The Jobsworth Blog – April 2023

Welcome to the all-new Quarterly Jobsworth Blog!

With the new tax year looming, we thought we would give you a rundown of what has happened in the world of Jobsworth since last April and the actions we are taking to grow and progress as a company.

 

We have seen prices universally skyrocket in the past twelve months, with the cost of living crisis ever-present. On the 15th of March, Chancellor of the Exchequer – Jeremy Hunt, revealed the Spring Budget for 2023 in which he discussed the low unemployment rate of 1.3 million and the efforts that will be made to bring “economically inactive” people back into work. Since the Coronavirus pandemic started in 2020, the number of economically inactive workers (those neither working nor looking for work) has risen by more than half a million. This harms economic growth as employers struggle to find staff, resulting in higher pay to attract workers and higher prices for consumers. New measures are being introduced to encourage and retain older staff in the workplace.

 

Alongside these changes, we have another rise in the National Minimum Wage.

National Minimum Wage increase April 2023 from UK Government

National Minimum Wage increase April 2023 from UK Government

 

Apprentices and workers under the age of 18 will see an increase of £0.47 per hour from £4.81 to £5.28.

18 – 20 year olds pay will increase by £0.66 per hour from £6.83 to £7.49.

21 – 22 year olds pay will increase by £1.00 per hour from £9.18 to £10.18.

Any workers aged 23 and over will have their hourly wages increased by £0.92 from £9.50 to £10.42.

 

With these new rates in action from 1st April 2023, all of our consultants, as well as our payroll and accounts team, have been working hard to accommodate and offer competitive rates to our clients and staff.

 

 

 

THE 2022 – 2023 JOBSWORTH JOURNEY

 

April 2022 – 12 months ago – it only seems like the other day, doesn’t it? An ongoing war in Ukraine, 3 Prime Ministers and the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II bringing the end to an era – a lot has happened around the world. We have had almost as much change in the world of Jobsworth with new staff, new offices, promotions and much more.

 

NEW STAFF
We have had five new members of staff join the Jobsworth team since April 2022 – with some 1 year anniversaries fast approaching!

 

Lewis Hayes joined the driving team as a Trainee Recruitment Consultant.

Chelsea Burke joined our industrial team as a Trainee Recruitment Resourcer.

Vidya Patel joined our driving team as a Trainee Recruitment Resourcer.

 

Check out our Meet the Team to find out more about all of our employees!

 

 

NEW OFFICES
With all of the new team joining, we were finding it a little crowded at head office – this called for expansion!

 

After we acquired our Executive Box at Bescot Stadium last August, we completed a makeover kitting the box out with full Jobsworth branding – thanks to our friends over at Mack Graphics. James and Lewis from our driving team took the dive to begin working there a few days each week – primarily to offer our WV and WS based candidates somewhere closer to register but the break from all the girls at HQ probably encouraged them!

Our Executive Box at Bescot Stadium. Full Branding Completed by Mack Graphics.

Our Executive Box at Bescot Stadium

 

Shortly after this, an office was required in the Wolverhampton area and along came Castlecroft. Based at the CKW Stadium – home of the AFC Wulfrunians – our Wolverhampton office is a key part of Jobsworth as a base for our driving team during the week.

Doubling our office space has certainly helped us to work more effectively and communicate more precisely between teams – although Fat Friday’s seem to be a distant memory.

All information on how to find us is on our Contact Us page.

 

 

PROMOTIONS
Not only have we had new members join the Jobsworth team but we have had several promotions within the team since last April.

 

Steph showing that she's Jobsworth through and through in full uniform

Steph showing that she’s Jobsworth through and through in full uniform

Charlotte celebrating her birthday with a Toblerone almost as tall as she is

Charlotte celebrating her birthday with a Toblerone almost as tall as she is

Charlotte Doyle joined the team back in 2016 and

April 2022 saw her be promoted to Payroll &

Compliance Manager.

 

Stephanie Holland joined the team back in February

2021 as a Recruitment Consultant and bagged herself

two promotions in the past 12 months! Steph has

gone from a Recruitment Consultant for the industrial

team to being Halesowen’s Branch Manager last year

and has been promoted once again to Regional

Manager last month.

 

 

 

ACHIEVEMENTS
Jobsworth as a whole celebrated many successes in 2022. Here are a few of the notable ones:

 

Laura and James - 10 years working together

Laura and James – 10 years working together

Long-standing members of staff hit a significant milestone in their time at Jobsworth. Laura Dubberley, our Company Secretary, and James Hines, our National Accounts Manager started with us way back in 2012! 10 years! A decade of their life has been Jobsworth! Alongside Jim and Rob, their loyalty and hard work has helped Jobsworth Recruitment progress to what it is today. With all of the work they do, they have yet to commemorate their 10-year anniversaries – I think a celebration is due!

August 2022 saw the business undertake a Driver Agency Excellence audit from Logistics UK (formerly Freight Transport Association). The audit is carried out to ensure that agencies are supplying drivers of a high calibre who comply and conform to legislation set out in the transport industry and is recognised by the Driver and Vehicle Standards AgencyWith the collective hard work and commitment from our entire team, the audit resulted in the business meeting ‘extremely high standards’.

On the subject of compliance, Lewis Hayes underwent training in October 2022 and achieved his Certificate in Driver Recruitment from Logistics UK. This is just another way Jobsworth are ensuring their staff are fully equipped to give top-quality service to our clients and ensure all workers are compliant, knowledgeable and capable of their duties.

 

 

SPONSORSHIPS
The majority of us at Jobsworth are sports fanatics – a trip to one of our offices might give that away with the amount of memorabilia that lines most walls! Of course, we love to get involved with up-and-coming sporting talent across the Midlands and have sponsored the following young talents and clubs.

 

Owen Cooper and our MD, Rob, last month.

Owen Cooper and our MD, Rob, last month.

 

 

Owen Cooper is a 22-year-old professional boxer from Worcester who we have sponsored since the start of his pro career. You may have seen in our ‘Latest News’ that Owen recently overcame a potentially career-threatening hand injury but currently stands with an 8-0 record from his win on the 25th of March and back in November 2022, secured the Midlands Area Welterweight title.

 

 

Gully Powar and Rob signing his contract in 2022.

Gully Powar and Rob signing his contract in 2022.

 

 

Gully ‘The Relentless’ Powar –  another young talent from the Wolverhampton area. At the end of last summer, Gully visited Rob at HQ to sign his contract with his professional boxing debut following on 30th October 2022. 3 fights, 3 wins, 1 TKO – what a record. Gully is set to fight again at the end of April and with such promising talent and commitment, we are both proud and excited to be on this journey with him.

 

 

 

Another company we support is Black Country Boxing (BCB Promotions)We have supported BCB and their up-and-coming boxing talent for many years, Owen and Gully included. During this time, we have had the chance to partner up with BCB for various fight night events across the Black Country as well as investing in their boxing gym.

 

One of our fleet at Bescot Stadium

One of our fleet at Bescot Stadium

Would you have guessed that football was another sport close to Jobsworth’s heart?

 

Since acquiring the Wolverhampton office at CKW Stadium, we have been afforded to opportunity to sponsor AFC Wulfrunians who are current members of the Midland League Premier Division.

SJB Juniors FC is another team we sponsor – a grassroots football club affiliated with Birmingham FA offering opportunities to junior footballers in the West Midlands.

As well as holding an executive box at Bescot Stadium, we are proud partners of Walsall FC – you may even spot our branding pitch side!

 

 

We seem to have been able to pack a lot into the last 12 months, from developing our team to getting our name out further across the West Midlands and beyond, but the work does not stop. We have big plans to come over the next few months to restructure our approach, upskill our team even further and expand our workspace. It takes a lot of time and development to get to where we are – 19 years in the business and we are still learning and improving on a daily basis.

That’s what Jobsworth means to us, not following every rule to the letter (to a certain degree), but adapting, overcoming and improving on our processes and service.

So, all-in-all, a pretty successful year for Jobsworth.

 

 

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