‘Bellwether’ firm hopeful about 2010
Futura Recruitment is seeing an upturn, which is good news for employment prospects as a whole. The Altrincham-based company services other recruitment firms and the increasing demand shows that their clients expect to take on new staff in 2010.
Co-founder Bernie Wilcox describes the firm as a “great bellwether” for the industry.
“As the economy contracts agencies feel the pinch first and cut down on consultants. Likewise, they are one of the first sectors to experience an upturn,“ he said. ??Futura has seen its turnover increase by £65,000 in 2009 to £521,000.
Wilcox, a former director of Altrincham-based NES who also owns a 50 per cent stake in financial recruiter Pari Passu, runs Futura alongside ex-NES head of sales and marketing, John Whalley.
Futura also owns Bauhaus Consultants, a £2m turnover company which provides contract staff to installers of voice and data networks on large, new-build projects.
Both firms have just been granted carbon neutral status after being advised by the Carbon Neutral Company how to reduce energy consumption, cut business travel and offset remaining emissions.?
We believe that we’re one of the first recruitment companies to have taken this step,“ said Whalley. “This is such an important topic that we’d really expect all ethically-led agencies to follow suit within the next 12 months.”
A survey published by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers last week suggested that Britain’s workers are getting itchy feet. A third of all workers told researchers that they have not felt valued by their employers during the recession and would leave for another job if they could.
“Workers’ ambitions to find new roles could be good news in terms of creating movement and opportunities in a rather stagnant labour market,“ said Michael Rendell, leader of the firm’s human resource services team.
“New Year is clearly a popular time for people to make important decisions. Rather than losing their best people, organisations need to articulate the internal options available to top performers and remind workers why they chose to work for their employer in the first place – be that a competitive salary, interesting work or values that match their own.”
He also warned that firms “need to strike a balance” between reducing wage bills and overstretching staff.