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New to Market

28 April 2025
Life sciences, Engineering

NEW TO THE MARKET: 28 APRIL-2 MAY 2025

• Jobmatch Sweden, a leader in occupational psychological testing, is expanding in Norway through a new partnership with consulting firm Sund Raad. Sund Raad, which focuses on enhancing employee engagement for small and medium-sized businesses, will integrate Jobmatch’s DNV-certified Talent test into its services. This marks Jobmatch’s second partnership in Norway, following its 2022 collaboration with Hapro Jobb og Karriere. Jobmatch Talent is a scientifically validated tool used for recruitment and employee development, according to the company press release.

• STEM recruitment specialist Matchtech has launched STEM Futures, a free, on-demand employability platform aimed at helping young people break into engineering and technology careers. The programme includes expert-led sessions on job search strategies, CV writing, interviews and personal development, and is part of Matchtech’s broader initiative to address the STEM skills gap and support emerging talent.

In addition, Matchtech has awarded the first two grants from its Materna Fund, a £2.5k bursary created to support engineering students facing financial hardship. The inaugural recipients, Sergio Carreno Vargas and David Sarembock from the University of Portsmouth, are using the funds to focus on their studies and development without the added pressure of financial strain.

• Meet Life Sciences has launched Synergy, a new standalone service designed to tackle people capability challenges in the life sciences sector that go beyond recruitment. As part of Meet’s evolution into a full-service talent solutions partner, Synergy offers tailored support in areas like workforce planning, leadership development, skills mapping, culture embedding and organisational design. Led by vice-president Kirsty Wilson, the service is built specifically for the life sciences industry and is focused on delivering measurable, outcome-driven solutions. Unlike traditional consulting, Synergy provides hands-on support from design through to implementation, helping clients build the capability needed to grow, adapt and lead in a competitive global market.

• Right Management, part of ManpowerGroup, has launched a refreshed brand strategy called ‘The Right Way’. It’s a human-centred, data-backed framework that aligns workforce development with business strategy. The new identity centres on ‘The Right Way loop’, a distinctive visual element with modern colours and typography that will be used across all brand touchpoints.

25 April 2025
Construction & property, Graduates/Apprentices/School leavers

National student lettings agency launches apprenticeship scheme

In a bid to support young people and grow skilled and knowledgeable individuals for the student lettings sector, loc8me recently launched its 18-month programme, which is open to anyone aged 16-18. The scheme will offer hands-on experience, mentorship and the opportunity to engage in paid work.

Raffaele Russo, founder of loc8me, said: “We’re thrilled to launch this apprenticeship programme, giving young professionals a real chance to learn, grow and begin building a career in an exciting industry.

“Now more than ever, young people are seeking opportunities, guidance and goals to pursue. With this programme, we’re investing in their future – and in the future of the lettings sector.”

Apprentices will have the chance to study the theoretical and practical elements of the lettings industry, and on starting, they will be given a mentor from the loc8me team to support their development via regular meetings throughout the course.

loc8me now operates in 13 major university cities across the UK, including Loughborough, Durham, Nottingham, Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Newcastle, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leicester, Hull, Bath and Bristol.

Freya Watson-Russo, academy co-ordinator, said: "At loc8me, we’re committed to nurturing the next generation of letting agents. … We’re giving young people the chance to build a future, gain confidence and carve their own path.”

Founded in 2008 by Russo, loc8me manages more than 2,500 properties and employs more than 75 staff members.

(L-r) Apprentice Ollie Coe, loc8me's marketing assistant and academy co-ordinator Freya Watson-Russo and apprentice Isabel Tebbutt ©loc8me

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14 April 2025
Creative/Digital/Media, Engineering

NEW TO THE MARKET: 14-18 APRIL 2025

• Manufacturing and engineering specialist Busy Bee Recruitment has relaunched its website. The refreshed online platform has a modern design and enhanced user functionality, offering an intuitive browsing experience that makes it easier than ever to explore current vacancies, submit CVs quickly and securely, access expert recruitment advice via a blog and submit vacancies directly online.

• Deel, a global payroll and HR provider, has launched a suite of AI-driven products to help companies hire, manage, and pay international teams. Deel will offer an all-in-one global workforce platform integrating payroll, HR, and IT, designed to support compliant operations across borders. Key updates include: Real-Time Payroll in over 53 markets (expanding to 130+ by 2027), offering instant calculations and faster processing; Deel PEO for offering top-tier benefits without enterprise-level costs; Benefits Admin for simplified, compliant benefits management across countries; Deel Talent for streamlined recruitment via trusted agency networks; Workforce Planning, Compensation, and Engage tools – powered by AI – for smarter headcount strategy, global pay management, and employee development; IT Lifecycle Management features like MDM, IAM, and EPP, supporting global device and security control.

11 April 2025
Creative/Digital/Media, IT/Telecoms

Spotted Zebra merges Interview Intelligence and Assessment in one platform

This is technology that transcribes, analyses and evaluates conversations through an AI-powered lens. The merger connects assessment results with interview data, addressing the growing challenge enterprise talent leaders face: making confident, objective hiring decisions when candidate information can be fragmented across multiple tools.

In a statement, Spotted Zebra says that enterprise talent acquisition teams are facing twin pressures from AI-generated candidate applications and deepening skills shortages. 

The launch responds to a critical market challenge, the statement continues; while more than three in four businesses report widening skills gaps, employers are inundated with applications with around half of all jobseekers using AI tools to apply for roles. Current solutions force companies to choose between expensive, disconnected systems or compromise on either assessment breadth and depth, or a scalable interview process and structure.

“We’ve integrated Interview Intelligence with Assessment because our enterprise customers are facing unprecedented challenges in talent acquisition,” said Ian Monk, co-founder and CEO of Spotted Zebra. “By unifying these previously siloed technologies, we’re enabling talent teams to make data-informed decisions based on a complete picture of each candidate’s capabilities.”

Unlike standard Interview Intelligence tools that primarily transcribe conversations, Spotted Zebra’s implementation establishes a data framework that truly connects skill measurements across different evaluation methods:

  • Real-time skill evidence mapping: Comprehensive role skills profiles are automatically created thanks to AI-powered intake meetings between recruiters and hiring managers. 
  • AI-assisted interview questioning technology: The AI-powered Interview Guides automatically generate targeted question paths for specific role skills profiles and each candidate.
  • Consolidated hiring evidence dashboard: The Decision Kit combines summarised skill data from both assessment scores and interview evidence, weighting each source appropriately based on predictive validity for specific skill types. 

According to the company statement, AI in Spotted Zebra enhances human decision-making, ensuring the final call on a candidate’s suitability for a role is objective, data-backed and always in the hands of the hiring team.

Headquartered in the UK, Spotted Zebra was launched in 2020 by Monk and co-founder and chief commercial officer Nick Shaw.

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14 January 2025

BSI call for evidence opens on experiences of Covid career starters

To mark five years since the first lockdowns began globally, business standards and improvement company BSI is investigating the impact of the restrictions on younger workers, and how transformed ways of working have shaped subsequent career journeys. 

As part of this BSI has opened a public call for evidence, inviting submissions from individuals or groups with relevant experience on the topic.

Young people who began their careers around the start of the Covid-19 pandemic or soon after are being invited to share their experiences of the workplace, as part of an inquiry into the ‘hybrid generation’.

BSI’s inquiry, part of its ‘Evolving Together’ series on the Future of Work, will look at areas including job satisfaction, mental and psychological well-being, frequency of job changes, and earning potential, as well as exploring how hybrid management is shaping skills development and career progression.

The aim is to understand what steps can be taken to ensure younger workers can thrive and play a productive part in their businesses, helping them to grow and supporting the economy more broadly. 

This follows news from The Times that the number of long-term sick British women aged 16-24 has more than doubled from 52,000 to 117,600 over a decade, with men in this cohort also almost twice as likely to be off sick.

It will also explore the impact of remote or hybrid models on workers starting out in roles where this is generally unavailable, for example healthcare, retail or construction, and how their experience has been coloured by this wider context. The study will also assess whether the changes of recent years have created opportunities, such as enhancing diversity in recruitment or making roles more accessible.

Kate Field, global head of human and social sustainability, BSI, said: “As we approach five years since the pandemic fundamentally reshaped the working world, many questions abound. While individual organisations must find the structure that works for them, flexibility is increasingly central to the conversation. Hybrid structures are now the norm for some, but not for all and certainly not for all jobs.

“For those who started work as the world locked down, their experiences have necessarily been distinct to prior generations’ – and we don’t yet have a clear picture on the impact of that on their career progression, well-being or wider experiences, either short or long term. But younger workers, as with those further on in their careers, have an enormous amount to contribute. We believe it is critical to build greater understanding, so that they have the opportunity to flourish at work and help their businesses and the economy to grow.”

BSI guides businesses around the world on areas including enhancing health, safety and well-being at work, diversity & inclusion, certifying organisations against the requirements of international standards on occupational health and safety (ISO 45001) and managing psychosocial risks (ISO 45003). 

In 2021/22, BSI published the Prioritizing People Model, which set out how, when organisations build a culture of care that addresses everyone’s well-being, including basic physical, psychological and fulfilment needs, the result can be a more engaged, committed and productive workforce.

Previous BSI research into the evolving workforce has looked at the Second Glass Ceiling (whereby women are leaving the workforce early and not out of choice, for reasons including menopause) and the age-diverse workforce, in which people are staying in jobs for longer and greater numbers of generations are co-existing at work together.

Call for evidence
“To inform this inquiry, we are asking for written evidence submissions that respond to the following questions by 31 January 2025,” the BSI said. 

To respond as an individual please complete this questionnaire or email [email protected].

To respond on behalf of an organisation please complete this questionnaire.

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13 January 2025
Oil & gas/Energy, Creative/Digital/Media, Education, Engineering, Construction & property, IT/Telecoms, Healthcare/Medical

Prime Minister sets out blueprint to improve AI in public sector workplaces

The AI Action Plan will see £14bn and 13,250 jobs committed by private leading technology firms and dedicated AI Growth Zones set up to speed up planning for AI infrastructure. 

A key point in the plan is for the public sector to spend less time doing administration and more time delivering services. AI is intended to drive the government’s Plan for Change, “helping turbocharge growth and boost living standards”, the government said in a press release.

Unveiling details of the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan today, PM Sir Keir Starmer will say AI can “transform the lives of working people, offering the potential to speed up planning consultations to get Britain building, help drive down admin for teachers so they can get on with teaching our children, and feed AI through cameras to spot potholes and help improve roads”.

“In a marked move from the previous government’s approach, the prime minister is throwing the full weight of Whitehall behind this industry by agreeing to take forward all 50 recommendations set out by Matt Clifford in his game-changing AI Opportunities Action Plan,” the press release said. Clifford is co-founder and chair of talent investor and start-up accelerator firm Entrepreneur First, and chair of the UK's Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA).

Backing AI to the hilt can also lead to more money in the pockets of working people. The International Monetary Fund estimates that, if AI is fully embraced, it can boost productivity by as much as 1.5% a year. If fully realised, these gains could be worth up to an average £47bn to the UK each year over a decade, the press release said.

The plan’s introduction of new measures that will create dedicated AI Growth Zones are intended to speed up planning permissions, along with delivering the necessary energy connections.

“AI is already being used across the UK. It is being used in hospitals up and down the country to deliver better, faster, and smarter care: spotting pain levels for people who can’t speak, diagnosing breast cancer quicker, and getting people discharged quicker,” the press release said, adding this is already helping deliver the government’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future.

The PM said: “Artificial intelligence will drive incredible change in our country. From teachers personalising lessons, to supporting small businesses with their record-keeping, to speeding up planning applications, it has the potential to transform the lives of working people. But the AI industry needs a government that is on their side, one that won’t sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers. And in a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by. We must move fast and take action to win the global race.”

Starmer said focusing heavily on AI would mean “more jobs and investment in the UK, more money in people’s pockets, and transformed public services”.

It comes as three major tech companies – Vantage Data Centres, Nscale and Kyndryl – have committed to £14bn investment in the UK to build the AI infrastructure the UK needs and deliver 13,250 jobs across the UK. That is in addition to £25bn in AI investment announced at the International Investment Summit.

Vantage Data Centres, which is working to build one of Europe’s largest data centre campuses in Wales, plans to invest over £12bn in data centres across the UK, creating over 11,500 jobs in the process.

Kyndryl, the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider and a leading IT consultancy, announces plans to create up to 1,000 AI-related jobs in Liverpool over the next three years. This new tech hub will share the government’s ambition to roll AI out across the country to help grow the economy and foster the next generation of talent.

Nscale, one of the UK’s leading AI companies, has announced a $2.5bn (£2bn) investment to support the UK’s data centre infrastructure over the next three years. It has also signed a contract to build the largest UK sovereign AI data centre in Loughton, Essex by 2026.

The plan includes the following initiatives:

  • the first of the new AI Growth Zones will be in Culham, Oxfordshire
  • increasing the public compute capacity by twentyfold to provide the processing power needed to fully embrace AI, which will begin with work on a brand new supercomputer
  • a new team will be set up to seize the opportunities of AI and build the UK’s sovereign capabilities
  • creating a new National Data Library to safely and securely unlock the value of public data and support AI development
  • a dedicated AI Energy Council chaired by the Science and Energy secretaries will also be established, working with energy companies to understand the energy demands and challenges which will fuel the technology’s development - this will directly support the government’s mission to become a clean energy superpower by tapping into technologies like small modular reactors.

The Action Plan is at the heart of the government’s Industrial Strategy and the first plank of the upcoming Digital and Technology Sector Plan that will be published in the coming months.

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13 January 2025
IT/Telecoms, HR, Hospitality/Leisure, Accounting/Finance

NEW TO THE MARKET: 13-17 JANUARY 2025

• Codatech, a software provider for the recruitment sector, has rebranded as Finity, a back office platform that enables recruitment agencies and umbrella companies to unify temporary worker placements and payments, streamlining operations into one ecosystem. Codatech’s products – Codapay and Codabill – will become Finity Back Office, a simplified solution designed to move from timesheets and invoicing to payroll and payments seamlessly.

Varun Monteiro, CEO of Finity, said: “Finity isn’t just a rebrand, it’s a leap into the future of recruitment fintech, and it represents our commitment to financial unity: connecting the disconnected to make paying and getting paid easy and rewarding for everyone.

• Hospitality and catering recruitment consultancy Pineapple Recruitment has relocated to new headquarters in the city of Worcester as it looks to bolster its team in the next 12 months. The recruiter has moved its eight-strong team to Painting House on Severn Street in Diglis, a suburb in Worcester. Its new city centre headquarters boasts spacious open-plan offices, meeting rooms and conference facilities. The company also works closely with colleges and universities to encourage future talent into both sectors.

• Kerry White and Nick Allwood have launched RedGreen Partners, a boutique HR recruitment firm that aims to support both existing locations and new markets as the business expands. They bring over 30 years combined expertise in HR recruitment predominantly in the North of England.

10 January 2025
Banking/Financial services, IT/Telecoms, HR

NEW TO THE MARKET: 6-10 JANUARY 2025

• Recruitment consultancy Investigo has expanded its office in St Albans, Hertfordshire, strengthening recruitment relationships for its blue-chip organisations and high-growth businesses. The office is led by industry veterans David Blanco, director, and David Taylor, associate director. The St Albans team of 14 experienced professionals specialises in finance, finance transformation and HR recruitment. Investigo is part of The IN Group of recruitment companies.

• Personio, an HR software company for small and mid-sized businesses, has introduced a range of updates to its Intelligent HR Platform, enhancing flexibility and efficiency for HR teams. The new Time Tracking feature enables employees to log their hours via multiple devices, with data integrated into a centralised system. The updated Org Management feature offers businesses the ability to create nested team structures up to 10 layers deep, seen through a dynamic and filterable org chart. This helps organisations maintain accurate reporting lines and improve data accuracy while enabling employees to quickly locate and connect with colleagues.

A redesigned Inbox streamlines administrative workflows by introducing sorting, filtering and bulk actions. These tools prioritise key tasks and allow HR teams to approve multiple requests at once, making task management more efficient. In recruitment, new Analytics tools provide insights into the hiring process, including metrics such as time-to-hire and offer-acceptance rates. Talent teams can analyse trends over time and drill down into data by category, department or other filters to optimise recruitment strategies.

• Pro-Force has launched a permanent recruitment division designed to connect clients with top-tier talent for permanent roles and to provide skilled worker visa support. Heading up the new division as permanent recruitment manager is Kim Lane, who brings 25 years’ industry experience. In addition to traditional recruitment services, Pro-Force’s permanent recruitment division will offer skilled worker visa support, facilitating access to a broader pool of qualified candidates able to enter the UK on five year visas, for roles featured on the Home Office eligible occupations list.

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