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New to Market

27 May 2025
Creative/Digital/Media, IT/Telecoms

NEW TO THE MARKET: 27-30 MAY 2025

• Technology recruitment provider itris has launched itris X, a cloud-based CRM and applicant tracking system (ATS) built specifically for recruitment agencies and staffing professionals. The new platform is designed to streamline the entire talent acquisition process with a focus on automation, scalability, and ease of use. itris X addresses core operational challenges in recruitment by offering AI-powered automation to reduce repetitive tasks, advanced reporting tools for performance insights, and personalised candidate communication features. The system is accessible across devices and integrates with a wide range of recruitment tools and platforms. Key features include lead and marketing management, user-friendly design and comprehensive customer support. itris X is scalable for use by both small agencies and large global firms, maintaining performance and usability regardless of company size.

• ManpowerGroup has launched the Work Intelligence Lab, a new global initiative designed to help employers and workers understand and adapt to the impact of AI on jobs and skills. With over half of employers (53%) already using AI in hiring and onboarding, the Lab provides real-time insights into how automation is transforming the labour market. The Lab leverages Manpower Group’s workforce data, drawn from millions of placements over 70 countries, and integrates real-time hiring trends, employer demand and worker sentiment. It aims to give organisations clearer visibility into emerging skill requirements, role changes and workforce dynamics.

27 May 2025
Oil & gas/Energy, Engineering

Energy recruitment firm launches in Aberdeen

Founded by Alan Golightly (pictured), an experienced recruitment professional with more than 27 years in the industry, the company targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) requiring tailored support for complex hiring needs. 

The firm provides permanent recruitment solutions for technical and engineering roles, as well as short-term internal recruitment assistance to help businesses manage hiring fluctuations without increasing fixed costs. Agilient also offers custom recruitment strategies that align with clients’ specific values and growth plans.

Golightly previously worked for, among other oil & gas recruiters, NES Fircroft, and launches Agilient from global energy recruiter Simpson Booth.

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20 May 2025
Oil & gas/Energy, Transport & logistics

International manufacturer invests £170m in North Wales facility

The UK and Welsh governments have welcomed the investment into a new facility from the international manufacturer.

The announcement comes as the UK and EU hold a summit to discuss future opportunities to boost economic growth.

The landmark development will produce more than 100,000 tonnes of non-combustible rock mineral wool insulation per year and create around 140 direct jobs, with more in local supply chains.

The announcement coincides with the UK-EU Summit that took place on Monday [19 May 2025].

Secretary of state for Wales Jo Stevens said: “This £170m investment by Knauf Insulation is fantastic news for North Wales and our UK government mission to drive economic growth.”

Using UK-First Submerged Arc Furnace technology, the new factory will produce non-combustible, low embodied carbon, recyclable rock mineral wool insulation to support the need for safer, more energy efficient and sustainable buildings.

The UK and Welsh government-backed North Wales Growth Deal and the Flintshire and Wrexham Investment Zone collectively support the decision by Knauf Insulation to lo-cate a second plant in the area.

As leaders in the production of sustainable building materials, Knauf Insulation’s expansion further supports the growing advanced manufacturing cluster in North Wales.

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20 May 2025
Creative/Digital/Media, IT/Telecoms

Human skills as important as ‘oven-ready’ tech skills

So says the CEO of the CIPD, the UK’s professional body for HR, learning & development, Peter Cheese.

Speaking last Friday [16 May 2025] at the Houses of Parliament launch of the UK Hiring Taskforce, Cheese told the 200 attendees that at the same time, however, instead of filling skills gaps, employers are also looking for potential in applicants through characteristics such as “attitude, aptitude to learn human skills like collaboration and communication, and critical thinking. The more we debate the future of work, the more we debate about AI impacting jobs and skills in the future, the more we are coming back to these core skills”.

Humanities knowledge is part of building such capabilities into organisations, Cheese said: “People talk now about the half-life of job skills is somewhere between three and four years. In other words, every three or four years, we’re going to have to retrain half of our workforce.”

Access to and retention of talent are a top issue for business leaders around the world, with “almost every organisation saying they can’t find all the skills. But then you question them on that, they say yes, we’ve been getting too focused on hiring what I’ve often described as ‘oven-ready employees’ and they don’t exist – partly because we are changing the nature of jobs at an ever-increasing rate”, Cheese said. “So, the reality of how we approach recruiting has got to be expanded from the point of view of the employers as well.”

He asked the audience: “So why do we seem to be reverting back to saying ‘I just want tech skills’? We know the world is not, unfortunately, going to be a better place if all we have are a lot of tech people. Frankly, we need humanity to work alongside that as well.”

Cheese has been appointed to the UK Hiring Taskforce steering committee.

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31 July 2017
IT/Telecoms, HR, Graduates/Apprentices/School leavers

NEW TO THE MARKET: 31 JULY-4 AUGUST 2017

• Specialist recruiter 2B Interface is opening an office in Munich, Germany. The move follows recent international office openings in Poland and Singapore by the company within the last two months.

• Recruitment software provider Bond International Software has launched the latest update to software system AdaptUX.

Improvements see AdaptUX 2.5 give customers enhanced recruitment and staffing cycle management features, including instant data synchronisation between AdaptUX and contingent workforce software TempBuddy, while client, candidate and contact records are replicated across both software solutions.

The update also aims to provide greater functionality for users for RSM InTime integration, CV importing, candidate ownership, field search and filter capabilities, and AWR management.

• North-West based multi-sector recruiter Cummins Mellor Group is relocating to new larger offices in the cathedral quarter of Blackburn. The relocation comes after completing the sale of its current premises on Whalley Road, Accrington.

• Software developer DevScore has launched an acquisition feature aimed at providing a complete candidate matching, acquisition, assessing and digital screening service for recruiters.

The feature enables customers to make targeted developer searches based on actual coding experience and also filter results by skills, experience and geographical location easily. This will enable them to pick the exact software development talent needed for their business’s individual requirements.

• UK technology career site Dice has launched a retro gaming microsite.

The site will include five classic games, live leaderboards, retro-inspired content and competitions to win retro-themed prizes.  

• Student resource RateMyPlacement has integrated with its software solution RMP Connect.

Student users on RateMyPlacement can ‘opt in’ to share their data with companies they are interested in hearing more about, giving permission for their data to be passed directly into an employer’s RMP Connect Talent Pool, while employers can target students directly in their talent pool based upon their preferences and characteristics.

Additionally, at the end of a campaign, employers can also track how many of these students, and other students in their talent pool, go on to apply and be hired using RMP Connect’s reporting suite.

• The Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative has released an online tool aimed at helping HR leaders calculate how many disabled people they should be employing to succeed in creating a truly representational workforce.

RIDI’s Disability Inclusion Calculator works by computing an individual organisation’s ‘disability employment gap’ based on the number of existing employees who have disclosed a disability coupled with overall headcount, and then advises how many more disabled people would need to be employed for the workforce to be representative of wider society.

24 July 2017
Transport & logistics, Engineering, Industrial/Manufacturing, HR, Hospitality/Leisure, Apprentices/Grads/School leavers, Accounting/Finance

NEW TO THE MARKET: 24-28 JULY 2017

• A former director of Kellan group’s finance staffing specialist RK Accountancy and RK Finance has struck out on his own. Director John Smith has launched Derbyshire-based Accountancy Recruitment Group, which places qualified and part-qualified accountants.

• South West-based employment business Backline Logistic Support Services has relocated to larger Winchester premises at Unit 2, Scylla Industrial Estate, from Moorside Road.

• Newport-based Celtic Manor Resort has launched two-year hotel and hospitality apprentice programme offering a number of modules designed to cover all aspects of the hotel and hospitality sector.

Included are models covering food and beverage, conference and banqueting, front of house, housekeeping and kitchens, as well as a stint combining all these areas at the resort’s Coldra Court Hotel.

Apprentices also benefit from a range of learning and development courses with subject matter including personal development, teamwork, guest relations, presentation and interview skills.

• Engineering recruiter Consilium Recruit has launched a salary guide for the aerospace sector. The survey covers a cross-section of regions in which employers involved in the manufacture and supply of aerospace components, systems, and/or services are based.

• Cardiff-based tech start-up Credas has launched. Credas uses real-time facial recognition technology to help companies speed up and simplify the process of ID verification, employee and client onboarding, and comply with Right to Work legislation.

By texting or emailing a link to the Credas app, clients or employees can verify themselves on the move and at any time and keeps a record of the verification on its secure cloud-based platform.

The site will include five classic games, live leaderboards, retro-inspired content and competitions to win retro-themed prizes.

• Graduate rec-to-rec firm ESG has launched the GradJobs Series, a guide for graduates wanting to break into the recruitment industry. Areas the series will cover range from writing a killer CV, to the day-to-day life of a recruitment consultant, and will be published weekly on the ESG blog.

• PMP Recruitment, part of Cordant Group, has launched Fundamentals – an onboarding programme for new starters aimed at improving learning, wellbeing and staff retention figures, while further increasing the quality of service each employee provides when working within a client’s facility.

Devised by senior and operational project groups, together with the agency’s learning and development department, Fundamentals is an eight-week long programme that is now available to new managers, site consultants and in-branch staff, covering areas including compliance, health & safety, policy and procedure, and personal development. 

The scheme is supported by an online portal that hosts a range of resources, including PMP’s Learning Heroes programme, workbooks, guides and other e-learning tools. New employees can access Fundamentals via a microsite, enabling them to complete designated modules when required. Additionally, the participant has learning reviews with their line manager to ensure they are benefitting from the training.

• European pallet freight network Palletways has launched a recruitment platform through Vidu Recruitment. Vidu is a new browser-based platform links employers and candidates face-to-face in real time across the globe through video and social media.

• Singapore government’s WSG Careers Connect has launched the R3 programme, aimed at matching people with jobs closer to their homes. The programme focuses on three stages of recruiting, reskilling and retaining.

The recruitment stage sees employers receive a list of potential jobseekers curated by career coaches from Careers Connect. The reskilling stage sees Careers Connect career coaches help employers identify skill gaps and relevant training for potential and hired candidates to equip them with the necessary skills.

Finally, the retain stage is where career coaches provide post-placement support to both the jobseeker and hiring supervisor to help address performance, competency or assimilation challenges, to ensure talent is retained.

18 July 2017
Commercial & office support

Start-up of the Month

Michael Hüttl has launched Czech-based Secretary Affairs, an agency that places “glamorous” assistants to act as the face of client organisations.

The launch followed psychological studies he carried out that showed appearance in business really matters and helps firms achieve better results.

While Hüttl acknowledges some may find his agency’s approach controversial, he revealed the agency places both men and women in roles in which they are the face of the business. As such, people placed do not only occupy assistant roles.

“We are now the only player on the market… we can create an environment where clients and candidates can speak about this really straightforwardly, so they don’t have to hide from the reality that appearance matters.”

While candidates do not have to have a modelling background, Hüttl added: “We combine the traditional HR method with a modelling agency – this is a unique solution and requires a bit of courage as some might find it controversial. 

“As a start-up, we have started with administrative HR but we we see the huge growth potential in extending into new sectors.

“We are approached by clients seeking people for ice breaker positions so they seek representative staff to deal with crucial communication tasks in the name of the company.”

Looking ahead, Hüttl said the agency is developing an app to alert candidates about upcoming roles through social media.

17 July 2017
Banking/Financial services

Annis is proud of his Purple Halo

Established by fintech and change recruiter Nicoll Curtin, Purple Halo is set for an imminent full launch. It will be “100% London based” at this time, recruiting ‘heads of’ roles in digital consulting, digital tech, creative, marketing, data and client services, Annis told Recruiter. 

“International will happen,” Annis acknowledged, but “building a good solid business” is on the immediate agenda. “We’re not going to do growth for growth’s sake.”

In Purple Halo’s first 90 days, “we are ahead on revenue, hiring and client attraction, but the focus during this initial period was about setting up and hiring staff and getting the brand right, reaching out to good relationships”, Annis said. “The second 90 days is about marketing the business out – formal launch and generating revenue.

“We are looking at growing slowly for the rest of this year now. We are more focused on ensuring outstanding customer service and engagement with our candidate and client base.”

Purple Halo currently has a workforce of 10, based in the same offices as Nicoll Curtin. But it’s simple to tell the two teams apart: attire-wise, Annis said, Purple Halo leans toward the more casual digital industry uniform than the ‘suited’ Nicoll Curtin look, reflective of its financial services customer base.

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