1. News
  2. New to Market

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.

• Comment below on this story. Or let us know what you think by emailing us at [email protected] or tweet us to tell us your thoughts or share this story with a friend.

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.

• Comment below on this story. Or let us know what you think by emailing us at [email protected] or tweet us to tell us your thoughts or share this story with a friend.

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.

• Comment below on this story. Or let us know what you think by emailing us at [email protected] or tweet us to tell us your thoughts or share this story with a friend.

4 May 2020
Marketing, Life sciences, Graduates/Apprentices/School leavers

NEW TO THE MARKET: 4-8 MAY 2020

• Appcast, a global provider of programmatic recruiting technology, has launched Xcelerate, the next generation of its job ad exchange, Appcast Exchange. Appcast Xcelerate automatically learns where hireable candidates for each employer live, work and hang out online. Xcelerate is available for use by employers and select recruitment advertising agencies in the US, Canada and the UK.

• Investment specialist Blackfinch Group has launched #ISOLATIONINTERN, a platform to enable specialist talent acquisition under Covid-19 restrictions. In partnership with investment industry firms and universities, the initiative aims to supercharge early stage companies and help keep this vital sector of the economy on track. The #ISOLATIONINTERN platform connects data science, marketing and development talent so that start-ups can engage them on a part-time basis.

• LinkedIn is testing a new feature to help talent professionals find and hire quality candidates faster. In a virtual situation, LinkedIn’s ‘video intro’ feature helps recruiters evaluate a candidate’s communication and soft skills before the first interview.

Once talent professionals start receiving applications for a job posting, they can invite the most qualified candidates to answer up to two questions from a list of options, such as, “Tell me about yourself?”, “What is your greatest strength?” and “Describe your most challenging project?”. Candidates can choose to submit answers via a quick video recording or written response.

29 April 2020
Retail, Public sector, Oil & gas/Energy, Commercial & office support, Charity & not-for-profit, Accounting/Finance

NEW TO THE MARKET: 27 APRIL-1 MAY 2020

• Bournemouth-based Pineapple Recruitment has launched, focusing on delivering customer service and contact centre candidates throughout Dorset and Hampshire across a wide variety of industries including finance, retail and utilities. Pineapple Recruitment is led by experienced recruiter and call centre manager Marc Linley.

The company pledges to help the many businesses and workers affected by Covid-19 in their local area by placing people for free during the coronavirus pandemic. Jobseekers can register with Pineapple at no cost and businesses will be able to use the website to register a vacancy or discuss more in-depth requirements.

• Global technology firm Zoho Corporation is introducing its Vertical Relief Plan (VRP), comprised of programs and tools to assist businesses and organisations in need across three verticals severely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis: education, non-profit & government, and retail.

VRP helps non-profits, government bodies and communities execute their mission more efficiently with the help of apps. Organisations place a request, and Zoho builds web and mobile apps for free using Zoho Creator, a low-code application development platform. Zoho can, for example, create tools to help non-profits or community groups organise shelters or distribute food or other essential services.

28 April 2020
Oil & gas/Energy, Engineering, Construction & property, Industrial/Manufacturing, IT/Telecoms, Hospitality/Leisure, Healthcare/Medical

CONTRACTS & DEALS: 27 APRIL-1 MAY 2020

• Alvius, talent matching recruitment software specialists, has bought Edinburgh-headquartered ukstartupjobs for an undisclosed sum. Its first acquisition, the deal will see Alvius further strengthen its position in the start-up recruitment space as it secures access to a greater pool of relevant clients and candidates. Alvius is behind talent-matching platform TalentPool.

• US Cross Country Healthcare, a provider of workforce solutions for healthcare clients, is collaborating with Airbnb through its Frontline Stays programme to give comfortable, convenient accommodation to healthcare workers and first responders fighting Covid-19. Airbnb’s goal is to help house 100,000 healthcare professionals, relief workers, and first responders globally, and the company will waive all fees for stays arranged through this initiative.

Cross Country Healthcare will have access to listings made available by Airbnb hosts across the country and the ability to book stays on behalf of its frontline staff using Airbnb For Work’s booking tool.

• Technical recruitment company Tech Professionals has arranged a £600k funding facility from independent SME funder Bibby Financial Services (BFS). Tech Professionals supplies engineers, technicians and other roles, specialising in contract staff for off-shore, sub-sea projects such as windfarm construction, power cable laying and underwater robotics testing. Established in 2016 by Rob Pattenden, Tech Professionals operates globally with a team of five across Europe, China and Indonesia.

23 April 2020
Public sector, Social care, Healthcare/Medical

London-wide recruitment initiative looks for people who are Proud to Care

Proud to Care London (#ProudtoCare) is seeking to recruit both experienced and non-experienced candidates for the care work, which also includes looking after recovering Covid-19 sufferers when they leave hospital.

In addition to experienced care workers, Proud to Care London is also looking for people who may have lost their jobs as a result of the Covid-19 economic crash in hospitality, retail or even simply had customer care training. These career fields would have transferrable skills to offer care work, says Angela O’Connor, a member of the #ProudtoCare co-ordination team. 

Proud to Care London is an online job portal, linking people into crucial care sector jobs. It is being carried out through and working in partnership with Social Work England, the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Local Government Association, London Councils and care sector recruitment agencies.

Initially developed for the North London councils of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington, #ProudtoCare has been extended as a pan-London offering through a 16-person team including volunteers from the boroughs and OFSTED. 

According to O’Connor, an HR professional, the recruitment process includes providing information about care work, registration and a 20-minute phone interview designed to gauge candidates’ fit and aptitude for care work. Given the high-contact, highly personal and sometimes intimate nature of care work, O’Connor said: “We felt it important to get people to deselect themselves if they didn’t feel comfortable with the nature of the work. We want to continue [the process] with people with the right values and skills.”

If selected, care workers will be deployed to work in the London borough they live in based on the borough’s needs. But “if one borough’s in trouble and asks us, ‘Can we divert someone to us,’ then yes we can,” O’Connor said.

Although the sector is widely known as paying low wages, Proud to Care organisers point out that the work is very rewarding. The new care workers will receive two free days of online training around such on-the-job practices as lifting procedures and a free Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. 

Ealing Council is among Proud to Care’s advocates and users, and is recruiting care workers, care managers, social workers, occupational therapists, chefs and cleaners. Adecco is working with Ealing on its recruitment needs.

According to Jill Pearce, Ealing’s head of learning & development, the initial aim is to recruit into the temporary positions for helping people to get back on their feet and regain their independence. The largest number of jobs on offer are for “reablement” helpers, she said.

With the main focus on temporary work during the pandemic, once it is over, there could be individuals who decide they would like to stay in the profession as a career or those who “would like to take the odd shift”, Pearce said.

Pearce said that Ealing had not yet seen a significant increase in potential end-users but “there is an expectation there may be”. 

With training offered for people who take on the roles, Pearce said a challenge looming ahead for care training providers is determining how various offerings can be delivered on more platforms that are “safe and secure”. 

O’Connor said she hoped that the Covid-19 crisis would raise awareness of the significant value of care workers and society’s need for the services they provide with a view toward better pay and working conditions.

A statement today from London Councils said the campaign has resulted to date in 823 registrations, with about half coming from people with either personal or professional care experience.

• Let us know what you think by emailing us at [email protected] or tweet us to tell us your thoughts or share this story with a friend.

Recruiter Magazine

SUBSCRIBE TO PRINT
VIEW PAST ISSUES
Top