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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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25 October 2021
Retail, Transport & logistics, Engineering, Executive search, Industrial/Manufacturing, Hospitality/Leisure, Graduates/Apprentices/School leavers

NEW TO THE MARKET: 25-29 OCTOBER 2021

• Accept Recruitment has launched a national initiative to celebrate and support the vital daily work carried out by millions of temporary workers across the UK. National Temporary Workers Day will take place on 4 November 2021. To find out more about National Temporary Workers Day, visit here and sign the Charter.

• Food and support services provider Compass Group has launched its Compass Group Academy, designed to develop skills in the hospitality industry. It will focus on supporting young people from disadvantaged areas to build careers in the sector and train people in a range of disciplines, including hospitality, culinary and services. The physical and online hub will be based in the West Midlands and is due to open in 2023.

• Frontline Recruitment is working with Hypnos Beds to create a further 50 new positions at its headquarters in Castle Donington in Leicestershire. Both firms have been working in partnership for over 12 years. Roles that are on offer include unskilled and skilled operatives, van drivers, as well as general operatives to help with loading at the distribution centre.

• Executive search firm Harper Fox Partners has released a free guide to advance diversity through recruitment. The aim of the guide is to assist and advise companies on how to attract, present and advance diversity through excellent recruitment and retention practices. ‘Harper Fox Guide to Attracting and Retaining Diverse Talent in STEM’ can be downloaded for free here.

• Ordnance Survey (OS) has opened its graduate scheme for the September 2022 intake. The programme has 16 roles available giving graduates the chance to work on a range of “impactful” projects. Graduates will gain experience of working across government, business, and international markets. They will have a “unique” opportunity to work across all areas of the business with rotating placements.

19 October 2021
Oil & gas/Energy, Transport & logistics, Life sciences, Engineering, IT/Telecoms, HR, Healthcare/Medical

NEW TO THE MARKET: 18-22 OCTOBER 2021

• Berry Recruitment has launched a new offsite hub in Washington, near Sunderland, which it believes will be the “template for future onsite recruitment”. The Hybrid Onsite Resource Centre (HORC) will serve businesses that require larger numbers of workers in the nearby hub. The hubs will run alongside Berry Recruitment’s network of nearly 40 branches across England and Wales that stretch from Cornwall to Darlington.

• Recruitment software provider CEIPAL has launched an AI-driven solution to address diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within organisations’ workforce and across all talent acquisition sources. Its DEI solution leverages advanced AI technology to empower hiring organisations with complete visibility into their own workforce and hiring processes, then helps to fill any diversity gaps. CEIPAL’s DEI solution integrates all hiring sources and data points into a single talent container, offering organisations access to diverse and qualified talent available globally.

• JobOppO, a veterans’ employment community supporting army veterans, is to help former Afghan interpreters airlifted to the UK find work and integrate into society. The recruiter has teamed up with Sulha Alliance and selected employment partners including Whitbread Group and Asda to help those who supported British Forces in Afghanistan. Afghan interpreters will get assistance with employability skills and opportunities alongside advice and support for their cultural, welfare and religious needs.

• HR software company Personio has launched People Workflow Automation, a new software which automates people processes across all applications and teams for an organisation. The software detects changes such as terminations, team changes, promotions, location changes and sick leave requests to help streamline processes and avoid delays for HR teams, managers and employees.

• PharmiWeb.jobs has launched a new US-focused version of its site. The new site will help support both jobseekers and recruiters in the life sciences sector across North America. The US site offers the latest job-matching and searching functions.

• PushFar, a mentoring and career progression platform, has partnered with Humberside Police to help improve diversity, inclusion and equality in the force. Humberside Police uses PushFar’s platform to increase the number of people from under-represented groups that join each year by providing additional support to candidates during recruitment. PushFar enables Humberside to match candidates with the suitable mentors based on their respective profiles.

• SThree, a STEM recruitment company, has launched its Progressive Recruitment brand in Japan. The Progressive brand will provide local and international organisations in Japan with “specialist” talent. It will also partner with other SThree brands in Japan, such as Computer Futures, to tap into technology talent that are suitable for certain roles in the energy and automotive industries.

• TrueProfile.io has announced that healthcare employers and recruiters can now advertise their current vacancies directly on its end-to-end hiring platform.

4 October 2021
Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Transport & logistics, Life sciences, Engineering, Industrial/Manufacturing, HR, Healthcare/Medical

NEW TO THE MARKET: 4-8 OCTOBER 2021

• Better Outcome, a training & development company that is specialised in game-based hiring, assessment and skills development tools, has launched Accelium in the UK. Accelium offers game-based critical thinking tests for “quick, engaging evaluation” of employees and job candidates. Its assessment tests are based on smart games and require examinees to demonstrate a wide range of skills and abilities in analysing data, solving problems, and making various decisions.

• Warehousing, manufacturing, logistics, driving, engineering and managed services recruitment agency Encore Personnel is expanding its Encore Professional division.

Encore has relaunched Encore Professional with a new website and a team led by Nick Green, who has worked in recruitment for more than 25 years in various roles from business owner to consultant at both boutique and large agencies.

• Scientific recruitment agency GST Recruitment has launched in partnership with James Caan CBE and Recruitment Entrepreneur, under its REflex support model. The recruitment firm, which was founded by Kully Sahota, operates across the UK and internationally, spanning research and laboratory, medical devices, engineering and pharmaceuticals.

27 September 2021
Public sector, Transport & logistics, Education, IT/Telecoms, Graduates/Apprentices/School leavers

NEW TO THE MARKET: 27 SEPTEMBER-1 OCTOBER 2021

• Affinity Workforce will launch a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course aimed at upskilling the supply teaching sector and address the current skills shortage. The 10-session course, titled ‘CPD Supply Toolkit’, will run from September to December. Affinity Workforce supports organisations and workers at the forefront of public and private services provision in the UK, across education, healthcare and social care.

• UK jobs site Indeed is hosting graduate interview days on 29-30 September to help graduates meet hiring employers. More than 30 companies such as BAE Systems, EDF, Timpson and Sports Direct are taking part in the free event, with more than 2,000 interview slots available. Jobs range from registered nurses and trainee teachers to science and IT associates with graduate management programmes also available.

• Recruitment firm STR Group has launched a new IT infrastructure for its business. All employees at the company will receive a laptop to enable hybrid working and multiple screens, as well as a choice of the latest Bluetooth comms to work with a new softphone application. Along with the use of the latest videoconferencing, recruitment database and desktop publishing software, this solution will provide flexibility to the group’s employees, whilst ensuring that everyone remains connected.

• Whistl has launched the Whistl Driver Academy to “invest, train and develop” the next generation of HGV drivers for its business. The delivery management company is providing HGV Apprenticeships to anyone over 18 with a driving licence. It is also offering roles for those who either drive the company’s vans or are working in a warehouse whilst undergoing their HGV training.

Whistl is also offering to pay for Class 1 training for those who already have a Class 2 licence. It is also offering to pay for the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) for those who are HGV 1 Classified and a £100 signing on bonus for qualified Class 1 drivers. The company says it is planning to graduate 100 recruits to the Whistl Driver Academy in its first year.

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