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New to Market

4 June 2025
Oil & gas/Energy, Life sciences

Green energy firm aims to bring skilled jobs to Kent

Hydrogen TE (UK) is seeking planning permission from Kent County Council to build the UK’s first waste-to-hydrogen base at a 10-acre site in Manston, near Ramsgate. The project aims to convert household and commercial waste into clean hydrogen, significantly cutting landfill and carbon emissions.

According to a report from news site BDaily, bosses say the jobs would include skilled and graduate roles, alongside a training centre to foster local talent. The hydrogen produced will supply commercial heavy vehicle fleets and waste management operations, helping meet UK net-zero targets.

Michael Engsted, Hydrogen TE managing director, says: “This area of Kent has seen a huge depletion in jobs over the past few decades, which has forced many skilled workers and graduates to relocate.

“We are determined to help revitalise the local community by giving talented individuals a reason for staying here. We are committed to prioritising local recruitment for positions including finance, engineering and science.”

According to BDaily, the company also has plans to expand with a second plant near Newport, Wales. Joint MD Jeremy Parkin adds: “We are keen to establish the standard for plants like this, which will one day become a familiar sight across the UK.”

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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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30 May 2022
HR, Accounting/Finance

EY-IBM alliance aims to address post-Covid challenges

The new initiative addresses challenges, including employee recruiting, retention, upskilling and the need to transform HR systems technology at speed and scale.

With the aim to help organisations navigate this new talent landscape through digital innovation and greater resilience, EY and IBM have established a new Talent Centre of Excellence (COE). 

The COE will create data-driven AI and hybrid cloud solutions that provide broad talent, HR, mobility and payroll transformation services. Bringing together the EY Organization & Workforce, Mobility and HR Transformation business solutions with IBM Talent Transformation business and hybrid cloud and AI capabilities, it is the newest expansion of the EY-IBM Alliance and second COE established in the past year, an alliance statement said.

Andy Baldwin, EY global managing partner – client service, says: “Through this alliance expansion, EY and IBM are better equipped to help deliver value to clients by putting humans at the centre of the experience and helping them overcome the urgent need to attract, retain and upskill their workforce while transforming their HR function.”

John Granger, senior vice president – IBM Consulting, says: “The EY-IBM Alliance will provide consulting and technology solutions that infuse AI and automation into the talent process to help clients simplify and streamline the experience.”

Further illustrating the depth of the EY-IBM Alliance in this space, EY has invested in the organisation’s own Talent function. By leveraging IBM automation and intelligence technology, the statement said: “EY is transforming Talent from within to develop a leading class acquisition strategy, help in delivering a simplified user experience and enable ability to better match available skills and talent to jobs.”

This new COE follows the successful launch of the EY-IBM Centre of Excellence for Financial Services.  

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30 May 2022

New Future of Work Research Centre focuses on rapidly changing work environment

These are some of the critical questions to be explored by the University of Surrey’s new Future of Work Research Centre, which launched last week [26 May 2022].
  
The new Research Centre will focus on people management and job quality in a rapidly changing working environment characterised by rapid technological advancements, economic developments and societal value changes. “These changes have transformed the nature and organisation of work, as well as conditions of employment,” a University of Surrey statement said.
 
Professor Ying Zhou, director of the Future of Work Research Centre at the University of Surrey, said: “With so much uncertainty in our work environment, we’ll be looking at the critical questions facing the future workplace – from analysis of job quality and digital technologies through to the hopes and perils of hybrid working… Across our work, we’ll be looking to offer advice on how fairness and justice can be secured in an increasingly diverse workforce.”
  
Furthermore, the Research Centre is being established just as the UK government launches its own Future of Work Review headed by MP Matt Warman. 
 
The launch event will feature Professor Glenn Parry, head of the Department of Digital Economy, Entrepreneurship and Innovation; Professor Francis Green, professor of Work and Education Economics at UCL Institute of Education; and Jonny Gifford, senior adviser for Organisational Behaviour at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. 
 
More details on the Future of Work Research Centre can be found here.

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30 May 2022
Education, HR, Graduates/Apprentices/School leavers

NEW TO THE MARKET: 30 MAY-3 JUNE 2022

• Baltimore Consulting has announced a partnership with Spectrum.Life, an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) offering free, confidential counselling and wellbeing support services to employees and their families. Spectrum.Life’s EAP offers on-demand support all year round and includes services such as counselling, career guidance and elder care support.

• PUSH Mind and Body, a wellbeing and mental health training company, has formed a partnership with Brixton Finishing School to support a work-focused community training programme for young people. The ADcademy programme, run by Brixton Finishing School, aims to help under-represented 18-to-25-year-olds by upskilling, inspiring and helping participants grow their professional networks.

Launched in 2021, more than 1,000 students have participated in the initiative so far. It includes ADcelerate – Get Hired, a two-week intensive programme that provides employment opportunities to its alumni, preparing individuals for life in the workplace through a series of employability-focused workshops and masterclasses. PUSH says it will initially provide support on this programme from June, hosting wellbeing workshops for participating students.

• Job application tracking platform RoleCatcher has launched two new integrations to help individuals better manage their career hunt. These new tools include a new, disruptive take on the traditional job board, allowing RoleCatcher users to search and apply for jobs from multiple external sources while still managing their applications and communications all in one place. The firm has also launched the Career Navigator feature, which will enable jobseekers to compare and contrast new job opportunities in other sectors or professions.

• Recruitment firm Skillsearch has announced that it has become an employee owned company, known as an Employee Owned Trust (EOT). This will enable its employees to become shareholders and have a say in the growth and the future of the business.

• Sky Recruitment Solutions has announced that it is opening a new office in Nottingham on 1 June. The office will be based at the Cubo Work serviced offices in Nottingham’s King Street. The firm has a head office in Derby and seven other offices across the East Midlands and Yorkshire.

23 May 2022
Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Public sector, Education, Executive search, IT/Telecoms, Accounting/Finance

NEW TO THE MARKET: 23-27 MAY 2022

• Global workforce solutions firm AMS has launched its recruiter skilling solution to help employers build their own in-house recruitment teams. Recruiter Skilling is part of the firm’s Talent Lab, which will sit alongside its tech skilling solution to help clients solve the tech skills gap through upskilling and reskilling existing employees, and developing new talent. Recruiter Skilling provides new recruitment team members with a 10-week training programme of which two weeks are dedicated to client-specific training. Ongoing training and mentorship from a team of experts is then provided until individuals become a member of the internal talent acquisition team.

• Eames Consulting has opened a new office in New York, adding to its offices in London, Zurich, Singapore and Hong Kong. David Miles is appointed director to lead the new office. He has more than 10 years of experience in recruitment and expertise within the financial services sector. The firm says the new office location also creates opportunities for employees within the group seeking international experience in their careers, as well as an opportunity for US talent.

• Tech recruitment platform hackajob has launched in the US in response to the growing tech talent gap, which has become even more “urgent” in the US following the pandemic. Hackajob launched in 2015 and was founded as a tech careers marketplace to eliminate the bias associated with traditional recruitment techniques to find tech talent based on their skills rather than backgrounds. Hackajob also has four European offices in London, Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam.

• NxGen Recruit, a new recruitment business, has announced its launch in the East Midlands. The firm says it has 72 years of combined industry experience and has achieved 100% in its compliance test.

• Operam Education Group has launched Operam Education Leadership Recruitment, a bespoke service focusing on sourcing and placing inspirational leaders within UK and international educational settings. Christian Walshe has been appointed to lead the new service offering. He has worked in a variety of senior positions in education recruitment for the last decade.

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