22nd February
Are you prepared for what some are describing as 'the largest shake up regarding pensions in the UK ever'? Is your business up to date on all issues around the Pensions Reforms that kick in from October this year including auto-enrolment and what it will mean for you?
Not quite up to date or perhaps you have unanswered questions? - Then please do book a place at our next breakfast seminar taking place in the Maple Room at the Fairfield Halls on Wednesday 7 March from 8.00 until 10.00... and if you feel that another in your organisation should really be attending then please do ask them too. Many delegates already booked are bringing along their payroll person or whoever is responsible for administering their pension schemes to make sure they are up to date.
We will be joined by our expert speaker, David Marlow from Creative Benefits (www.creativebenefits.co.uk), who will be talking us through everything we need to know (please see PDF attachment for more details). We would love to see you there but places will go quickly for this event so please do reply to me directly or fill in the attached booking form and e-mail or fax it back to ensure your place or places are booked.
And remember, these seminars are absolutely free for you to attend. So please do come and join us and find out more about this very important issue!
7th February
At Catherine Johnstone Recruitment we are founding members and strong supporters of a fantastic charity called “Croydon Commitment” – which is comprised of a number of Croydon based businesses who believe that it is only right and proper to come together and put something back into the community that supports us. They do a fantastic job in raising funds for a whole host of worthwhile charitable causes and beneficiaries in the Croydon area...
As part of our ongoing support to the charity, we have signed up to a Charity abseil off an 85ft building in Croydon(!) Taking place on 24th February at Voyager House Croydon, Michelle, Jeremy, Camy and Rosie will be climbing down said 85ft building, using only a piece of rope (ok maybe that’s a slight exaggeration..) all in the name of charity!
To find out more about who Croydon Commitment are and why they are such a great Charity, just click here.
We will keep you updated on how we’re getting on with nerves and our fundraising, and look forward to sharing the experience with you! EEK!
2nd February
Winter 2011 Award Winner - Robina Dalton
Robina is pictured above with Tom Hughes and her line manager Lisa Dinnick..
We are extremely excited to announce that the winner of the CJR Temp of the Season – Winter 2011 award is... Robina Dalton!
A massive congratulations to Robina, who has now been temping for us since the 90’s and received a fabulous (and well deserved) nomination from her current Line Manager...
Robina has been with us for some time now and is a treasured member of the team. Robina can be relied on to work proactively within her role and provides support to our Department.
Recently Robina has been offering support to both our Customer Service and Debt Registration Teams and she has played her part in reducing a backlog of correspondence that had built up over the Christmas period. I have also recently had Robina helping me with a scanning project which will eventually allow us to operate a paperless system. I chose Robina for this as I know she is a diligent and hard working team member, she works well on her own and in a systematic way which is essential for this project.
As well as these skills she is a much loved member of the team, never forgets a birthday, always can be relied upon for chocolate at Easter and just a genuinely nice person.
Robina has also received a certificate, prize and a place in the ‘CJR Temps Hall of Fame’...
5th January
And the winner of our Facebook lucky draw is!...
We've had a great response after announcing that Catherine Johnstone Recruitment is now on Facebook and have had well over a hundred likes in the last week or two so we're really glad that you seem to be enjoying the site!
To celebrate our launch we decided to offer one lucky winner who "liked" our site by the end of New Year's Eve a £50 voucher of their choice! - great to spend in the January sales!
So, today we have put all the names in a hat and picked the lucky winner at random... and the winner is SAM LEWIS!
A huge congratulations to Sam who has chosen to receive a £50 voucher for NEXT!
A massive thank you to everyone who took part and for your feedback on the site and we very much look forward to sharing all things CJR and otherwise with you in 2012!
28th December
Just a reminder that Catherine Johnstone Recruitment is now on Facebook!... and there are only 3 days left before we draw our lucky winner out of the hat to win a £50 voucher of their choice!
We'll be picking someone at random... all you need to do to enter is to "Like" our Facebook page by the end of Saturday 31 December - it couldn't be simpler!
It would be great if you could join us! We're looking forward to hearing your views and comments and to keeping you updated on all things CJR and recruitment related - vacancies, news, tips, market info and local events etc (plus anything else you'd like to see... just let us know!).
To get involved just click on the following link: www.facebook.com/cjrecruitment
Remember, we're also on Twitter (our handle is @CJRecruitment) http://twitter.com/cjrecruitment and also on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/760866?trk=tyah - Feel free to come and follow us...
So, if you'd like to win a £50 shopping voucher to spend on whatever it is that takes your fancy in the January sales just "Like" us by the end of Saturday... we'll announce the winner on Wednesday 4 January!
Lucky liking!
16th December
Come and join Catherine Johnstone Recruitment on Facebook & Twitter!...
We are delighted to let you know that we are now on Facebook and Twitter!... and it would be great if you could join us! We're looking forward to keeping you updated on all things CJR and to discussing all manner of recruitment news, tips, market info and local events with you. We're also keen to hear your views and hope that you'll be able to join in our competitions and polls... There will be something serious and something fun for everyone!
To celebrate, if you 'like' our Facebook page between now and 31st December 2011 you will be entered into our prize draw! The winner will be chosen at random and will receive a £50 voucher of their choice!
We're very excited! To get involved just see the below!..
To join / like us on Facebook click here
To follow us on Twitter (our Twitter handle is @CJRecruitment) click here
If you want to follow us as a company on LinkedIn, click here
See you there!
14th December
9th December
The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) have been monitoring the recent impact of the new Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) - here are some interesting initial stats!...
“To coincide with AWR Implementation in October the REC launched 'AWR Monitor' which collates monthly data from REC Members and their clients.
This information provides a monthly snapshot of how the Regulations are impacting; it will help us to share your experiences; adapt our support services and provide data to take back to Government.
The first edition of the data collected shows:
- Demand for temporary staff remained relatively strong. Temporary/contract staff billings increased in October, with the pace of growth up on the previous month.
- Strong demand for temporary/ contract staff in engineering/construction, blue collar, IT & computing and secretarial/clerical, significant increase in demand for temporary and locum nursing/medical/care staff.
- 82% of employers were planning to maintain or increase the number of temporary staff in both the short and longer term.
- Only 3% of employers are planning to greatly decrease their use of agency staff over the coming three months.
- 73% of the public believe flexible working has a positive effect on work/life balance as well as on family life.
- 41% of the British public has spent some of their career as a flexible worker and that 84% agree that more needs to be done to use flexible working as a bridge into employment.
As well as continuing to track hiring intentions and actual placements, the REC will continue to drive and monitor research on the value of temporary and contract work from both an employer and worker perspective. The 1st edition of results are now available to download through AWR Advisor. Click here for more information.”
16th November
Christmas is fast approaching!... (just 39 "sleeps" to go to exact!... And to continue that theme, it's just 28 "sleeps" until the next of our well-received Employment Law Breakfast Seminars, taking place on Wednesday 14 December at Fairfield Halls - 8.00 a.m. until 10.00 a.m. in the Maple Room.
We're really hoping you can join us for our festive seminar! This time, at popular request, we will be focusing on having a TUPE Update and we are delighted to have Andy Knorpel and Sarah Brockhurst of ASB Law back with us to talk through the main requirements of the TUPE Regulations as well as providing us with an update on the main case law developments over the last year or so in this area. As always, Andy and Sarah will focus on those cases which are likely to affect you and your business on a day-to-day basis.
We've had some great feedback on our previous seminars! - over 93% rate the quality of them consistently as either "Good" or "Excellent" and over 98% stated that they would be happy to recommend them to others!
As usual, a flyer and booking form is attached to this e-mail and we look forward to receiving completed booking forms by e-mail or fax as soon as possible. We allow for 2 people per company so if you have a colleague that you think would be interested in attending then do please forward this to them - we're always delighted to welcome new faces!
These events do prove to be very popular and it would be a shame to miss out so do please reply ASAP to guarantee yourself a place and we'll look forward to seeing you for coffee, breakfast rolls, pastries (and no doubt a mince pie or two!) at what is sure to be a great event!
To find out how to book your place, just click here.
31st October 2011
Hurrah! According to Reed.co.uk, job opportunities hit an eight month high!
October figures: Job opportunities bounce back and hit eight month high
Figures released for October show overall employer demand for new workers bounced back, giving a Reed Job Index reading of 129.
Job demand
In October, the number of job opportunities across the UK experienced their biggest month-on-month increase in nearly two years.
Impressive increases were seen across a range of sectors, including IT, Marketing, Accountancy and Sales. Demand in the Public Sector remained low, but is up nine points from the previous month to read 66.
Overall, demand has risen 29 per cent since December 2009, when the Reed Job Index baseline was set at 100.
Salaries
Salaries for new jobs stayed steady in October to give an overall Reed Salary Index reading of 97.
Salaries on offer increased across a range of sectors, including Leisure & Tourism (102) and Retail (116).
Regions
Demand for new staff increased across all 12 UK regions analysed in October.
The number of new jobs advertised in London rose by 10 index points compared with September to reach an index of 135, falling just short of February’s record high.
A really interesting read, download their full October job index here.
26th October 2011
Autumn 2011 Award Winner - Fiona Assaly
We've been blown away by both the number and quality of nominations we have received for our Temp of the Season – Autumn 2011 award! A big thank you to everyone who nominated temps, it seems they are all doing a fantastic job and we are delighted to hear about all of their successes within organisations all around Croydon and beyond.
This season's winner is!...
We are extremely excited to announce that the winner of the CJR Temp of the Season – Autumn 2011 award is... Fiona Assaly!
A massive congratulations to Fiona, who received no less than 3 nominations from a variety of managers including...
“We have had many excellent temps from you but the standout for me is Fiona. Reliable, calm, very efficient, flexible and a really good team member. I think the example of her being at work during the heavy snow, where many of our permanent were not, is a good example of her contributions but there are many more. Everyone here holds her in the highest regard."
"Fiona is completely unflappable. Efficient and a complete professional she's always ready to pick up a new challenge. can't manage without her!"
Fiona has received a certificate, prize and a place in the ‘CJR Temps Hall of Fame’...
Many congratulations to Fiona, and we look forward to receiving the nominees for the Winter award later this year.
30th September 2011
Catherine Johnstone Recruitment - Autumn Temp Award - Nominations!
Here at Catherine Johnstone Recruitment we understand the value of a hardworking, loyal and talented temporary worker and we seek to recognise and reward those that demonstrate true professionalism, delivering a fantastic service to our many clients. Our Seasonal Temp Awards are designed to do just that and the four winners will then be put in the mix to win the coveted Catherine Johnstone Recruitment Temp Of The Year Award!
But we need your help!..
In order for us to be able to decide who the winners will be, we need to hear from you with your nominations and feedback on the best temps that we have supplied to you... those that stand out as being worth their weight in gold! You can send us your nominations by return e-mail or just pick up the phone to one of the Temps Consultants here at CJR - 020 8680 5777. Winners of the award will receive a certificate and prize and will be featured on our website and Facebook page. We would love to come along and take a celebratory picture with you at your offices as well so you too can benefit from any PR exposure.
Please do take just 5 minutes to let us know your nomination and what it was that made you nominate them - they can't win without your help! All nominations for the Autumn Temp Award must be received by October 14th so we can announce the winner the following week!
Thank you in advance for your nominations and for helping us to recognise the best of the best - it is much appreciated!
30th August 2011
The Bank of England have published their latest Overview of Inflation Report:
"CPI inflation remained well above the 2% target and output grew sluggishly. The recovery in global
activity continued, although the pace of growth slowed and vulnerabilities, especially within the
euro area, increased.
In the United Kingdom, the squeeze in households’ real incomes is likely to
continue to weigh on domestic demand, especially over the next year or so. But expansionary
monetary policy, prospective growth in global demand and the current level of sterling should mean
that, after some near-term weakness, GDP growth gradually picks up"
click here to view and download the whole report.
26th August 2011
*** STOP PRESS FROM CJR! *** - New vacancies in Financial Services - Do you know anyone?
We have a number of URGENT requirements for companies in the Reigate/Redhill area and are looking for people who are really keen to work in the Financial Services sector! If you know someone who might be interested please read on!...
The roles we have on are a mixture of administration, customer service and (soft) sales based positions and we need people immediately with the following experience who are looking for a great start and career progression in Financial Services:
Recent graduates with up to 1 years work experience, ideally in Financial Services. Get up and go attitude, excellent communication and organisational skills as well as good attention to detail - probably someone who does that little bit extra outside of work/studies… the sort of person who has been travelling the world, undertaking extra voluntary work and going above and beyond is the type of person we’re looking for.
Candidates with at least 2 years recent pensions/mortgage experience… attitude will be as above and we need people who are keen to progress and give it their all. Spark, energy and ambition are important!
If this sounds like someone you know (or indeed yourself!) then do please see our Featured Jobs page of the website. There is more info on a couple of the roles there and you can apply directly to us so please also forward let anyone you think might be interested.
