1. News
  2. New to Market

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

• Comment below on this story. Or let us know what you think by emailing us at [email protected] or tweet us to tell us your thoughts or share this story with a friend.

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.

• Comment below on this story. Or let us know what you think by emailing us at [email protected] or tweet us to tell us your thoughts or share this story with a friend.

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.

18 September 2023
Banking/Financial services, Legal, Executive search, Interim recruitment

94LEGAL and 94TAX search firms merge to form Bishop Rock Partners

The newly-merged entity will be led by Ed Stevens (managing partner) pictured above, Robert Loder (partner), Hugo Potts (partner) and Thomas Clarke (finance director). The merger is taking place this month [September 2023].

94LEGAL and 94TAX have offered specialist search and selection for the legal and tax markets across the UK and US since 2017. 

A company statement said professional services firms have since then optimised service line structures and now have medium to long-term strategies to invest significantly in their legal and tax practices.

Bishop Rock Partners covers contingent search, retained service and interim solutions. 

• Comment below on this story. Or let us know what you think by emailing us at [email protected] or tweet us to tell us your thoughts or share this story with a friend.

12 September 2023
Creative/Digital/Media, Commercial & office support, IT/Telecoms, HR

NEW TO THE MARKET: 11-15 SEPTEMBER 2023

• Specialist HR recruitment consultancy Macmillan Davies has opened its new Midlands office in Birmingham’s business and financial quarter, which will be led by associate director Nicola Morris. A specialist in HR recruitment since 2015, Morris brings experience gained from working in both in-house HR roles and within recruitment agencies and in-house talent acquisition teams.

• Randstad has launched Randstad Digital – a new organisation that specialises in meeting the technology talent needs of multinational companies across a wide range of industries. It will be led by Venu Lambu who was appointed in January 2023. The talent firm says its new organisation is “uniquely” positioned to help companies “accelerate” and “enable enterprise-level transformations at scale”, by providing access to premier talent, services and solutions across four specialised domains which are: Customer experience; Cloud and infrastructure; Data and analytics; and digital and product engineering.

7 September 2023
Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Oil & gas/Energy, Transport & logistics, Creative/Digital/Media, Engineering, IT/Telecoms, HR, Healthcare/Medical

NEW TO THE MARKET: 4-8 SEPTEMBER 2023

• A smart new platform has launched which leverages dating strategies, AI and video to help businesses of all sizes find the best fit for their vacant positions. Candydate.app is an applicant matching system (AMS) which uses short videos and assistive AI technology to transform the traditional hiring process. It marries the visual appeal of social media-style video with the efficiency of artificial intelligence, while underscoring the importance of first impressions and collective decision making.

• Neurodiversity support provider Creased Puddle has launched the Occupational Health service solely focused on supporting neurodivergent individuals in the workplace. Registered nurse Robert Manson has joined the Creased Puddle team to lead the new service.

• Deel has launched a Project Get Hired initiative to help impacted talent re-enter the workforce and to support companies looking to match ideal talent with open roles. Workers can use Deel’s Get Hired Hub to see where to find job openings; get tips and insights from Deel’s own talent acquisition team; and download checklists and guides for effective job searches, resume tips, and cover letter writing. Workers can sign up for free headshots, which are all done remotely.

• Nash Squared has announced the launch of managed service provider (MSP) and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) brand Flexhuis in the US. Flexhuis will offer US mid-sized organisations the opportunity to simplify the complexities in the hiring, onboarding, and workforce management processes, allowing them to quickly connect with skilled talent to drive their businesses forward.

• Occupop, a recruitment software firm for small and medium-sized businesses, has introduced an AI prompt library known as the ‘ChatGPT prompt library for recruitment’. The resource is specifically designed to aid talent acquisition professionals in uncovering, evaluating, and generating effective prompts tailored to various recruitment and HR activities. With a collection of more than 100 prompts curated from a diverse group of recruiters and hiring managers, the prompt library for recruitment aims to simplify the integration of AI for hiring managers by offering them expert-validated prompts that are ready to be employed across a spectrum of AI tools. The streamlined approach also allows users to copy the prompts with a single click, optimising time and efficiency.

• Storm4, a leader in global GreenTech recruitment, has launched Future Mobility by Storm4, a specialist sub-brand focused on the sustainable transportation industry. Led by Rebecca Saggar, Future Mobility by Storm4 is about “catalysing the conversation around future mobility” and “accelerating the transition to a cleaner and electric tomorrow”.

21 August 2023
Marketing & Sales, Commercial & office support, Executive search, HR, Accounting/Finance

Adjacency relaunches executive search division and expands its reach

Next month [September 2023], managing director Miles Greenslade (pictured) will relaunch Adjacency Executive Search with a new partner, expanding the division to encompass national and international business as a result of an acquisition.

Following the departure of founding partner Joe Graham in May this year, Adjacency plans to expand its presence into new locations, signalling its commitment to enhancing its reach and providing localised expertise, according to a statement from the company.

Greenslade says: “We're thrilled to celebrate our 10-year anniversary, new branding and website, as well as the upcoming re-launch and growth of Adjacency Executive Search. This year has been full of change, with founding partner Joe Graham taking a step away from Adjacency to pursue a new career. We are only in the place we are due to his guidance, and I thank him for all he has given to me, and the business during our 10-year partnership.”

As part of its growth strategy, the company has relocated its head office within the prestigious regency building Darwin House in Cheltenham. This move will not only accommodate the expansion of its workforce, but also provide a platform to rebrand and reflects its ambitious vision, growth strategy, and unwavering commitment to their clients and candidates alike.

There is also an acquisition in the pipeline, which is still to be finalised, according to the company. 

Adjacency specialises in early management to board-level appointments across finance, sales & marketing, human resources and business support, with specialist consultants operating in each discipline and covering the region spanning from Birmingham to Bristol and across to Oxford and South Wales.

• Comment below on this story. Or let us know what you think by emailing us at [email protected] or tweet us to tell us your thoughts or share this story with a friend.

Recruiter Magazine

SUBSCRIBE TO PRINT
VIEW PAST ISSUES
Top