Curry Evening at Nicco!

We had a fantastic social event at Nicco Bar and Restaurant in Derby’s Pride Park back in March. It was an incredible turn out and great chance to catch up with our friends from local businesses.

The food, drink, conversation and laughter made for a wonderful evening and the opportunity to enjoy a face to face social event!

  





 

Q1 2023 – Business Overview

The Bank of England’s recessionary forecasts haven’t transpired BUT increased funding, energy and labour costs have impacted many businesses adversely. Obviously, there are both winners and losers depending on; sector, cash liquidity and how proactive management teams have been in riding the storm. We have sadly seen several well-run companies going into administration as the banks become more risk averse about extending funding arrangements. Local press is reporting business confidence in the East Midlands increased for the second consecutive month during March with many companies “primed for growth” and 33 per cent of firms expecting to increase staff levels over the next year
“We know lots of businesses are planning how to capitalise on the opportunities that may come their way this summer, with planned investment in developing new products and services and building their teams.”

Q1 2023 – Recruitment & Retention Trends
We are a Derby based business and our core area of expertise is financial recruitment in the East Midlands. All our observations are based on conversations with local companies and candidates. Q1 saw an increase in permanent vacancies placed with us of over 15% compared to Q4 2022. The highest % growth has been in Clerical/Ledger and Part Qualified/Newly Qualified vacancies. Financial Controller and Finance Manager vacancies have been broadly stable but with a decline in the number of Finance Director and CFO vacancies.

“We know lots of businesses are planning how to capitalise on the opportunities that may come their way this summer, with planned investment in developing new products and services and building their teams.”

The demand for temporary workers is up almost 25% due to lower candidate numbers and companies backfilling permanent vacancies that are proving increasingly challenging to fill.
Due to record levels of employment, attracting and sourcing top quality candidates has continued to be very challenging with candidates securing multiple offers and substantial counter offers to stay with their current employers. With many organisations offering cost of living salary increases and one-off hardship payments, candidate expectations for their next role are very high. There is a post Covid desire for hybrid/flexible working and organisations who can’t, or will not consider these working arrangements are at a serious disadvantage.

Up to £45k we have seen salaries on average increase by circa 10% in Q1 compared to Q4.
£45k – £75k we have seen salaries on average increase by circa 7% in Q1 compared to Q4.
£75k – £150k we have seen salaries on average increase by circa 5% in Q1 compared to Q4.

Our Overview

Due to the prevalent market conditions, we are even more focussed on candidate attraction and engagement activities with increasing emphasis on face-to-face meetings to build more effective working relationships. Both our candidate and client base are asking for a more consultative approach providing up to date insight and analysis on recruitment and retention trends for the local market that we cover. Consequently, we are investing more time and quality into all parts of the recruitment process in order to achieve the best outcome for both client and candidate. There is no mass move away from hybrid working though we are aware of several organisations looking to bring people back into the office on a more regular basis. In this circumstance, this change is most often supported by the individuals under training contracts who will benefit from more face-to-face interaction. However, such moves have to be carefully managed with a consultative approach or you can run the risk of higher levels of staff attrition.

Our crystal ball at the moment would forecast Q2 2023 continuing to move forward at a similar or accelerated pace as long as we don’t experience any new unexpected macroeconomic shocks.