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New to Market

27 May 2025
Creative/Digital/Media, Industrial/Manufacturing

NEW TO THE MARKET: 27-30 MAY 2025

• Aston University has announced a new initiative, guaranteeing all full-time master’s students a professional internship as part of their studies. Launching in September 2025, the Postgraduate Guaranteed Internship Scheme will be available to students enrolled in MSc, MA and MBA programmes at both the Birmingham and London campuses.

This scheme is designed to enhance employability by providing high-quality industry placements lasting between one and six months. These internships may be conducted in-person, remotely, or in a hybrid format, and will be facilitated through Aston’s global network of employers. The initiative is available to both UK and international students.

• Worcestershire-based Four Squared Recruitment has launched its new Recruitment Academy, a strategic initiative aimed at developing early careers and entry-level talent. The Academy supports new entrants with structured training, mentorship, and hands-on experience to prepare them for the demands of a competitive job market. Three new team members have also joined Four Squared as a result of the programme. The initiative helps close the gap between emerging candidates and evolving industry needs.

• Gi Group UK, part of global company Gi Group Holding, is strengthening its position in the recruitment and HR sector by delivering forklift and material handling equipment (MHE) training. With warehouse operative roles in high demand across the UK, the company provides essential upskilling opportunities to meet the growing needs of the logistics sector. The MHE training programme supports up to three candidates daily and is RTITB-approved, ensuring high standards of safety, compliance and operational efficiency.

• 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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17 July 2017
Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Creative/Digital/Media, Engineering, Construction & property, Commercial & office support, Banking/Financial services, Legal, Industrial/Manufacturing, Interim recruitment, IT/Telecoms

NEW TO THE MARKET: 17-21 JULY 2017

• Recruitment process outsourcing provider Cielo has opened a recruitment delivery centre in Manila, Philippines after securing new global and regional client wins.

The Manila office is Cielo’s third delivery centre in Asia Pacific in addition to locations in Hong Kong and Singapore, and will be home to 50 to 75 recruitment specialists and support staff within a year, the company says.

The centre’s staff will use Cielo’s global technology suite, Cielo TalentCloud, to deliver hires to clients across the region and the globe.

• IT and digital staffing specialists Energize Recruitment Solutions has opened its first office in the US. The Los Angeles-based office is led by co-founder and managing director Gavin Jones and is situated on the West Coast of the US in Santa Monica.

• Construction, engineering, defence and design recruiter England Associates has launched a new website. The rebranded site features a “clean and simple” design modelled on cityscapes.

• International law firm Gowling WLG has launched a digital risk calculator. The free tool enables small and medium-sized businesses, including recruitment agencies, to better understand their digital risks when compared to other businesses and industries.

The top five digital risks are identified and a 'risk level' is produced, scoring the risk out of 100.

• Oliver James Ireland has opened for business. The financial services, professional services and commerce & industry staffing specialist’s new offices are located within Dublin’s commercial district, next to Stephen’s Green.

Director Tom Madeley leads the Dublin operation, with support from Jack Lynch.

Oliver James Ireland will focus primarily on the IT, corporate, risk & compliance, legal and actuarial sectors.

• Membership organisation Cambridge Network has partnered with technology company ThisWay Global to launch a software platform powered by machine learning for the global talent acquisition market.

Cambridge-based ThisWay Global’s ‘Jobs as a Service’ cloud-based API [Application Programming Interface] and platform, powered by machine-learning technology, has been integrated into Cambridge Network’s jobs board service, known as Recruitment Gateway.

• Online video recruitment platform Vidu has launched. The new browser-based platform links employers and candidates face-to-face in real time across the globe through video and social media.

The platform’s founder Nicky Jones has 15 years’ experience of recruiting senior hires across all areas of the logistics sector.

• Charles Russam, founder of interim recruitment company Russam GMS, has launched Working Free. This new information hub and advisory service is aimed at helping senior level executives understand the skills and attributes they need to become successful self-employed workers and win work.

Russam said: “I launched Working Free because I get calls every week from people – the majority of whom are in their 50s – who want to strike out alone, but don’t know how to start and make the transition from traditional full-time employment.

“We want people to understand that being self-employed isn’t a consolation prize for not having a ‘proper job,’ it is an exciting way of working, but it is different. It requires new skills, takes huge determination, resilience, training and a clear understanding of how to market yourself and win work – and this is where Working Free will help.”

17 July 2017
Hospitality/Leisure

Ex-Kellan Group directors launch Hesketh James

Hesketh James, founded by Toby Holt, previously operations director at Kellan Group recruiter Berkeley Scott, and Amanda Hesketh, a former head of HR and recruitment at Kellan, has set up office in Manchester.

The firm plans to grow quickly before moving into other sectors but will initially focus on permanent, temporary and consultancy assignments within hospitality – first in Manchester, but also focusing on other geographies, such as the South-West.

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10 July 2017
Engineering, Executive search, Industrial/Manufacturing, HR

NEW TO THE MARKET: 10-14 JULY 2017

• Careers network Bright Network has launched Ignite, a platform aimed at linking entrepreneurial businesses with entry-level talent.

Founded by James Uffindell, the platform enables graduate jobseekers to create profiles, listing skills and interests, while hiring manager can create job searches and interact with chosen candidates. Hiring managers can create job searches and interact with their chosen candidates directly, as well as using data and tagging to search through a shortlisted selection of suitable graduates.

• Engineering and manufacturing recruiter Jonathan Lee Recruitment has launched a search & selection division focusing on senior technical and management appointments.

The firm says the launch is in response to a rise in demand for its headhunt and retained search solutions.

• Watford-based recruiter McGinley Human Resources has rebranded as the McGinley Group.

The company has also restructured from a single company to six individual companies, which includes McGinley Aviation, McGinley CEP, McGinley Education, McGinley Healthcare and McGinley Systems International, McGinley Logistics & Construction Solutions.

Earlier this year, McGinley Group announced that it was investing in Unite People – a white-collar, start-up recruitment company based in Central London, which will now act as an investment arm.

The group now consists of seven separate companies, supported by back office support services provider McGinley Central Services, which also falls under the McGinley Group brand.

• Scottish-based tech start-up Odro has launched a video shortlist feature. The feature enables recruiters to combine video interviews they have recorded with their candidates, their expert opinion and the candidates’ CVs in a co-branded location.

3 July 2017
Marketing, Transport & logistics, Creative/Digital/Media, Commercial & office support, Industrial/Manufacturing, HR

NEW TO THE MARKET: 3-7 JULY 2017

• Cloud computing company Bullhorn has launched the Novo Experience aimed at improving recruiter and candidate interactions. The system enables users to configure their workspace to adapt to their needs – regardless of role, geography, language or device.

Users will benefit from:

  • Being able to view CVs in full screen mode, while also being able to enter in notes.
  • The Bullhorn platform now being fully globalised, supporting a localised user interface as well as the ability to parse and store content in multiple languages.
  • The ability to configure the menu system as they see fit, with users able to drag and drop their icons around to make it faster to get the information they use most.
  • A re-designed submission workflow increasing efficiency by enabling users to move candidates through the recruitment process faster than before and being able to toggle between seeing candidates actively in a stage or how many have historically been in that stage.

• Andrew Stoves and Mark Robins, previously of marketing PR and advertising staffing specialist Major Players, have joined forces to launch digital talent specialist Native Gravity.

The recruitment agency will focus on marketing, creative and technology hires as well as contingent, retained and bespoke project-based solutions.

Native Gravity is based on the Southbank in London.

• Specialist recruiter Resourcing Group, part of nGAGE Specialist Recruitment, has opened a Glasgow office.

The new office will serve the built environment sector, including social housing, facilities management, construction, surveying & property, and architecture & design.

• International secretarial staffing specialist Secretary Affairs has launched. The firm says it is dedicated to connecting “experienced, glamorous” candidates with businesses seeking to fill vacancies across the world.

Isabella Garcia, HR manager of Secretary Affairs, said: “My own personal experiences and research indicates that attractiveness and success are linked. For roles that are often client facing, such as personal assistants and secretaries, it can have an impact on how the company is viewed and, in turn, its success. 

“Of course, looks are no substitute for experience and qualifications. That’s why Secretary Affairs takes both aspects into consideration, placing only exceptional candidates in front of companies looking for new talent.”

Secretary Affairs is based in Pargue, in the Czech Republic, and Zurich in Switzerland.

Secretary Affairs has launched in Prague and Zurich

• Kent tech-start-up SupplyNow has launched. SupplyNow’s founder Simon Taylor says the firm plans to disrupt the traditional supply teacher agency market by aiming to charge less than a third of what some agencies charge of up to £70 per day fees on teacher pay rates of £130 or £140.

The platform is self-funded at the moment, but an investment round is being planned this summer, with the proceeds invested in adding features to the app, and attracting schools and teachers to start using the app.

• Recruitment and HR specialist The Curve Group has launched a new package of services for employers who use self-employed workers.

This includes an information website page, a series of case studies and thought leadership articles, a LinkedIn group for employers of self-employed workers and a national series of breakfast seminars to provide advice and information for employers.

• Multi-sector recruiter Workforce Recruitment has opened an office in Birmingham. The branch, which will operate manufacturing, logistics and professional driving, follows the firm’s recent office opening in nearby Solihull.

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