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Every new employee at Meridian is sent on Company Induction to help them settled in and find out all they need to know about working for Meridian. Our HR advisor Richard is in charge of organising this and he likes to set the new inductees a challenge to break the ice (and because he is an evil genius)! This month the challenge was to take a picture with as many things in it as possible but there were a few rules! Each thing in the photo, which is to be counted, must begin with a different letter of the alphabet... meaning a maximum of 26 things. They must label each thing that they wished to be counted with a “post – it” depicting the letter that it represents Any item/ object/thing used to represent a letter which is used by another inductee will not be counted.... essentially each item will only count towards the total score if it does not appear in anyone else’s picture. Head Office have joined in the madness and this is what they came up with (above) thanks to Ewan for posing! A- Advent Calendar B- Balloon C- Crayons D- Didgeridoo E- Ewan F- Fan G- Gloves H- Highlighter I- Ink Jet Cartridge J- Jellybeans K- Knife L- Lip Balm M- Mogwai N- Nail File O- Orange P- Paracetamol Q- Quality Street R- Ruler S- Scissors T- Tic Tacs U- Umbrella V- Violet Sweets W- Welcome Card X- X-Ray on Phone Y- Yeast Extract Z- Zero Sugar Drink

The five employment law changes happening next month that you need to know about There has been lots in the news recently about the five employment law changes coming into force in April that business owners and employees should be aware of: National Minimum Wage Statutory Sick Pay Pay-slips Pension contributions Tribunal pay-outs Some of the changes coming into play will affect the National Minimal Wage, which is going up. There will also be changes coming to the National Living Wage as well as pay slips. To get a better idea of exactly what is changing and the impact it will have, click here to read the article in full. Jeanette Barrowcliffe, our Finance Director comments: "Early April is always a busy time for UK payroll & HR teams with the application of the new PAYE and NIC allowances along with increases to National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates. For this year though there are additional changes to what needs to be included on the payslips. But the changes this year are nothing compared to what is coming next year - changes due to the Government’s Good Work Plan following the Taylor Review and IR35 changes in the Private Sector. Preparation is key and if you work with a recruitment agency they should be able to guide and help support you through these statuary changes for April 2019 and help prepare you for what is coming in April 2020. If you would like to discuss these statutory changes get in touch..." Please click here to find your local branch.

We were delighted to support our client Iron Mountain in their initiative to ditch plastic and improve the environment site by site. Towards the end of last year, 20 sites had gone plastic free and to date another 12 have joined the initiative. Meridian was able to get involved by providing around 50 reuseable water bottles for our temps to use on the DWP site. ​ The next step for Iron Mountain is to get out into the community and help clean up our beaches and local parks, reducing waste, especially plastic and promoting recycling. More than eight million tonnes of plastic are dumped in our oceans each year 90% of all seabirds have pieces of plastic in their stomachs

As part of Meridian's three-year plan to invest in and improve our branch network, we have moved four branches and given another two a 'mini-makeover' so far this year. The aim of our plan is to make our branches more visible in their locations and improve the experience of our candidates and colleagues. Please click on the branches below for more details Liverpool Grimsby Trafford Park Newport Newcastle upon Tyne Chester

We are delighted to announce that we have chosen leading youth homelessness charity, Centrepoint as our Charity of the Year for 2019. Centrepoint provides accommodation, health support and life skills to get young homeless people back into education, training and employment. To help Centrepoint with its work to transform the lives of the UK’s homeless young people, Meridian will support the charity via funds from dress down days, staff volunteering and various events. In addition, we will offer a day off each quarter for our employees to support or conduct voluntary work for Centrepoint. The partnership was officially launched on Saturday at our Annual Awards Conference, by our CEO, Derek Skelton. Hannah Jones from Centrepoint attended the conference and gave an inspiring talk to our employees about the charity’s work and how they can get involved. To further support the partnership, we are delighted to have donated £24,853 of its Apprenticeship Levy Fund to help provide training and qualifications for Centrepoint staff members, such as housing support workers. Having received this training, they will be able to support young people on their journey from homelessness into a job and a home. Derek Skelton, Chief Executive Meridian said: “We are delighted to be working with Centrepoint as homelessness is an issue very close to our hearts at Meridian. The partnership provides the perfect synergy between the two organisations and offers a range of opportunities, including volunteering, mentoring and fundraising, to support vital work in communities across the UK. It’s great to know we can be closely involved in the charity’s work and help make a real difference.”

Gerard joined Meridian Business Support from a small, specialist white-collar construction firm, where he specialised in placing Estimators with main contractors and developers. Using traditional headhunting techniques, Gerard works with main contractors and developers of various sizes to place white-collar pre-construction, commercial and operations candidates from trainee to director level. Outside work, Gerard enjoys spending time with his young family, socialising and anything to do with football. Click here to contact our Croydon Branch.

Andy Staniforth | Recruitment Consultant Career Background: Prior to starting at Meridian I gained experience in a Candidate/Business development role, this gave me the basis to kick start a career in Recruitment within the South West. Why Recruitment? I enjoy the busy activity of recruitment ensuring that I provide both Clients and Candidates with the best service I can. About me: I am currently serving in the British Army Reserves, after spending some time in the regular Army I decided to leave and start a career in recruitment, whilst still pursuing a military career. I enjoy playing football, climbing and socialising. Let’s talk! If you have short-term or long-term temporary requirements in the office or on the shop floor I would love the opportunity to discuss how I can work with you. Click here to contact our Exeter branch. Email: astaniforth@meridianbs.co.uk | Mobile: 01392 423301

Broadways Stampings Limited consists of two companies, Broadways Stampings and Dyson Diecastings. Both companies are manufacturing businesses based in Bletchley. Dyson Diecastings manufactures parts utilising high pressure diecasting of both Aluminium and Zinc, all parts undergo CNC machining and other secondary operations post casting. Dyson Diecastings employ around 100 staff including temporary labour. Broadways Stampings manufacture pressed steel and aluminium parts using a range of presses from 40 to 800 ton. Many parts undergo secondary operations and assembly on robotised welding cells. Broadways employs close to 200 staff including temporary labour. Across both business we have between 60 and 80 temporary employees. Both businesses rely on temporary labour. Over the past years, we have experienced problems in retaining temporary staff and hence incur the not insignificant cost of continual training of new starters. We were approached by Meridian who suggested they could improve the situation. They attended our site several times and gave several very professional and compelling presentations. Not only did they suggest they could improve the situation but they explained how they planned to do it. We decided to test them by awarding them the Dyson Diecasting contract as this is far smaller than the Broadways Stampings contract and so was less of a risk. We need not have worried. During the first few months of the contract the staff retention improved dramatically and is now well within acceptable levels. Following a long period of evaluation of the Dyson Diecastings contract performance we decided to award Meridian the Broadways Stampings contract, again we have seen vast improvements in staff retention even at the usual times of the year where temporary labour are tempted away by short term higher rates. In a nutshell Meridian have delivered precisely what they suggested they could pre-contract awards. Meridian are a professional and proactive company who tailor their approach to recruitment dependent on the needs of the business. I would have no hesitation in recommending them. Matt Abrahams Group Finance Director .

With Brexit fast approaching on the 29th March 2019, we have created a web page to provide our EU candidates with up to date information on Brexit. The information provided is correct as at January 2019. Although there is still uncertainty around Brexit and what this means for EU citizens we will keep this page updated with any changes. Please click here to access the page.

We're looking to recruit Skilled Mechanical Fitters to support the increased workload in the maintenance, repair and overhaul teams at our prestigious aircraft engineering client based in Yeovil. Immediate starts available, ongoing work. Please click on the links below for more information and to apply: Mechanical Aircraft Fitters - Structural Mechanical Fitters - Aerospace Electrical Aircraft Fitters For more information call 01935 702361 or email francesca.woodsford@agustawestland.com