Review of 2024

If the recruitment market felt tricky and turbulent in the last quarter of 2023, then 2024 has certainly mirrored that across the course of the whole year! 

We have been fortunate to register a steady stream of vacancies across the last 12 months, but that is more a result of 13+ years of hard work in building our reputation across our client base than a reflection of the UK economy and jobs market.

Our experienced team have also been hugely effective at filling the vacancies they have registered, which pays testimony to how competent they are and their knowledge of the market. That does not mean it hasn’t been a challenging year as it has certainly been a struggle at times to secure new business in a market that hasn’t been rich in vacancies. However, we have started working with some new clients in the local area who we have targeted for more than a decade now, so our patience and perseverance has eventually paid off! And I’m pleased to see how well the team have stepped up to demonstrate their recruitment expertise to any new clients who have turned to us to support their hiring.

Our biggest piece of news this year was becoming an Employee Ownership Trust! Towards the end of 2023 I spent a few months researching EOTs and exploring the process, before deciding that it was definitely the right route for myself and the business. Our clients and candidates would not have particularly noticed any changes as our service and operations haven’t been impacted, but our team have started to feel the benefits with an improvement to their pensions, the chance to benefit from a tax-free bonus at the end of each financial year and also contribute to the evolution of the business.  More about our move to becoming an EOT can be read here: https://www.thinksr.com/news/think-becomes-eot/

In February we welcomed our only new starter for the year – Ryan Coleman – who we have trained and moved into a Recruitment Consultant role with some great successes and progress made in the last 6 months or so. We look forward to seeing Ryan continue his journey and make even more inroads across the local area in 2025!

Our long-serving team reached some significant milestones with Kate (10 years), Bobby (7 years), Sophie (6 years), Beth (5 years), Clare (4 years), Izzy (3 years) and Casey (1 year) all celebrating their “Think-versaries”.  We’ve had some great performances from all of the team with both Beth and Sophie having their personal best years for the company!

We continued our support of The Pepper Foundation in 2024 where we sponsored their annual golf day at Berkhamsted Golf Club again.  Our sponsorship ensured that every pound raised on the day went directly into the charity’s pocket and, thanks to some generous attendees, over £9,000 was raised which is a fantastic result! Some of our team were also brave enough to take part in a sponsored Sky-dive which raised a further £3,000 so it was a great year of fundraising. We look forward to sponsoring next year’s golf day and continuing our support of this amazing charity - https://www.pepper.org.uk/

To add some further insight into the “tricky” market we’ve experienced. The volume of vacancies available is definitely lower than previous years across most industries and job roles. Salaries are not rising at previously experienced rates and candidate availability has increased, but roles are still hard to fill and time to hire hasn’t really lowered! This might sound contradictory but higher volumes of applications does not mean quality or relevancy.

We have seen the demand for our temporary services increase over the last 6 months and we currently have a record number of temps working across our client base. It’s a great way to add additional resource during busy periods, to fill gaps during recruitment processes or whilst businesses pause their permanent hiring. 

Although the permanent market has been slower, there appears to be a large percentage of employees currently in employment waiting for the market to turn (see my article on The Great Resignation Mark II -https://www.thinksr.com/news/the-great-resignation-mark-ii/) which could potentially lead to a flood of movement in 2025 if (yes, that’s a big IF!) we see confidence to hire return to employers at some point next year.

There seems to be a conflict of mild optimism Vs wild negativity based around individual thoughts on the Autumn budget. I’m personally hoping that businesses are taking their time to adjust budgets and re-align their strategies and forecasts before Christmas, then executing their plans and returning to some form of normality in terms of hiring plans in early 2025. Deluded? Possibly! Trying to be optimistic? Absolutely!

In the meantime we look to close our 14^th year of trading positively and we are all looking forward to a well-deserved break over the Christmas period. Whatever happens in 2025 our team can be very proud of all that they have achieved and the effort that has been put in to making 2024 another very successful year for Think Specialist Recruitment.

I would like to say a HUGE “Thank You” to our loyal clients who have given us the opportunity to recruit for their businesses this year, and all of the committed and reliable candidates that we have placed into temporary or permanent assignments in 2024.

We are very fortunate to have some amazing relationships and connections who are always quick to help, recommend our services and pass business our way. It is VERY appreciated and means a lot to a small business like us!

A big “well done” to our team for their efforts and contributions across the year. It hasn’t been easy but our results have been very strong so this pays testimony to how hard you all work.

Lastly my thanks and appreciation to my amazing wife and family who are always so supportive and keep me driven and focused.

Here’s hoping 2025 brings some positivity and a return to a more buoyant economy and market!

Have a great Christmas.

Kind regards

Chris

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