are looking for continuous improvements in service standards”.

As part of the statement on its website, REC chief executive Kevin Green comments: “We’ve heard from a lot of our members who have concerns about information they have received from de Poel about charges and restrictions relating to their new Tempo Agency Club.

“I hope by contacting their chief executive directly I can get some clarity on their proposition and get answers for our members.”

An REC spokesperson tells Recruiter that it made public the fact of having written the letter to make those members who had expressed concerns aware that it had done so.

The REC would not comment further on the contents of the letter or the nature of the concerns.

In a statement released to Recruiter in response to the REC making its letter public, Tully says: “We have endeavoured to liaise with all of our agency partners and clients regarding Tempo and we held over 20 agency focus groups, across all parts of the country, to discuss our ideas and to receive feedback.

“We are very happy to answer queries regarding this initiative and we shall be responding directly to the REC.”

De Poel is not an REC member, but does hold membership of the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC), whose chair Adrian Marlowe tells Recruiter it would be “premature” to comment further.
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Is such an association really needed especially when at the heart is an organisation that makes its living from acting as an intermediary between hiring companies and employment agencies? I do not feel it is the place for a company to set such a thing up when there already are organisations who are independently been set up to look after and raise standards in the recruitment industry.

Darren Carter (26/06/2012 13:23:13)

I can't believe that the REC have made this a public matter. If they truly wanted to understand de Poel's position that should have been done privately. This is the type of thing that turns businesses away from using agencies

Tracey Abbott (26/06/2012 13:23:38)

Whilst the majority of the MSP serving recruiters see their profits squeezed by the big boys this looks like yet another revenue stream designed to benefit its inventor alone.

Perhaps the real reason why service and delivery is in question is because some supplier agencies prefer to convert customers who make them the most profit.

Rather than an expensive portal to streamline agencies based on their cheque book rather than service levels, wouldn't it be more effective to issue performance-driven service level agreements?

My business does not supply enough staff via de Poel to make this commercially viable, which is a shame as we have been supplying the end user for over fifteen years now. In the long run it will be the client who will feel the biggest ripples.

Ian Banks (26/06/2012 13:28:16)

My concern would be that the REC are already the voice of the industry and adding another voice would dilute the impact that a single united voice should have. As can often happen in transport where the RHA and FTA both try to lobby on industry concerns.

Ged Sanderson (26/06/2012 14:04:18)

Sounds like de Poel are trying to take even more money out of the deal…!

Tony Watson (26/06/2012 14:23:42)

As an LGV 1 driver myself doing agency work and earning less money now than 5 years ago please clarify to me the function of De Poel other than controling the labour market and keeping drivers wages down. Are they living off the efforts of the workers on the front line?

Alex McDonald (27/06/2012 10:05:25)

'association of recruitment agencies and hirers, it will operate on a paid-for membership model'

I wonder if they will be charging the hirer £2.5k a year to be a member. Yet another attack on agency margins.

Steve Jones (27/06/2012 10:29:59)

Ged Sanderson in his comment says "the REC are already the voice of the industry".

I beg your pardon? The REC are nothing more than *A* voice of the industry: one of several such associations representing the recruitment industry.

It is only the REC who regard themselves as *the* voice of the industry. In my experience [some] recruiters, agencies and clients would totally disagree with that self-aggrandisement.

Which is exceedingly sad as the REC used to be a really good and professional organisation.

Ray Ellis (27/06/2012 14:34:36)

Dear oh dear, it never ceases to amaze me that our industry (and those elected to represent us) never speak out about the destructive effect this band cause. How on earth can any agency survive on 49p mark-up, even if you have 100's of temps out? I thank god I don't have to deal with their tactics …

Mike Rowe (12/07/2012 13:48:46)