Empowering Agency Workers

Many recruitment agencies require their temporary and contract workers to be paid via an umbrella firm, but what actually is “umbrella”?  We talk to Rob Crossland who founded one of the UK’s first ever umbrella companies, which continues to be one of the largest and most successful umbrellas in the UK today.  Rob used to be an IT contractor, and in the late 1990’s he was increasingly frustrated with how his pay was being dealt with so he seized the opportunity to use technology to do it better.  In a classic entrepreneurial move he then went about marketing his idea to others in the same situation, and very successfully grew his business from there.

In this episode we talk about what actually is an umbrella (an employer of temps and contractors), how the umbrella model works and what benefits they provide.  The umbrella sector has evolved over the years, and it is important to understand the basics of how a compliant umbrella operates.  We also discuss the important role of recruitment agencies in having a preferred supplier list of vetted umbrellas that they work with.

In our next episode we talk to a specialist tax advisor about how to spot dubious tax avoidance schemes which masquerade as umbrella firms – more essential listening for all agency workers!

We talk to serial entrepreneur Kelly Forrester about resilience in the context of job seekers and how you can keep going and survive rejection.  It’s all about how to be best equipped in the eye of storm, which for job seekers in a pandemic could be simply never receiving feedback or hearing from their many applications.  Kelly shares real hope with the tools and strategies to equip you with the mental resilience needed in today’s jobs crisis.

About Kelly Forrester

Kelly is a Resilience and Growth Leader, she talks about “stuff” most others don’t talk about, essential “stuff”.  She is a strong advocate of entrepreneurship, and is one half of Over the Edge business and entrepreneurship community.  Her business provides development, coaching and mentorship, in Kelly’s words “we kick your butt”.

She is also one half of podcast Entrepreneur Truths podcast which gets under the skin of entrepreneurship, dealing with adversity, inspiring others.  Her podcast digs deep to strip back layers and see what works to nurture success, and how sharing that can help others.

Contact details  

We Are Over the Edge Website

We Are Over the Edge Facebook

In today’s episode I am delighted to chat with Lorna Davidson, CEO at Red WigWam which in her words is the tinder of recruitment – using algorithms to connect and match workers and clients.  Join us for a discussion on finding new ways of working, in particular in relation to online platforms and the gig economy. Hear about how people are using such platforms to try out new things, take control of how, where and when they work and ensure they have an ongoing stable income.  With lots of platforms to choose from, hear how you can ensure that yours is going to treat you properly and is compliant with legal requirements.  We also discuss media perceptions regarding the gig economy, whether it really is precarious and a means of exploitation, and importantly how you can make platform gigs work for you.

About Red Wig Wam

Cross between an agency and a gig platform, uses algorithms to connect (and best match) workers and clients.

Unlike most platforms, Red WigWam employs their workers, they get holiday pay, pension etc.

140k wigwammers and 3500 clients.

WigWammers choose what work they want to do and when.

Wigwammers with the best ratings from clients get paid quickest.

About Lorna Davidson

Serial entrepreneur, background as a client (in retail and product sales, grocery market)

She was unimpressed with various field marketing agencies so launched her own!

She has recruited but not been a “recruiter”

Working principle – people drive success

Resources

Research report: Flexi and Flourishing

Contact

Facebook: redwigwam Instagram: redwigwam LinkedIn: Red WigWam Twitter: @redwigwam YouTube: Red WigWam

Today’s episode is really important as we look at how you can stand out amongst the crowd when applying for jobs. Through discussion with award-winning recruiter Les Berridge, we delve into the mindset of the recruiter and how you can get them to notice your application.  This is clearly a hot topic right now given that there are on average some 200+ applications for every job vacancy in the UK. So make sure you join us for loads of top tips and insights from a career professional who knows exactly what it’s like from the other side of the desk, when having to cope with hundreds of applicants for every role.

About Les Berridge

Les has worked in recruitment throughout his career until his retirement in August.

During his career as a front-line recruiter, Les focussed on interim and contract positions in the technology sector so he has a wealth of significant experience as a recruiter in a fast-paced and demanding environment.

Les holds the highest qualification in recruitment - the Diploma in Recruitment Practice.

Les was consistently one of Gattaca's top performers and in his last full time year produced more revenue than anyone else, winning their award for Consultant of the Year

During his final year, Les became the first person to reach the newly created grade of Principal Consultant.

Les has also been a member of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC*) Technology Executive Committee for the last thirteen years, where has brought about changes to government policy over security clearance, IR35 and immigration.

Les is past Chair of REC’s Technology Executive Committee.

*The REC is the UK’s largest trade body for recruitment professionals and firms, representing 3,300 recruitment businesses and 10,500 individual recruiters.

Resources:

Contact Les on LinkedIn

How to increase your chance of hearing from a recruiter article

Complaints about agencies, but is there more that you can do? article

Join Julia Kermode as she talks to Keith Rosser, Chair of SAFERjobs, about the increasing number of job related scams that are exploiting people currently. If you are looking for work then this is an incredibly important podcast episode for you to listen to. Keith shares his insight and knowledge of what the current job scams are in relation to fake jobs, fake training, ID theft and even CV writing scams.

Some of these scams are very clever and convincing so it is all too easy to be taken in by them. For that reason we also discuss how you can spot a scam vs a genuine opportunity, and how you can best protect yourself against being duped.  Unfortunately job related scams are not new, but they have become much more prevalent recently as these rogues seek to exploit vulnerable people. Trust us, if you are looking for work currently then this is one podcast episode you won’t want to miss.

About Keith Rosser

Founded Reed Screening in 2011, one of the UK’s largest pre-employment vetting businesses. Keith is responsible for all aspects of compliance across the Reed group.

Board Member of the Professional Background Screening Association in Europe.

Sits on ECHO (Employers Co-operating with the Home Office) which is a sub-group of the prime minister’s tackling illegal working forum.

Appointed to the Ministerial Advisory Panel on Future of Work and advises on the UK’s labour market strategy.

Chairs the first cross-government committee on the flexible labour market, supply chains, and worker rights (theascor.org).

Chairs the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) Compliance+ programme.

Received a Commendation Award from the Home Office for services to recruitment.

About SAFERjobs

Founded in 2008 by the Metropolitan Police as part of their business crime initiative.

Now advises 1m job seekers and receives reports totalling some £500k worth of scams annually.

Works closely with BEIS, DWP, Citizens Advice Bureau, Action Fraud, Trading Standards, Crimestoppers, as well as the recruitment industry.

Information provided to SAFERjobs by job seekers leads to a large amount of enforcement action, website take downs, and the removal of fake jobs.

Recent press coverage has included BBC News, Sky News and filming on Rip Off Britain.

Contact details

SAFERjobs website

Twitter @SAFERjobs

In this trailer episode, Julia talks about her background, why she has started this podcast, who it’s for, and the exciting line up of topics that she will be covering. She talks about the increasing number of temporary and agency workers in the UK right now, and how this type of work will be essential for economic recovery. Julia discusses how temporary workers could be at risk of exploitation, the knowledge that the podcast will equip you with and empower you to be successful.