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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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8 April 2020
Public sector, Creative/Digital/Media, Graduates/Apprentices/School leavers, Healthcare/Medical

NEW TO THE MARKET: 6-10 APRIL 2020

• Student career development platform Abintegro has launched its Early Talent Recruiting Service, helping the way graduate employers recruit. From today, graduate employers can use this free service to create a permanent digital presence on most UK university campuses, multi-post an unlimited number of jobs, internships and placements, and engage with a community of over 500 careers service staff nationwide.

• Colnort has launched a service model to deal with new IR35 regulations that take effect this month around companies and contractors working through limited companies or PSCs (personal service company). The new model calls for Colnort to become the service provider, taking on the IR35 responsibilities and absorbing all liability.

• Following on from its free job listings for the NHS, which it announced last week, Guardian Jobs has launched a supportive marketing campaign aimed at driving awareness and traffic to the ads. The creative campaign will feature across the Guardian, and will be leveraged across its digital and print channels, as well as investing paid support on social to speak to the Guardian audience and potential jobseekers.

3 April 2020
Creative/Digital/Media, Engineering, Healthcare/Medical

NEW TO THE MARKET: 30 MARCH-3 APRIL 2020

• Job board CV-Library has introduced new functionality for its clients, enabling recruiters to arrange video interviews with candidates, directly through the CV-Library platform for free. Under the free of charge service, to set up a video interview, recruiters need to view a candidate’s profile and select ‘Video interview’ from the ‘Recruiter options’ menu. A unique URL is then generated, which the user can copy and send over to the candidate via email.

• Professional network LinkedIn is offering free hiring resources to companies and organisations in healthcare, supermarket, warehousing and package delivery, as well as disaster relief non-profits, to help find people with the skills and experience to fill critical frontline roles in the light of the coronavirus outbreak. These resources include:

  • Free job posts for frontline roles
  • Connecting medical professionals to urgent healthcare roles
  • Mobilising LinkedIn’s own recruiters to help fill urgent roles
  • Supporting healthcare staffing customers with free insights

 
• Morson Group’s 3D printing facility in Salford has recently been tasked with producing medical visors for the NHS the fight against coronavirus. The global recruiter's Morson Maker Space, a state-of-the art engineering and digital fabrication facility at The University of Salford, powered by Morson International, has developed a prototype medical visor using 3D printing design in direct response to the needs of hospital staff fighting coronavirus, and will now begin producing 75 visors a day, donating the products to the hospital.

The design is also now being sent out to commercial fabricators and other university technical departments in the North-West to scale production and meet the numbers needed for NHS frontline staff.

• Underrepresented talent specialist MyKindaFuture has launched a new version of its online employee engagement platform Connectr to support clients with furloughed employees. The revamped platform ensures that employers can maintain and enhance their relationships with employees who have been placed on furlough.

23 March 2020
Retail, Public sector, Transport & logistics, Education, HR, Healthcare/Medical

NEW TO THE MARKET: 23-27 MARCH 2020

• Global freelance platform AnyTask has dropped all fees charged to buyers of tasks due to the coronavirus outbreak in a bid to help all those working from home.

• Faxi, a commuter journey sharing app used by hospitals, local authorities and some of the largest employers in the UK, is now actively working with its clients to help them use the platform to recruit trusted volunteers who want to support their co-workers and make them visible in a map-based social network so that support can be provided for those in need.

• Earnings on demand platform Hastee has announced it is now enabling workers like NHS professionals and teachers access their pay when they need it – for free.

• HR Heads is offering complementary CV and LinkedIn profile improvement support to workers being let go due to the coronavirus. The specialist HR recruiter is also offering online CV advice slots in exchange for a donation to the British Red Cross.

• Video enabled recruitment platform Hinterview has announced as of today it will be offering 10 free Hinterview licences to any recruitment agency worldwide for one month.

• Special educational needs and disabilities job board Senploy has opened up its platform to recruiters for free in response to the influx of care roles during this pandemic.

• Ireland’s Sigmar Recruitment has launched www.covidresponsejobs.com - an online platform to connect jobseekers with employment opportunities as well as offer upskilling opportunities for the restricted workforce in a bid to ensure a smoother return to the workplace once the isolation restrictions have eased.

• Hiring skills platform Social Talent is offering anyone who has lost their job in the current coronavirus three months free access to the platform.

• Income streaming provider Wagestream has waived all fees to both NHS employers and staff. The firm adds it usually takes Wagestream three weeks to perform a full integration with an employer’s payroll software but as part of emergency measures the firm can now launch the service for any employer in 24 hours.

The firm is also giving all workers who have been furloughed by their employers, instant access to their wages. Employers can sign up to Wagestream and have the service live in 24 hours, and available to furloughed workers. 

19 March 2020

NEW TO THE MARKET: 16-20 MARCH 2020

• Flexa, a job platform which connects people who want to work flexibly with employers who want full-time, flexible staff, has launched. The site focuses exclusively on full-time flexible jobs, by only working with companies that offer truly flexible roles – either in location, hours or both. Jobseekers can choose from flexible hours, working from home or even whether the workplace is dog-friendly.

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