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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.

30 November 2023
Accounting/Finance

Payroll Compliance Authority launches for umbrella companies

The independent, not-for profit organisation said it offers “law-abiding payroll companies an avenue to honest and trusted business through a rigorous audit process, carried out independently by global accounting firm PwC”.  

It is not linked with any government bodies.

CEO Paul Newsham is a Lancashire-based chartered accountant and, among other appointments, is a director for registered company RfM Funding Solutions and several accounting businesses operating under the RfM brand name.

He said the PCA’s services would be “an ongoing rigorous process where non-compliance has consequences” for umbrella companies.

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28 November 2023
Life sciences, Engineering, Industrial/Manufacturing, IT/Telecoms, HR, Graduates/Apprentices/School leavers, Healthcare/Medical

NEW TO THE MARKET: 27 NOVEMBER-1 DECEMBER 2023

• Aston University is one of a number of institutions to receive funding for 340 new PhD places across the Midlands to train the next generation of social scientists. The Midlands Graduate School (MGS), a consortium of Midlands universities including Aston University, has received significant funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for a Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) that will advance research training provision for the next generation of social scientists and ensure that the Midlands remains at the forefront of methodological advancements in social science. The MGS partnership will recruit up to 68 PhD students per year for the next five years, including a possibility of 10 scholarships for PhD candidates at Aston University.

• Engtal, a US-based staffing solutions provider for the STEM industries, has raised thousands of dollars to support underrepresented talent in Chicagoland (Chicago metropolitan area) to access college scholarship funding, through its work in the STEM industries. The primary sponsor of Diversify the Future Foundation, a non-profit initiative, which aims to remove the barriers faced by underrepresented students, Engtal will help support young people by helping them excel in a future career in the STEM space, enabling and empowering the next generation of industry talent.

• Technology recruitment agency Venturi has completed the move of its global headquarters to the Globe & Simpson Building, Enterprise City, within the St John’s creative district in Manchester. The international recruitment firm, with locations in New York and Dusseldorf, has made Manchester city centre its home. It specialises in placing technology talent into key areas of the IT and tech sectors, including business intelligence, data analysis, and security and software development.

• Recruitment services supplier Wave has launched a new version of its candidate sourcing and analytics tool WaveTrackR. The changes and updates focus on ensuring candidates are not missed in the search for talent.

20 November 2023
Engineering, Construction & property, Commercial & office support, Executive search, Industrial/Manufacturing, IT/Telecoms, HR, Apprentices/Grads/School leavers

NEW TO THE MARKET: 20-24 NOVEMBER 2023

• Berry Recruitment has opened a new branch in Watford, Hertfordshire. The branch will cover commercial office-based roles, light industrial and catering roles both for temporary and permanent positions. Carol Grainger is the new manager, who has worked in the industry and in the area for more than 17 years. Three experienced consultants have also been recruited, with more hires planned for the New Year.

• Facilities management company Mitie has recruited 60 new apprentices as part of its #SignupSkillup programme. The new colleagues are all in the early stages of their working lives, kicking off a career in facilities management with an apprenticeship, and are based throughout the UK, from Plymouth to Glasgow.

• TalentPredix is launching in Scandinavia through a partnership with Gudman Leadership. TalentPredix is a strengths assessment system, which provides a measure of people’s talents, career motivations and values. It transforms the way clients hire, develop and engage talent, enabling businesses to improve talent outcomes and unleash the full strengths and potential of their people.

• Talent and reskill training provider Wiley Edge has partnered with Cisco Networking Academy to train graduates in the latest tech skills. The new partnership will ensure Wiley Edge Alumni are upskilled and ready to kickstart their careers.

14 November 2023
Creative/Digital/Media, Legal, Executive search, Industrial/Manufacturing, IT/Telecoms, HR, Apprentices/Grads/School leavers

NEW TO THE MARKET: 13-17 NOVEMBER 2023

• Code First Girls has launched a Mid-Level Accelerator (MLA) course aimed to develop and accelerate women’s technology careers. The 12-week MLA course is aimed at those with over two years of experience in tech. It will support women to upskill and progress into a mid-level engineering or developer roles whilst also having the opportunity to re-skill to a new specialism or develop mid-level specialist tech skills.

• US-based Creative Talent Endeavors, a retained executive search and HR advisory agency, has launched Fairantee, an algorithm that uses AI and data to allow companies to understand how much they should be paying for an executive search before they sign a contract. The technology will take into account the difficulty or ease of each search assignment by measuring how factors, including total compensation, location, workplace environment and title of the role, affect how much effort will be required to fill the role. Fairantee allows companies to get a quote for their search upfront, and keep that quote for five days as they make the decision for their company.

• The Eventus Recruitment Group has expanded its legal recruitment services into Ireland to enable law firms to benefit from a tailored recruitment service that has been found to be effective within the UK. Eventus Legal’s Ireland team is headed by managing director and founder Siobhan Courtney, who has specialised in legal recruitment for 25 years.

• Know You More, a socially driven coaching and training enterprise, has expanded its programmes for young people throughout Scotland with free coaching and training on offer for 18-25-year-olds. The programme is offered free of charge, supported by Know You More’s commercial coaching offering and platform that combines one-to-one sessions with digital technology. After completing the programme, participants can also join the Build Up initiative which teaches fundamental coaching skills to empower young people to pass on what they have learned to others.

• UK-based recruitment firm Membership Bespoke has launched an executive search division, extending its expertise in membership employment. With 25 years’ recruitment experience, Ben Spragg has been appointed head of executive search. The firm is working with two national associations to hire a new managing director and CEO. Membership Leaders, the new online platform, allows stakeholders across boards to view candidates CVs, executive summaries, McQuaig Assessment Results and key competency benchmarking reports.

• Global employment platform Oyster has launched Oyster Embedded and Oyster API to make global employment more accessible for companies, partners and HR teams. With Oyster Embedded, industry partners can now offer global hiring, payroll and rewards solutions in one click, right from their own software. Oyster API helps partners and customers easily connect Oyster with tools of their choice.

• Industrial recruitment specialist PSI Global has launched a new division called PSI Global Training, and is opening a training facility in Liverpool next month. This will be the first location in the North-West of the UK dedicated to running Train the Painter courses. The firm says the new division has been set up following a lack of labour within the industrial services sector due to a skills shortage and ageing workforce.

• Tech recruitment agency Searchability has opened a new office in Sydney, Australia. Searchability was founded by managing director Martin Blythe in 2012 in the UK, and expanded into Australia in 2020. The new office will be located at Margaret Street in Sydney.

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