The Cotswold Plod Part II

Again sorry for the delay. All is well with me, just difficult to find time but it has now been quite a while since the 2011 Cotswold Way plod..............

This has been written bit by bit as I find time but unless I post this part soon, it will never be complete so here you go. Looks like there will be a part 3!

As the day approached, it became clear that we would not escape the rain which of course was not what we had hoped for. We were hoping for mild dry weather, not too hot, but dry. What we got was far from ideal walking conditions.

After a relaxing day, we met at 9.30 pm at our office in Clifton, Bristol to load up and get in Ollie's Range Rover to take us to the start in Dursley, where we had to register before 10.45pm.

The weather was horrendous, bucketing rain and far colder than weather should be in June, therefore when we met up I was already dressed in my Salomon Cosmics, Compression Tights, T Shirt and Fleece and wet weather gear over the top.

It was great however to finally get going and the nerves that had been building for months were turning to adrenaline and excitement to get started. I was really looking forward to it although was of course aprehensive and I am sure that everyone felt the same way.

Charlie Ten Broeke had been in charge of bringing our considerable water supplies with him. The water, which had been donated to us by another colleague keen to clear some space in his garage, turned out to be several years out of date and Charlie only noticed shortly before leaving to meet us, thereofore a dash around the supermarket buying up loads of bottled water drew some very odd looks from staff and shoppers, not to mention the revellers on Whiteladies on a Friday night! The same water had also been supplied to the other RSG team, who hadnt noticed and were drinking out of their water bottles as we arrived at the start venue at c10.30 pm. As competitors, we were tempted not to tell them, but as friends and colleagues, of course we did and let them share our fresh supplies!

The start venue was a sports hall and registration only took a few minutes, but we must have been one the last teams to register. The scene was slightly chaotic at first glance, the teams spread out randomly across the floor of the sports hall, making last minute preparations and studying the route maps. One of the bits of info that we were provided with was the checkpoints and the quiz questions. The quiz questions were to be answered throughout the route and could affect the overall score, although to be honest, we were not really interested in bthe quiz and focused on a competitive placing in the finishing order.

Everyone looked nervous and after a quick briefing, it was time to go outside and line up for the start. The weather was till bucketing rain so I kept the same kit on as earlier, although removed my fleece as I knew there were two of the biggest and steepest hills between the start and first checkpoint and didnt want to overheat.

We felt good and though we were likely to be competitive and near the front of the field of 28 teams starting. Our goal simple.-
a) finish
b)beat the other RSG team
c)beat the other RSG team

We had been debating whether to start slowly and save energy for the second half and start reeling the others in, or whether to start fast and risk running out if steam. As we felt good and had done lots of training in the dark, we went for the latter and were determined to get to the front of the pack.

The atmosphere was excited and as midnight approached, everyone lined up to start offering each other luck. As midnight struck 28 teams all went off together.

It was a bit of a scramble to be honest as 112 walkers set out down the streets and narrow footpaths to the start of the Cotswold Way and the first hill northbound from Dursley in the pouring rain. Headtorches on, it must have been quite a sight for the few that were out in Dursley at that time in the rain! It was difficult to push to the front with so many people walking the paths and pavements.

We arrived at the bottom of the first hill compressed together trying to get through the gates to start climbing. There was a bit of banter between us and the other RSG team at the gate before we were all blowing up the first climb. Our team were determined to push on and we overtook several teams going up the first hill. The head torches made it very easy to see the teams behind you but not the teams infront as they are forward facing, but we already knew that we would be somewhere near the lead.

A treacherous descent follows, especially in the rain and so we were relieved not to be in the pack that we could see as a big pool of light behind us. It was suprising to see even at this early stage, how elongated the field had become however even after the first hill.

Another steep climb follows and again we decided to push on and successfully overtook another team on the steep ascent. We remarked that it must be demoralising to be overtaken and not something that we wanted to experience!

At this point we couldnt see any other lights ahead of us and the next lights we saw were for the first checkpoint which looked amazing as we approached.

The orgainisers had banners and flags with a kind of gate to go through and register your team number for time recording. It was a huge pool of light as 28 support vehicles and drivers and all of the Action support staff were there to greet us with words of encouragement and to tell us that we were in 3rd place! Dave Nock, the other RSG support driver was looking out for us at the gate and walked us towards Ollie who had the kettle on, chairs out and lots of stuff ready for us. The atmosphere was brilliant and it felt like a party!

The news that we were third spurred us to have a very brief stop, to grab some water and an apple and set off again without being overtaken at the checkpoint. Ollie looked a bit dissapointed that we were not going to enjoy the freshly brewed tea etc that he had made for us but knew that we were rushing so checked we were okay ansd sent us on our way. We left in 3rd place.

After the 1st Checkpoint there was a winding wood section that we had been through before so roughly knew our way. We could occasionally see headlights infront of us and knew that we were gaining on the team in 2nd place when we saw them veer off the path and take a different route. After checking our maps, we knew that we were on the correct path and so to be honest, thought that thet other team were cheating taking a short cut. We pushed on and a number of fields followed the woodland section. It had stopped raining around this time and so wet jackets were put in backpacks.

From our previous experience getting lost in the fields outside Wotten Under Edge we were aware how difficult it can be to follow a path through an open field in the dark. As we entered the 2nd field, a pool of headlights came into view from behind which we figured must be the team that had taken the short cut as it was unlikely that the team behind us had caught up because we were really pushing. It was incredibly frustrating for us to see the team following our lights through the open fields to find their way. They were easily able to see when we had taken the right path and when we had got it wrong! We lost a bit of ground to them which we were unhappy about so once out of the fields and back on the roads, we decided to jog and create some distance between us and the team behind.

During this section our training really paid off as we knew there were a couple of tricky paths to find which if you were unaware of could get you lost. A combination of our jogging and these tricky turns meant that we lost the team behind and that was the last time we saw them until the finish 30 ish miles later!

A big climb follows just outside Wycliffe School which we found really tough when doing our training, but spurred on by adrenaline on the Plod, we flew up and through the woods onto the 2nd checkpoint. It was now c 3.30 am and thinking about getting light through the mist in the woods. This checkpoint was a little more subdued than the 1st as some of the support drivers were trying to get some sleep. We were still greeted with enthusiastic Action Staff who confirmed that we were in 2nd place and c 6 minutes behind the team in 1st place.

Ollie and Dave Nock were up and ready for us and worked together to give us a hot drink and help us with filling water bottles / camelbaks and enegybars etc. We were very proud to be in second and Ollie and Dave did a fantastic job of turning us around quickly. We were keen to hear how the other RSG team were getting on and Dave confirmed that they were okay but had been 15 to 20 minutes behind us at the 1st checkpoint.

We checked out left in 2nd place as the team in 3rd place arrived.

The next section took us to Painswick and followed the route that we had been down before. This bit was mostly downhill and seemed like a shorter section as the sun was coming up and the skies were clearing. We were keen to build a buffer between us and the third place team during this stage and so kept up the pace. It was still chilly so had most of the kit on from earlier but there was no need for the wet weather trousers anymore. We were all checking on each other regularly and trying to keep each other motivated if one was lagging a little bit. It was during this stage that I struggled for a few miles as the cereal bar and tea that I wolfed down at the 2nd checkpoint took its toll. I was fine, but just felt a little uncomfortable for a bit and found the going hard. Once that passed, I felt just fine and we were heading into Painswick at c5.30 am.

We had been warned that the breakfast checkpoint wouldnt open until c 5.30 am and that if you arrived earlier, you wouldnt be able to checkin. We were eagerly looking for the checkpoint as we enetered painswick but couldnt find it. We walked up and down the highstreet past the church a couple of times looking for the flags of the checkpoint and in the end resorted to calling Ollie to find out where he was in relation to the church. We found the checkpoint but were disspointed to have lost valuable time. On checking in confirmation that we were in 2nd plave and that the team in 1st place were there and wolfing down supplies.

The 3rd checkpoint was a little different to the others. Firstly there was a big catering van with free bacon butties etc for the walkers if you wanted - we didnt! Secondly, as the plod progressed, the field became elongated so that the slower teams support drivers would be asleep or at an earlier checkpoint. It was also 5.30 am on a Saturday morning and so Painsick was asleep. As things were heating up, we lost our wet weather and warm gear and quickly refuelled, Chesney and I sharing some Tuna steak to Ollies disgust! Dave and Ollie were brilliant again there was a real feeling of camaraderie between the teams support drivers - Ollie and Dave were enjoying their role despite the tiredness and hadnt really expected us to be competing as we were. We checked on the progress of the 2nd RSG team and Dave informed us that they looked tired and were worried about knees but were doing okay. Dave couldnt believe how fresh we looked!

We probably left c 6/7 minutes behind the 1st placed team and just as the third place team were entering the checkpoint to whom we greeted. We knew that from here that it was a long slog to the next checkpoint which was near the Air Balloon pub outside Birdlip and was c 11 miles.

This part of the plod appeared never ending and took us out of Painswick, past the golf club, and towards Coopers Hill where lunatics chase cheese. The Cotswold Way paths runs down the side of the hill to the side of the field where the cheese is rolled.

We had again decided to see if we could close the gap between us and 1st place on this stage and knew that the team in 3rd place would now find it hard to overtake us if we kept up a reasonable pace and avoided injury. We we reached the top of Coopers Hill and I really cannot believe that people run down it! Surely you run more 'off it' than down it and there is just no way that the cheese is worth the potential injury. I am clearly too old now but you would only attempt it if you have a screw loose!

We paused at tghe top of the hill to check the map and get our bearings and then began to follow the path downwards with the cheese rolling field on our right, when we were greeted with the team in 1st place coming back up the hill towards us! After greeting each other we both insisted that we were going in the right direction until I pointed out the direction signpost that was conveniently placed! it seems that the other team had taken a wrong turn and were heading up the hill after descending somewhere else on the hill.
We walked with them for a spell and understood that they were marathon running, ex marines which had recently come back from Kilimanjaro!We wished them luck as they jogged on out of sight.............

They were nice guys.

We were over the halfway mark by this point and began what seemed like an endless trek through this woodland around this big crescent that went on for miles and was pretty muddy in places.
It was getting warm by this point and muscles were starting to ache so out came the paracetemol to keep some of the worst aches at bay and was now down to my RSG T Shirt, Compression Tights and shorts and my wonderful Salomon Cosmics that were coping brilliantly with no blisters. Stu began to suffer a couple of blisters but is like a trojan and just doesnt stop so didnt slow him down. Charlie is fit and it was noticable that whenever he got to the front the pace quickened. Chesney is at least 10 years younger than the rest of us and has longer legs so he was feeling just fine apart from his boots.

Chesney had originally set out to go with just two pairs of trainers. If it had been bone dry, he might have been okay, although I wouldnt recommend it without ankle support and decent grip. As we set off in sheets of rain, he was forced to borrow a pair of Dave's old walking boots to save his feet. There is no way that he could have made it in Trainers to this point. It was half way through this leg with c5 miles to go until the next checkpoint though that Dave's old boots admitted defeat and partially shed their of their soles. Ches had to walk with one of the soles hanging off and flapping each time he took a step. It was hard work for Ches and our pace slowed but there was nothing that we could do and no option to get his trainers dropped off by Ollie as we were a long way away from a road.
Stu saved the day by donating the lace from the waist band on his shorts to lash the sole back onto the boot. It wasnt perfect but the best we could do until we reached the next checkpoint.

Getting nearer to Birdlip, we were getting hungry and thirsty so apples were shared and the occasional energy sweet kept morale high. 2 miles before the checkpoint was a beacon that was also a quiz question answer where the path kind of doubles back on itself and we could easily see the 1st placed team only a few minutes ahead of us. This energised us to pick up the pace again and as we passed the air balloon pub, we knew we were near the checkpoint. We had a minor detour that Stu needlessly kept blaming himself for and then we arrived at the checkpoint 6 minutes behind.

This checkpoint was smaller because the field was elongated and Ollie and Dave provided updates on where everyone was. The other RSG team was a long way back by this point but all 4 teammates were still going. They said that lots of the teams looked exhausted and that we looked really fresh in comparison. Ollie and Dave were able to work in tandem rather than assigning one driver to each time and it was incredibly helpful and motivating having them there turn us around quickly. We were all hungry by this checkpoint and so indulged more than we had loading up with food and drinks. I really really wanted one of the instant porridges that I had bought and the golden syrup flavour porridge was just what I needed. Chesney had a Pot Noodle!
It was another quick pitsop, encouraged by the action team and our colleagues to get moving and get after the 1st placed team as soon as possible who left probably 5 minutes ahead of us. Ches changed into his trainers and off we went towards the penultimate pitstop the words of encouragement ringing in our ears.


The third placed team had not arrived by the time we set out.

Cotswold Way Plod 2011 (Part One)

Okay, sorry for the delay, just been a very busy week since finishing the PLOD and wanted some time to write properly, as so many people have kindly supported us.

The last time that I wrote about the build up for the walk, was not positive. I had done a walk after work one evening and struggled. Following that walk, I had a few days off walking to work to rest my legs which made a huge difference to my strength, stamina and confidence. Our next training walk was a 20 mile after work walk from Tormaton to Dursley, again following the Cotswold Way.

We stared at 6pm from Tormaton on a windy but dry evening and followed the Cotswold Way on what is perhaps the hilliest and certainly was the hardest part of the Cotswold way that we had walked at that time. We (me, Stu Adams, Charlie Ten-Broeke, & Chesney Windsor) were joined by Paul Bennett from the other RSG team The pace was moderate as we were conscious of injuries with less than 2 weeks to go to the PLOD, but a couple of the ascents were certainly steep enough to get the heart pumping. Throughout the walk, we kept getting glimpses of the Tyndale Tower which was near our detination so we had something to aim for, although it looked a lot more than 20 miles away when we started! The walk was relatively straightforward, but we discovered how difficult paths through grass fields are to navigate at night with multiple gaps in the hedgerows to aim for (we got lost in the dark on the descent to Wotton Under Edge)! After climbing a barbed wire fence and a detour, we were back on track and reached the Tyndale Monument at North Nibley at c11.40pm, which to our suprise was lit up and unlocked. Stu and I went on to climb to the top but the rest were feeling the 18 miles or so that we had done by that point, so didnt really feel like climbing the 120 steps up the 34m tower after the climb up the hill. I was asking myself why I bothered as you couldnt really see anything from the top in the dark, but it was a one off opportuntity for me to climb the tower at night.

The descent from the tower was really steep down some nasty steps, but we were soon on our way up again onto a Golf course and finishing in Dursley at c12.15 am. I felt okay, although my back was a little sore, but I knew that I could carry on so was a massive confidence boost to me ahead of the PLOD.

Between the Tormarton and Dursley Walk and the PLOD on June 10th, I continued to walk to work, but dropped to 3 days per week and then rested for 3 days before the PLOD began.

Our preparation in the build up was really about getting kit ready for the night. Ollie Dawe had volunteered to be our Support Driver after having to drop out from the walking team and the driving was a job that none of us envyed. Essentially, you would have to transport our kit from the start to the various checkpoints throughout the night and greet the walking with hot drinks, food, supplies etc as required. The support driver would get no real sleep and little reward, but it was a hugely important job that we valued immensly. From my sailing experiences, I have learned the importance of food and fluids when you are tired and running low.

We were given a kit list by the organisers whcih included a few essential safety items as well as suggested clothing, food etc. One of the problems was that we were unsure what the weather would be doing and the kit would be very different it was raining heavily or hot and sunny, so we had to prepare for every eventuality (and thank goodness we did).
We divided the kit list up between us and Ollie has a 4x4 so we were okay for space.

As the start approached, the weather forecast looked undecided, although there was a chance that we would get away with mild dry weather which would be perfect.

To be continued..............

Sorry for the lack of update following the Cotswold Way Plod. I will write a full account soon, however I was keen to provide an update to say that our team (Jonny Hiles, Stuart Adams, Charlie Ten-Broeke and Chesney Windsor) completed the 40 mile plod in 13 hours, finishing 2nd across the line at 1pm on Saturday, June 11th.

We were very tired but incredibly proud of our achievement, finishing 2nd of 28 teams and beating our colleagues in the other team by 1.5 hours.

More to follow soon and a massive thank you to everyone that sponsored us! We will have raised over £4,000 for Action Medical Research.

Plodding

Last Thursday was not a good day for my feet or legs. I did my daily 4 miles to and from work but then went out for an additional 15 miles walk the evening. I got the distance from http://www.walkjogrun.net/ which has an excellent route tracking tool!

I was perhaps walking quicker than I am likely to do on the Cotswold Plod and averaged 4.5 miles per hour, but my legs and feet should not have been aching in the way they were after that distance - the last mile or so was a real struggle for me.

I hope that this is because I had been doing a lot without any real break for my legs and feet, rather than an indication that there is a weakness, but it did concern me.

My Hamstrings were incredibly tight and very painful towards the end, but also my feet are also causing problems as two of my toes on my left foot are black and my big toe on my right foot looks very peculiar and showing signs of lifting.

I am continuing my 4 miles per day walk to and from work and we have a 20 mile Cotswold Way walk from Tomarton to Dursley planned on Thursday evening after work which will be the final big night walk before the Cotswold Plod on June 10th. I hope that all will go well on Thursday to set me up for the big one, but I am a little concerned. I will take it easy this week in the build up and not walk in on Weds or Thursday this week to give everything a bit of respite.

I have decided to invest in some new and slightly thinner socks to see if I can help my toes a bit by giving them some more space. I had been using the smartwool socks but as the weather has warmed, my feet are swelling therefore giving me the problems. I purhcased some 1000 mile socks at the weekend so will test these on Thursday and feedback. I hope that this will alleviate some of the foot problems.

I also purchased a 2 litre Camelbak at the weekend. This should be useful on the day, but will again test it on Thursday to see how I get on!

If you would like to learn more or indeed sponsor us to do the Cotswold Plod, please follow this link - http://www.action.org.uk/sponsor/rsg1
Starting at midnight on June 11th 2011, I will be walking 40 miles non-stop for Action Aid Medical Research.

Cotswold Plod 2011

Cotswold Plod 201140 miles non stop starting at midnight on 10th/11th June 2011
As the challenge is fast approaching last week we decided to test the night gear, having never walked at night before we thought it would be a good experience, not only to test the head torches but also to improve our navigation skills (especially for Charlie as he struggles with his directions in the day light). We decided on a tough 18 mile walk from Bath to Tormarton (which is officially the first stage of the Cotswold way) and after hitching a lift from our resident accountant Neil Pollinger with found ourselves on the outskirts of Bath just below Landsdown.

We set off at about 7pm and soon found are way walking up and extremely steep hill to Lansdowne, this climb must have lasted about 20 minutes and had us all blowing apart from Chesney who at 23 was showing his youth as he strolled out in front. Once up on the top the terrain levelled out and as time wore on we passed Bath Race course, Landsdown Golf club and the Infamous Lansdowne battlefields (battle of Lansdowne was part of the British civil fought on 5 July 1643. Lord Hopton led a Royalist force against William Wallers Parliamentarians).

The terrain was very undulating with some tough climbs but nothing to strenuous. As we approached Marshfield we decided to stop to put on our head torches, we got some funny looks from the locals as we passed by the local polling station and crashed through the undergrowth trying to find the next path. As night fell we picked up a good pace and swiftly covered the next 6 miles finally finishing in Tormarton at 10.30.

Highlights of the Walk

• Charlie having trouble with the gates (again)
• Charlie slipping down a hill
• Jonny struggling up a massive Hill, then blaming it on the sandwich he’d just eaten

If you would like to sponsor us, please click on the following link. We have set an ambitious target of £2500 so all help is greatly appreciated.

More info on the Cotswold Plod can be found here - http://www.action.org.uk/plod_cotswold_way

The link to our sponsorship page can be found here - http://www.action.org.uk/sponsor/rsg1

Summer Months

Mid July and August are traditionally a little quieter for recruiters as everyone is on holiday! (Alas not me this year with a young baby!)
This year, however, we haven't really stopped as fewer requirements provides us with time to concentrate on other activities.

Fusion Investments, the recruitment investment business that I run is in negotiations with a number of existing agencies that are looking for an investment of either, money, infrastructure or expertise to build, grow and exit in the future. There are a couple of likely prospects that I am hopeful of completeing some time during Q4 2010 so watch this space.
The summer is a good time for reflection about business direction and if you are looking for an ivestment or exit, please do give me a call. We regularly receive a number of enquiries, purely making contact for some time in the future or for information and we welcome all contact. We try and offer sage advice to recruitment owners and start ups, which includes encouragement as well as discouragement where necessary. We have been approached by lots of job boards in the past months which is a sign that there is still plenty of ideas of how to improve on the current formats which will be great for the industry. We do own a job board and again continue to welcome fresh ideas.
A success story for us is from a business of ours called SNS. SNS were a new start up business that have been trading for 4 months. The MD, had been an undervalued recruiter working in a niche IT market for a number of years. SNS specialise in EPOS and Networking recruitment.
We set them up with an office, salary, car and IT infrstructure as well as a job board access etc and delivery support from the main group. The MD has unlmited access to us for delivery, business processing, support and advice if he wants to use it!
They now have regular permanent placements and contractors working and an extra sales staff member to push business further. Its a great model and I will ask the MD to write something about his experiences of Fusion Recruitment Investment in the coming weeks.

We are looking for businesses particularly in the North West, Midlands, Scotland and the South East. Call me on 0117 370 3076 for an informal discussion.

The other activity occupying a significant amoungt of my time is recruitment compliance. I have done a number of assignments over the past couple of years reviewing pre-engagement and pre-employment checks for agencies and corporates and it's a complex subject. The recruitment industry is still getting to grips with it as legislative, regulatory and client-led demands are made on the recruiter to gather pre-engagement information. Some are reasonable, others are impractical and some clients are in danger of making it impossible to do business with them! The current project is well underway and was scheduled by the organisation to run over the summer to minimise impact on the business in quieter times.

Outside of work, family life is great - We are still getting to Topsham most weekends, although as Theo is becoming more active, its becoming harder to keep him entertained on the boat. We have had a couple of long weekends and are off for a week in early September.

Call me if you would like to discuss the above on 0117 370 3076 or email jonny.hiles@fusioninvestments.co.uk

www.fusioninvestments.co.uk

Director - Manchester

The Fusion roadshow moves on.....

Director - IT & Business Change Recruitment
North West

We will be launching a new North West based IT & Business Change Recruitment Business in 2010.

The Opportunity
We are seeking a Managing Director to shape, launch and build a new IT Recruitment Business. You will be involved right at the outset with naming, branding and designing the business strategy together with the assistance of a very successful management team of a Recruitment plc.

The new business will be yours to run and build, using the support and infrastructure of the recruitment plc to make the business a success.
Furthermore, you will need to recruit a team and offices will be provided in a central location. The business will not be restricted by location.
We are keen to attract the best and this is a salaried role, with equity in the new business.

The Person
You will be a proven IT Recruiter, with an established network in the North West market.
You will be ambitious.
You will be entrepreneurial, and have your own ideas about building a successful IT Recruitment Business.
You will lead by example. You will be passionate about IT Recruitment.

You may have already run your own or someone elses business, or be an employee looking for the next step. We are open to ideas!

To apply, send a profile to Jonny Hiles or call for an informal conversation. All communication is treated in strict confidence.

This is a genuine and unique opportunity and we look forward to discussing ideas with you.

Email address is jonny.hiles@fusioninvestments.co.uk or call 0117 3703076

Recruiter in need of investment? Recruitment Start up? Recruitment M&A? - www.fusioninvestments.co.uk

Jonny Hiles

Recruitment Investment Opportunities

The recruitment market continues to gather momentum and new opportunities are available for ambitious recruiters.

Wanted: Recruitment Businesses. Start up or established recruitment companies wanted. - http://www.fusioninvestments.co.uk/invest/


We are actively looking for recruitment acquisition / recruitment investment opportunities in 2010 so if you are exiting or looking for investment, call me on 0117 370 3076 for an informal and confidential conversation.

Jonny Hiles
www.fusioninvestments.co.uk

Hot Vacancies

Top couple of urgent live contract roles from the network -

1) Polaris / Product Writer Developer
3 months Contract Vacancy based in the Midlands
The job holder will be responsible for the programming of pricing rate reviews in the Polaris product writer software. They will also be responsible for testing Polaris deliveries using Microfocus's automated testing software 'TestPartner'. This is an urgent requirement starting asap for a leading insurance business. We have interview slots available for tomorrow!

2) Onsite Resourcing Manager
3 months contract based in Swindon
Contract opportunity for a professional onsite recruiter. Specifically, the role is sourcing against multiple perm vacancies from Direct and 3rd part agency suppliers.
Starting ASAP

If you are interested in the above, please drop me a line on 0845 117 0 115 or jonny@recruitment-hub.com

Whilst you are here - why not learn a bit more about me by visiting other pages on the blog - http://jonnyhub.blogspot.com

May

Well, what do you know, the summer has arrived! (I am aware that I speak to soon but this is the 4th straight day or cloudless skies!)
We have all spent a few days basking in the sun over the weekend and already, the office air conditioning has broken down and our office manager is spending considerable time trying to negotiate the definition of room temperature. Is it 20 degrees or 25? Wikipedia explains more - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_temperature

The second of the may bank holidays is nearly upon us and we again have had a record month. This year has been terrific for IT and Finance recruitment and as our main specialisms, we have made the most of the opportunities. I have been mapping where we place most of our business and watching the map evolve over the past 12 months, some of the biggest customers of last year have now cut back whilst others have come through in even greater numbers. Financial services is the primary industry for us and we have seen an overall increase in contractor numbers over the year, despite some the cutbacks with individual accounts. Contractor rates have increased as well as demand has increased.

Outside of Financial Services, we have recently launched a new brand, specialising in the retail market. We have supplied a number of large retailers over the years and have some well established relationships. We were approached via Fusion Investments for funding and support to launch a specialist brand and we were so impressed with the MD, his energy, passion and business plan, that we were delighted to welcome him onboard. The business is now up and running and has already made contractor placements.

If you are looking to make the most of the upturn, Fusion is a specialist recruitment investment business. We invest in start ups and existing recruitment businesses and again, looking for further opportunities so call if you would like to discuss a new venture / Joint Venture or an exit plan. My number with Fusion in 0117 370 3076.

The Hub
The Hub - The Hub is a network of recruitment specialists utilising a centralised delivery, back office and support function – or hub – hence the name.

Through partnership, The Hub provides the delivery capability, infrastructure & support of a recruitment plc to independent recruiters utilising our significant resources.

The Hub is part of a recruitment plc – one of the largest independent recruitment organisations in the UK with a multi-discipline delivery capability. Browse these pages to learn more about The Hub how we can help you to open up new channels and maximise revenue from your existing business.

Outside of work, we have spent the past few weekends in Topsham now that the boat is back on the water. Topsham is just gorgeous and we really enjoy our days out on the River Exe. Theodore has had his first couple of gentle sailing trips down the river and seems to have taken to it. We are taking it easy as we don't want to scare him - we are working up to a Dartmouth trip soon. I have my first boys weekend away planned with some of my old crew-mates from the round the world race f, although Domino is very different from the 60' Ocean racing yacht that we were on, but I am sure will be equally enjoyable.


If you would like to discuss any of the above, please contact me on 0845 117 0115 or email - jonny@recruitment-hub.com.

Website for The Hub - www.recruitment-hub.com
Website for Fusion - www.fusioninvestments.co.uk

Hope all are well?

Jonny Hiles

500+ UK Recruitment Directors!

I am pleased to announce that membership of the UK Recruitment Directors Group has today passed the 500 member mark. The Linkedin Group provides a forum for networking and sharing views / news with fellow recruitment industry leaders.

The Group is free to join and membership is open to recruitment directors and business leaders. Membership includes independent niche agenices as well as board directors of large global agencies. Further details via http://www.linkedin.com/groups?homeNewMember=&gid=1962486&trk=


Information about me can be found at http://jonnyhub.blogspot.com

Recruitment Investment - http://www.fusioninvestments.co.uk
Split Fee Recruitment - http://www.recruitment-hub.com or

Jonny Hiles

International Recruitment

We have been presented with an opportunity to expand our services internationally by one of our customers - a global corporation. They have numerous offices covering most countries and globally, they recruit a lot of perms and contractors. They would like us to extend our services to fullfill their needs internationally so all in all, a great opportunity! The trouble is, can we service it?

We have long supplied abroad, principally in Europe and in all honesty, we probably could have won more non-uk business if we had asked for it. With global job board access, mature databases and sophisticated relationships and network, we can pretty much find a candidate to work anywhere and so its not necessarily the sourcing that has held us back, its the; how do we process the business? question.

So a project of mine over the past couple of weeks has been to look into how could we supply into a couple of key territories? how does recruitment work in Latin America, APAC, USa etc? What are the rates? What are the legalities or setting up a business in X country? Do they have a contract market etc? etc etc.

Given the size of the recruitment industry, I am amazed that there is not a guide somewhere to how do you recruit in x country? or at least an overview! My first point of call was REC whose only focus is the UK, so were unable to help. I have run numerous google searches and drowned in irrelevent information and search results. I have spoken to consulates - although helpful and polite, most did not have recruitment specific information. I have viewed websites like Monster etc but they really don't appear to have much presence in some of the territories that I am looking for. I have posted questions on forums, but not had much response. AARGH! Where to go now??

This is an appeal for information!

Can anyone recommend information sources or share experiences of recruiting in the following regions -
South / Latin America (Brazil, Chile, Argentina)
Asia - Pacific (Malaysia, Hing Kong, Singapore)
USA
and while we're at it, we may as well bundle the other European countries in as well?

Ideally job boards, how it works, where to go, can we do it etc? Anyone done it? What's good bad, do's and dont's etc etc.

I am happy to post the information and build a repository for use by others, unless there is one already that I don't know of! (Please tell me!)

I am grateful for any advice, information or any experiences that you can share and please forward this post onwards to maximise the exposure. The more contributors, the better the information!

It's a great opportunity for us and even if we decide that we can't service the business, i would hope that its for a good and genuine reason, rather than declining because we're simply unsure.

Hope all is well and I welcome your comments!

Jonny Hiles
The Hub
www.recruitment-hub.com

Investing in Recruitment

Hello all, just a quick interim message to let you all know what I have been up to and why I haven't blogged in a while.
The market is busy and our ventures have seen huge activity over the past 6 weeks.

The Hub - www.recruitment-hub.com has benefited from the uplift in the market as our partners have been swamped with vacancies. The Hub is a flexible resource and we have been providing a valuable overflow option to our customers with some great results! As always, we are looking for new partners so call if you would like to discuss!

My work with Fusion - www.fusioninvestments.co.uk has generated two new recruitment ventures which we are very excited about. Fusion is a specialist recruitment investment business that I am running as an interim. We invest in start ups and existing recruitment businesses and again, looking for further opportunities so call if you would like to discuss a new venture / Joint Venture or an exit plan.

I will get time to blog in more detail over the next week or so but I was conscious that I hadn't updated in a while. Home life is great by the way!

Hope all is well?

Jonny

www.recruitment-hub.com

Theodore Hiles

Thank you all for your kind messages and wishes for Jojo, Theodore and I. Theodore Hiles arrived on Saturday 30th January weighing in a 8lbs, 10 ounces, a perfect baby boy.

The experience is just magical and despite my protestations about not looking south before the labour, I saw him being born. The labour was straightforward and fairly swift - only 8 hours from waters breaking to arrival, so Jo wasn't too exhausted but the labour wasn't so fast that it was out of control.
Watching Jo go through the pain and effort to produce our son is just the single greatest thing that I will ever witness.

Since the birth, life has been turned on its head. We were warned constantly that we would be tired, but until they arrive home, you cannot believe how tired you actually are. Jo bears the brunt of the sleep deprivation whilst I try and maintain a diurnal life because of work. I am sure that life will settle down at some point but other things which I now notice are a) our previously tidy, modern and slightly minimalist home, has been wrecked!; b) it takes huge amounts of planning and energy to leave home!; c) because we lack the energy and will to go anywhere and spend any money, our bank balance is unnaturally healthy for late in the month!; d) he doesnt like outfits, his pram, his moses basket or some of the other really expensive things that we bought for him!; e) baby clothes with poppers all the way down the front are the easiest and he likes them, he doesnt like things that have to go over his head!; f) always have a towell or something handy to stem the flow for the times that he decides to 'go' when you are mid way through a nappy change! I could go on but the ultiimate lesson is that I must enjoy every day!

I promise not to bore you with constant updates from now on, but as you had been so kind with your interest, messages and wishes, I thought that I should add an entry.

Today, I start my first full week back in the office from paternity and I feel good, having had a good sleep last night. I know that there are a number of messages and emails to which will respond and I am working my way through over the next day or two but if you need to discuss, please give me a call on 0845 117 0 115. As ever check out The Hub Website - http://www.recruitment-hub.com and see our Twitter feed for the latest from us!

Jonny Hiles
The Hub (Recruitment Hub)
http://www.recruitment-hub.com or http://jonnyhub.blogspot.com

Director - IT Recruitment North West

The Hub has been retained by a recruitment plc, that will be launching a new North West based IT Recruitment Business in 2010.

The Group is a recruitment plc with ambitious plans to launch a new IT Recruitment brand in the North West.

The Opportunity
The Group are seeking a Managing Director to shape, launch and build a new IT Recruitment Business. You will be involved right at the outset with naming, branding and designing the business strategy with the assistance of the very successful management team of the plc. The new business will be yours to run and build, using the support and infrastructure of the £120m +recruitment group. Furthermore, you will recruit a team and offices will be provided in a central location. The business will not ne restricted by location.
We are keen to attract the best and this is a salaried role, with equity in the new business.

The Person
You will be a proven IT Recruiter, with an established network in the North West IT market.
You will be ambitious.
You will be entrepreneurial, and have your own ideas about building a successful IT Recruitment Business.
You will lead by example. You will be passionate about IT Recruitment.

You may have already run your own or someone elses business, or be an employee looking for the next step. We are open to ideas!

To apply, send a profile to Jonny Hiles at The Hub to arrange an informal conversation. All communication is treated in strict confidence.

This is a genuine and unique opportunity and we look forward to discussing ideas with you.

More about The Hub @ http://www.recruitment-hub.com
Email me at jonny @ recruitment-hub. com

Pushing Social Media

The necessity for business presence in social media is now commonly accepted and well-documented although a crucial starting point for any business building an online network is still their own website: the shop window to their services. We as a business work hard to demonstrate our grasp of new recruitment technology and practices and having just revamped the website, one of the key additions that has generated comment is the introduction of a Twitter feed.

The Twitter feed serves three purposes - 1) to demonstrate that we are a leading edge recruiter, using cutting edge practices to generate the best available candidates for our partner vacancies and 2) to provide a live news feed for us to advertise vacancies, links, jobs, news etc. 3) To maximise exposure of the brand across multiple channels and increase SEO.

We find this technology hugely successful and Twitter in particular has the potential to become the worlds largest job board. As a business, you either adapt to the new technologies and practices or you fall behind and use the various forms of social media allow you to push the brand and message to an audience at very low cost. Once you have set up the accounts, the feeds and branded them, the ongoing cost should be modest if not free! The key investment is time.

As a regular reader may know, we have been working closely with Sticky Media for some time and they are offering an extremely competitive deal for companies wishing to bring their website up to date and push the brand yet further.

The offer is as follows -

The offer is a Live Twitter or Blog Feed on your web site! (£75 +VAT)*

Leading Edge Recruiter grasping the power of Social Media? Want to prove to your customers that you know what you are doing with Social Media?
Keeping a website fresh and up to date can be a costly process in both time and money; particularly when also juggling Twitter contacts, Blog articles and any other online interaction. We have been busy working with our customers developing a cost effective social media strategy, maximising brand and product exposure across the various media channels.

We have developed a very cost effective product that can be added to an existing website from only £75 +vat, thereby avoiding expensive redevelopment, but still keeping your site bang up to date.

Sticky Media can integrate a live Twitter feed or a Live Blog feed to existing websites for £75. This will update automatically, keeping your website fresh, and using your company web site as the hub of your online network - exactly as it should be. Post all of your vacancies to Twitter - increase traffic – maximise brand awareness.

For an example of a recently completed client project please visit http://www.recruitment-hub.com – each page has a Twitter feed with real time vacancies and update; the 'News' page is automatically populated from the director's blog - keeping news up to date automatically, at minimal effort to the director.

We are only offering this product at this price for a limited number of clients and as a member of the UK Recruitment Directors Group, you qualify for the discount. We will even help you set up a Twitter Account if you haven’t started using one yet!

For further information and to discuss viability, please contact me via mike@stickymediagroup.co.uk or 0845 872 1942.

(£75 +VAT – subject to availability and viability.)


The Sticky Media site is http://www.stickymediagroup.co.uk where you will find further info. I dont often push another companies products, but really feel that this is an excellent offer from a reliable source and they won't be offering the £75 deal for ever!

Jonny Hiles
The Hub - www.recruitment-hub.com

The Hub - The Hub is a network of recruitment specialists utilising a centralised delivery, back office and support function – or hub – hence the name.

Through partnership, The Hub provides the delivery capability, infrastructure & support of a recruitment plc to independent recruiters utilising our significant resources.

The Hub is part of a recruitment plc – one of the largest independent recruitment organisations in the UK with a multi-discipline delivery capability. Browse these pages to learn more about The Hub how we can help you to open up new channels and maximise revenue from your existing business.

400+ Members of the UK Recruitment Directors Group

UK Recruitment Directors

The UK Recruitment Directors Group on Linkedin has today passed the 400 member milestone.
The UK Recruitment Directors Group provides a forum for Directors of UK based Recruitment Businesses to network and share views and news with fellow industry leaders.

The Group now has over 400 Directors, actively participating in discussions on the forums and has seen huge growth in the past couple of months.

Jonny Hiles, founder of the UK Recruitment Directors Group has been thrilled at the success and growth of the group and has ambitious plans to integrate the group into other Hub project and services such as The Recruitment Wave.

More about The UK Recruitment Directors Group can be found at http://www.linkedin.com/groups?homeNewMember=&gid=1962486&trk=

For further information on The Hub, please visit - www.recruitment-hub.com

The Hub's projects are listed on The Hub's projects page -

If you would like to discuss any aspect of the UK Recruitment Directors Group or The Hub, please contact Jonny Hiles on 0845 117 0115

New Site

With the upturn in 2010 and a general need to update what we do, we are redesigning our website. - http://www.recruitment-hub.com

The new site should clearly define what we do and include news and latest updates from our solcial media channels. We also have a projects page for ventures such as Fusion or Recruitment Wave.

The release is a test version which will be live for 24 hours to gather feedback and test links / funtionality etc. I therefore would appreciate your comments / feedback on the site - please mail to jonny@recruitment-hub.com

I have used Sticky Media Group as the designers / developers - www.stickymediagroup.com.

Hope you are all well and enjoying a positive start to 2010?

Jonny Hiles
The Hub
www.recruitment-hub.com

PS. you may need to refresh your browser if you had visited the old site recently. On the new site, there is a picture of a chain on the home page!

PPS. Still no baby news!

J

Fusion

The eagle eyed amongst you and in particular those following a link from Linkedin may have noticed the introduction of Fusion Investments to my profile.

At the outset it is important to state that The Hub is still my focus and the primary business. The Hub is a specialist split fee recruitment brand and for more details please visit www.recruitment-hub.com
The Hub provides a delivery partnership to independent recruitment businesses thereby improving their delivery capability. The Hub is growing as the popularity of split fees grows in the recruitment industry.

Fusion is a specialist investment company, specialising in the recruitment industry and investing in recruiters. Fusion provides funding to start ups and new businesses as well as acquisition of established recruitment agencies.
Fusion is actively looking for new investment / acquisition opportunities.

Fusion is an initiative that I have been involved in for some time but had not accepted a formal role with but I am providing specialist consultancy to them and enjoying it greatly. For more on Fusion, please visit www.fusioninvestments.co.uk

As for everything else - No baby news yet, even though I am asked by everyone I speak with and the market is busy so happy days!

Hope all is well and speak soon!

Jonny

PS. Fusion pays a bounty for successful introductions - for more info please call 01179 370 3077.

J

PPS. I hadnt realised that the silly pic in the last post was so big and visible! Never mind.

New Year = New Job(s)

Happy New Year!
I am sorry that it has taken me until the 12th to write an update and as you sit with bated breath, No, its not because I have been on paternity leave!

As everyone is constantly asking; Joanne is good, a little tired and very much looking forward to having the baby. She has really enjoyed the pregnancy and I am sure will miss being pregnant, but is very excited about the arrival and finding our whether we have a son or a daughter. We have names picked and the baby will arrive in the next 3 weeks or so - watch this space!

I will obviously take some paternity leave, but I shall check emails and colleagues will be able to answer any queries whilst I am away. The main line number is 0845 117 0 115 and the email address is jonny@recruitment-hub.com

I will hopefully get the opportunity to blog again before the baby arrives!

New Year = New Job is a phrase that has been bandied around the industry for years and used in numerous recruitment campaigns. There is undoubtedly sentiment in the statement and January is a very busy period for recruiters.
The weather in 2010 has certainly had an affect on the whole of the UK and the recruitment industry is as affected as any because decision makers have been absent from work or interviewees being unable to attend interviews. A busy IT recruiter that I know had 7 interviewees cancel in one day with a single client and most businesses will have lost revenues because their candidates failed to attend selection.

Most of our staff made it in last week as the majority live locally but all have been refreshed by the Christmas break so are definitely up for it. Activity levels are good and we are the market feels busy with a good supply of candidates.

We are of course looking for new Recruitment Partners and vacancies so if you have had a busy start to 2010 and are struggling to source for all your vacancies, please get in touch!

That's it for now, keep your fingers crossed for us and watch this space!

Jonny

1) The Hub is a split fee recruitment business.
2) Send vacancies that you are unable or struggling to fill to us.
3) We will source candidates and present a short list to you.
4) You brand the candidates and send the shortlist to the client.
5) When the placement is made, we split the fee.

The Hub is part of a £100m + recruitment group and uses their combined delivery capability and infrastructure to deliver applications for our recruitment partners. Our recruitment partners generate the vacancy, we find the candidates, the partner maintains contact with the client, we speak to the candidate and split the fee when the placement is made. If that could be of use, for any vacancies that you struggle with, then please let me know.
Info about The Hub can be found at http://www.recruitment-hub.com