As technology has advanced rapidly over the years, the number of avenues for hiring managers to use for their recruitment has dramatically increased. At Meridian, we ensure we explore all of these platforms so to best support our clients. LinkedIn has long established itself as a top channel for recruitment, but clients can find the huge reach and social media elements daunting.  As a company, Meridian utilises LinkedIn as a platform for internal and external recruitment by sharing new roles on our main page, with our recruiters using LinkedIn Recruiter Pro to help in finding the best people to fit our team. It also plays a huge part in our employees’ personal brand strategy as we know that trust is higher in people than in companies themselves. If you’re a hiring manager looking to use LinkedIn as part of our talent attraction strategy, we have put together a list of key points to consider. Keep your business page up to date:Share current events or news from the business.Keep potential candidates and clients up to date with what’s available to them within the business.Ensure all branding is correct.Share job adverts per location where appropriate.Join recruiter/job search groups:Join regional groups to share roles each week and tailor them to specific places.Employee testimonials and advocacy:Hearing from current longstanding employees, having them write up testimonials on their time at Meridian and what has kept them here for such a long time. Even better, short and engaging employee testimonial videos have a higher engagement rate and are perceived as more authentic.Have employees share relevant posts for a wider reach.Keep an up-to-date CRM:A clear and concise way to keep track of relevant job applications and contacts for future roles.Ditch message templates:Make it personal! Ensure your potential candidates are aware of how their experience with the company will be, by personalising messages regarding applications.Stay engaged!Don’t miss out on what could be a perfect candidate by being passive. Follow up all relevant applications and conversations with potential candidates.Many factors contribute towards a successful process of recruitment and utilising various platforms to find the correct candidates is key. LinkedIn is a platform built on professionalism, and finding the right people can be helped by viewing their profile and seeing more of the candidates' previous roles, business capabilities and skills, other than just what is on their CV.If you would like to know how Meridian can support your business with your recruitment needs, reach out today. 

​Job vacancies currently outweigh employment in the UK.For the first time ever in the UK, job vacancies currently outweigh unemployment. According to the BBC, “The unemployment rate fell to 3.7% between January and March, its lowest for almost 50 years, as job openings rose to a new high of 1.3 million with around half a million people being disengaged from the labour market.” The number of workers joining UK payrolls grew by 35,000 between February and March to 29.6 million, but according to the ONS, this was the smallest monthly increase since February last year.With wages also being unable to keep up with the growing rate of inflation and the fast-rising cost of living, filling roles has become more difficult, making the current rate of placements lower than the pre-pandemic level. In this month’s Labour Market Tracker from the REC, there were around 1.69million job adverts being shared across the UK, this is due to a backlog of job ads being shared following the closing of businesses during the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend. ​ Image: BBC via Office for National Statistics.​Four-Day Working Week TrialAcross the UK, a number of companies are trialling a 4-day working week without an impact on pay. Around 70 companies are taking part in the trial, which involves an 80% work week, with 100% pay. This is a pilot programme run by 4 Day Global and is going to run for around 6 months, in what is known as a ‘100-80-100’ system, 100% pay, 80% of the employee’s time, with a promise of 100% of their productivity. Highest Fall in Basic Pay Since 2011According to the Office for National Statistics, wages fell by 1% between December 2021 – February 2022, with wages struggling to keep up with the increasing rate of inflation and cost of living. Public sector workers are deemed most likely to be impacted by the changes, with their wages increasing by only 1.9% compared to the private sector’s 6.2%. The Office for Budget Responsibility recently warned that households will experience the biggest fall in income since records began in 1956, expecting a drop of more than 2.2% this year.

​The latest report on jobs by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and KMPG has confirmed that the UK job market has taken a sustained slowdown in the growth of recruitment activity. Key findingsWhilst May survey data pointed to a further robust increase in hiring activity across the UK, there were signs of a further slowdown in overall growth. Most notably, permanent staff appointments expanded at the softest rate since March 2021, whilst temp billings increased at the slowest rate in 15 months. The candidate shortage once again came into play in May as further deterioration in candidate supply was seen. Underlying data from the Report on Jobs indicates that permanent candidates continued to decline at a faster pace than that seen for temporary workers. Demand for staff continued to rise at a historically sharp pace in May with permanent vacancies continuing to expand at a quicker rate than that of temp roles. Demand for short-term staff increased at the softest pace for five months. With the supply of workers falling further and demand for staff remaining high, recruiters noted sustained upward pressures on rates of starting pay in May, with perm salaries rising at a rapid pace that was among the quickest since the start of this survey in October 1997.​You can download and read the full report here. As the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and socio-political climate continue, it is unsurprising that employers are focussing on retaining their current staff but also making additions to their teams to lessen unemployment levels and aid the growth of the UK labour market. To find out how Meridian can support your business through this uncertainty and beyond, please contact one of our team today.

With leadership being found as the top most important management skill, we wanted to take some time in our new series to speak to Meridian's leaders about their work and the niche environments in which they operate. In this first edition, Meridian's friend, life coach and former employment rights lawyer, Suhail Mirza, interviews Head of Transport & Infrastructure Fred Ewing about transport modelling, climate change and how the work he and his clients are doing today wont be seen during this life time.

On Friday, in a virtual day presented by BBC’s Dan Walker, we were delighted to receive our rankings within the Best Companies UK league tables.This followed our accreditation of 3-stars in the prestigious Best Companies ratings in April– the highest accreditation a company can receive. This meant we were ranked within 4 tables, the Northwest, Southwest, Mid-Sized Company and Recruitment Company.After a tense wait to see where we placed within the country, we were thrilled to place:·        26th in the Northwest·        11th in the Southwest·        17th in the UK Recruitment Sector·        24th in the UK Mid-Sized Companies.​​Meridian’s Head of HR, Sarah Ward said: “It is such an honour for Meridian to receive our 3* Best Companies rating, and then to place so highly within each of the league tables is an incredible reflection of the hard work of the Meridian team.”Best Companies create their league tables each quarter and we are happy to be new additions to some of these league tables; the rest of which we have climbed through the rankings year on year to help businesses to create a ‘happier and healthier workforce’, which we are proud to uphold as a key value at Meridian. Under the leadership of CEO, Derek Skelton, Meridian is continuing to go from strength to strength, with 2021 having been our best year to date.We are very proud to have achieved such an accolade and would like to extend our thanks to the entire Meridian team who filled in the survey and work so hard every day to help us achieve such praise and status across the UK.​

​Meridian Business Support is pleased to confirm the completion of a Management Buyout and the appointment of 11 new shareholders from the Meridian Senior Leadership Team.The MBO was led by Meridian's CEO, Derek Skelton, and Finance Director, Jeanette Barrowcliffe, following Meridian's outstanding performance over the last five years. In particularly, Meridian has thrived in the challenging socio-political climate and had a turnover exceeding £100 million in 2021. About the deal, Meridian's founder, Rod Kavanagh commented:"Meridian's exceptional performance over the last few years has proved that the company is in very capable hands. I am confident in this decision and know that the future of Meridian will be bright".Meridian's new shareholders would like to thank Rod for his dedication to the business for over 32 years.The completion of the deal led the Meridian Senior Leadership Team to invite an additional 100 of its team to take shareholder options, as part of an EMI scheme - a rarity within the recruitment industry - to ensure that the company's future is in the hands of those who have contributed to our recent successes. Commenting on plans for the future, Derek Skelton said:"This seamless deal represents an exciting new chapter for Meridian. We have a world-class culture, as demonstrated in our 2022 Best Companies 3-star accreditation, and the move to include more employees as shareholders and share option holders will only strengthen this as we work together to identify new opportunities and developments for our future. We will continue to work closely with our clients, suppliers and candidates, and guarantee that they will always receive the same high standards of services that they expect."

​We are excited to announce that Meridian Business Support has been awarded a Best Companies 3-star rating – the highest accolade Best Companies offers! After receiving the 2-star accreditation in 2021, our teams have been working even harder together to ensure we have an inclusive and open culture that enables people to thrive and enjoy coming to work. As a result of their brilliance, Meridian has now joined this exclusive list of 3-star rated businesses across the UK. Meridian’s CEO, Derek Skelton commented:“I am always proud of the Meridian family and this rating is testament to determination of each one of them to live and breathe our values, delivering best in class service to our customers. Meridian’s culture is one of the best out there and it is fantastic to have this recognised by Best Companies and join the 3-star elite.”Meridian will soon be able to share our UK wide ranking within the recruitment sector and we are excited to see the business continue to go from strength to strength. ​https://www.b.co.uk/companies/meridian-business-support

​This week marked the start of stress awareness month, a month based around lessening the effects of stress and discovering their causes so issues can be tackled head-on. Stress can be experienced in many different ways, it can help to motivate us to achieve things in our daily life, but too much stress can affect our mood and cause us to feel anxious.Research shows that 74% of the UK felt overwhelmed or unable to cope at some point over the last year following the impact of the pandemic, changes in the ways of working, and the uncertainty of the job market during this period. Although restrictions have now lifted and life is seemingly heading back to some level of normality, the impact of such stresses can be long-lasting. Stress Awareness Month aims to help people pick up on what makes them stressed and address issues head-on before they affect day-to-day life, and now post-pandemic aims to help people feel a sense of normality in the workplace. Stress presents itself in many ways, therefore needs to be dealt with through different means. Throughout this month, we will be looking at the ways in which stress can be reduced in the workplace. We have listed some ways to face stressful situations, whether they be physical such as going for a walk, doing some exercise, or getting a break away from your computer or phone, or mental, such as talking to a friend or colleague about worries you may have, or making sure you have a clear workspace to focus on your tasks for the day.​Here are some tips to help reduce the feelings of stress to get you through a stressful day:Get outdoors for a walk - Fresh air and exercise are both ways of winding down and helping to relieve stress.Take a break! - Getting away from your screen for a short break can help massively. Grab a cuppa with a friend or colleague and take 5 minutes to switch off!Get some exercise - Exercise releases endorphins in the brain to make handling stress that little bit easier.Listen to your favourite music - Make a playlist of your favourite songs and take some time to switch off and relax.Make a list of priorities for the day - tick off each point on the list as they're completed to keep track of what you've achieved throughout the day.Clear space, clear mind - Remove any distractions you may have by having a spring clean. This could be your workspace, one room, or your whole house!Lessen your screen time - Sometimes our phones can be the biggest distraction day-to-day. Try to take some time away from the screen for a little while each day.Talk to a friend or colleague if something is worrying you. Always talk to someone if you’re feeling stressed or anxious and get things off your chest. A problem shared is a problem halved.Set yourself a challenge - focus on something completely new, such as taking up a new hobby or sport to keep your mind active.We are very fortunate at Meridian to have a very supportive team across all of our branches. If you ever find yourself struggling, please reach out to someone you trust, there will always be someone to help. There are also many online resources available such as MIND, MentalHealth.org, and ReThink.https://www.mind.org.uk/https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-health-issues/stress/https://www.rethink.org/advice-and-information/living-with-mental-illness/wellbeing-physical-health/stress-how-to-cope/https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/getting-help

​Saturday 5th March marked the day of our annual Meridian Conference & Awards at the beautiful Carden Park Hotel, sponsored by The Access Group, Brabners, Corinthian, Exchequer Solutions, FluidOne, Gallagher, Altodigital, Aziz Coach Service, Veritas, and W Denis. Each year Meridian brings together the team from across the country to celebrate their hard work and incredible achievements throughout the year including a number of new awards this year following a record year of achievements in 2021.Following an introduction from Meridian CEO, Derek Skelton we had an update on the past 12 months and what an amazing year it was for Meridian, including 33 promotions across the business and an incredible number of job roles being filled. We were delighted to see many awards being presented during our day event including our graduation and financial awards and long service awards; Student of the Year – Charlotte McMeechanCommunity Champion – Samantha BealeLargest Perm Fee – Fred EwingQuality Award for Compliance – Trafford ParkOutstanding Team Contribution – NRCUnsung Hero of the Year – Cathy KendrickMost Improved Branch of the Year – Glasgow Long Service Award - 5 yearsJanet CalthorpeOlivia BodleyLouise KetteringhamDeimante LekuteGemma LakinPaula DragonskaAdam TemmeNicola ThomasSteph SopjesDerek SkeltonAdrian SafferyGary CallowStephen PearsonAnd many more awards, presented by Head of Learning and Development, Jamie Abbott and honorary ‘Professor’ for the day, Derek Skelton. We were delighted to be joined by guest speaker, Roz Savage, the first woman to row solo across the worlds ‘Big 3’ Oceans – The Atlantic, Pacific & Indian Oceans, rowing over 15,000 miles, around 5million oar strokes and spending over 500 days at sea in a rowboat, with injuries along the way, and most disastrously – a broken stereo! Roz is now the holder of 4 Guinness World Records and an MBE for services to fundraising and the environment. Roz addressed the Meridian team on the importance of resilience and perseverance through difficulties, this was proven by 4 members of our team joining Roz on stage ‘rowing’ a mile whilst being splashed by ‘waves’ along the way. One way of getting through the struggles was to ‘begin with the end in mind – your funeral’ and not leave behind any regrets. Roz profoundly stated ‘I want to look back and know I did my best and tried my hardest. I realised I wanted to leave a legacy’ a statement to live by!Following a catch-up at the bar with colleagues and friends from branches across the country, our evening event commenced, with everyone dressed to the nines and celebrating our colleagues once more presented by our esteemed host, Rob Latimer. We presented many of our incredible team members with awards during the evening;Best Newcomer – Carmel BardsleyBest Client Facing Customer Experience – Rebecca AmesBest Candidate Facing Customer Experience – Karen BrownBest Internal Customer Experience – Alan OrmesherSupport Services Department of the Year – Credit ControlManager of the Year – Clariss SkeltonKey Account Manager of the Year – Rob RichardsOnsite Biller of the Year – Danielle AveryTemp Biller of the Year – Colette SmithPerm Biller of the Year – Fred EwingBranch of the Year – Wakefield Next A-Z Branch of the Year – ExeterOnsite of the Year – HelloFreshMeridian Ambassador Awards – Lana Bennett & Danny HardingChief Executives Award – Steph SopjesLong Service Award - 10 YearsPiotr NaroznyNatalie LomaxFrancesca WoodsfordLong Service Award - 20 yearsTom AndrewsCathy KendrickAnton GleaveCath HaslamSteve PittWe also had a special award to present at the end of what was an amazing evening of celebration addition to the Meridian Hall of Fame this year. The Hall of Fame welcomes people who contribute to the foundations of Meridian and uphold our company values, and this year's recipient was our Financial Director, Jeanette Barrowcliffe.The day concluded with dinner and dancing following an exceptional day and a raffle to raise money in aid of Leonard Cheshire. Congratulations to all of our winners and thank you to our sponsors, the AV team, the organisation team and the Carden Park staff for helping us to celebrate in style!

I’m Tom and I have recently started as Labour Co-Ordinator for the North West, Yorkshire and the Midlands, and I’m based on the Mechanical and Engineering team at our Manchester Head Office. A large part of my job is to fill vacancies for clients that need plumbers, electricians, and pipe fitters onsite. I also keep my team informed of who is becoming available and who is currently onsite. Prior to working at Meridian, I went straight from school to playing football full time for Altrincham until I had a knee injury that led me to getting an actual job. From there, I worked as a sales executive before deciding to travel around Europe. I spent two months back home in Avellino, Italy where most of my family are from and after that I travelled around lots of different places including Santorini and Iceland.Shortly after starting at Meridian, I took part in several induction sessions with Head of Learning & Development, Jamie Abbot, where we were also joined by our CEO, Derek Skelton. I have learnt a lot from the sessions with Jamie, and the most important point I have taken away is how much Meridian look after you and they will always be willing to put you through more training if you ever wanted to. The attraction to recruitment came from a financial perspective - money is a key thing for me. If you put hard work in and maintain good relationships, you can make a good career, and earn quite a lot of money! Plus, working for a large company like Meridian can help me to spread my name across the industry. However, my main reason for wanting to work at Meridian was to learn about recruitment, build good relationships with people in the office and to just enjoy being back in work again.​To see how Tom can help you with your next position, contact him at tom.bagnara@meridianbs.co.uk or call 0161 929 3860