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New to Market

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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10 April 2025
Creative/Digital/Media, Executive search

NEW TO THE MARKET: 7-11 APRIL 2025

• UK recruitment firm HRGO has launched ‘Betty’, an AI agent tackling recruitment ghosting by ensuring all job applicants receive feedback. Since its December 2024 launch, Betty has provided personalised insights to over 40,000 candidates. A survey of 1,000 users found 90% valued the feedback, addressing a major frustration in the hiring process at scale. Betty was named after Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Parkinson, the founder of HRGO back in 1957.

• Recruitment firm Sowena Group has moved into new headquarters in Manchester city centre. Perran Cooke launched Sowena Group last summer after more than a decade in the recruitment industry, including roles as regional MD for the North at executive search company PSD Group and as a director at Axon Moore. Sowena now has a team of five and has taken office space at The Tootal Buildings on Oxford Street. The company statement says Sowena Group is expected to deliver more than £650k in revenue this year.

Senior recruitment consultants Dave Kreitz and Mackenzie Harrop have joined Sowena in recent weeks, along with Leah Allen as head of marketing and Megan Buckley as marketing executive. Cooke said he expects the team to grow to 10 by the end of this year, creating roles for recruitment consultants, back office and support staff, market research specialists and a non-executive director. Sowena Group focuses on senior finance posts in high-growth and private equity and venture capital-backed businesses across the North-West and beyond.

3 January 2019
Construction & property, Banking/Financial services, Executive search, HR, Accounting/Finance

NEW TO THE MARKET: 2-4 JANUARY 2019

• Social housing provider Acis has launched a new project providing tailored support to people living in their homes to progress their careers.

The service sees a dedicated employability professional work with individuals for up to 30 weeks to help them tackle potential barriers to working, such as lack of skills, health issues or previous convictions.

And once a person has secured a new role, Acis also provides a further six weeks of in-work support to ensure both the employer and new recruit are happy in a bid to ensure the job remains sustainable.

• Global executive search, talent advisory and leadership consulting firm Boyden is opening a new office in Miami, expanding its presence in the US, Central America and the Caribbean.

Eduardo Rabassa, previously managing partner of Amrop Miami, will lead the new team, while Carla Palazio, Annie Rothe and Paco Robles join as partners, along with Bo Hanuschik as principal.

• Finance specialist recruiter Woodrow Mercer has opened an office in Nottingham, East Midlands.

13 December 2018
Marketing, Graduates/Apprentices/School leavers

Start-up of the Month: SESAME

Emily Buckland (above, far left) told Recruiter the idea to set up her own recruitment agency came when she was handling talent management in her previous role and reached the conclusion that she could provide a better service than the one she had been receiving from headhunters and recruiters.

Buckland explained all four of the firm’s staff have worked in PR before and it was that knowledge and network from working in the sector that sets the business apart. And in this ever-evolving sector the agency does offer some PR consultancy to a handful of clients, which has the added benefit of helping to keep on top of emerging trends.

She added that consultants don’t have targets, as their main aim is to ensure the right people are matched with the right roles.

While the agency recruits from graduate level through to heads of PR, Buckland said the agency champions emerging talent.

“Often, particularly in comms and PR, when you get into the industry at that entry level it is about who you know or often it’s friends of friends that open doors… What we thought is our purpose is to open the doors for that emerging talent so that they have got an opportunity really to shine and get onto that career ladder, which is why we called the company SESAME because it is about opening up opportunities for people.”

10 December 2018
HR, Healthcare/Medical

NEW TO THE MARKET: 10-14 DECEMBER 2018

• Adobe has launched technology designed to solve complex digital workflow problems across the HR sector.

The company has expanded its support for HR systems, via Adobe Sign, with integrations in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Talent and ServiceNow HR service delivery.

• A medical passport that aims to speed up the recruitment of GPs is being rolled out.

The ‘medic passport’ avoids the need for GP’s to present their medical and legal certificates every time they apply for a role. The software is being tested by GP on-demand service GPDQ, according to Digital Health Age.

• Isle of Wight job board Isle of Wight Jobs has launched a new service. The Hub offers flat rate recruitment fees, free recruitment consultancy, including a single point of contact, and discounts on advertising.

6 December 2018

McCall Diversity targets staffing firms to attract diverse global staff

The new entity will initially target staffing, recruiters, talent and HR professionals with a range of e-learning, consulting and technology-driven products. The aim is to improve the hiring process for firms, enabling them to attract and retain diverse talent on an international scale.

Commenting on the partnership with Empresaria-owned McCall, Diverse Executives CEO Andrew Anthony (above, left) said: “We are delighted to be partnering with McCall. They have over 26 years in recruiting for the recruitment sector and this market is certainly a critical area for the development of diversity & inclusion per se and the global Empresaria staffing business considerably more.”

McCall’s joint managing directors Julie O’Neill and Nick Bancroft (above, centre and right) added: “McCall Diversity has a consultancy network that covers Europe, Asia and the US. Further expansion continues so that it can support global businesses with diversity & inclusion consulting across different cultural boundaries.”

 

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