Below is a guest post by Gary Butterworth of Zeva provides an interesting discussion on the changing relations between agency and umbrella companies.
Where it started…and the rise of compliance…

Historically, agencies chose payment providers solely for financial gain rather than for the benefit of the worker, often without any regard as to the legal niceties involved.

With the advent of Transfer of Debt legislation, agencies are starting to take a greater interest in the workings of the Umbrella and Subcontracting companies. Now it had become a matter of personal risk.

As a company we invested heavily in compliance, and at times wondered if we had backed the wrong horse. But slowly and surely, more and more agencies are endeavouring to ensure that their providers are compliant, knowing that any charges for underpayment in tax, may eventually end up on their doorstep.

Unfortunately there is no kite mark in our industry, and very little guidance is given by the HMRC, or even the REC.  Agencies are struggling to discover just what good practice is, and how to make sure their provider is actually doing what he says he does?

Times are hard in the recruitment industry, but it’s even harder at the moment for the taxman. It isn’t going to take long for him to realise that there is a fix going on, and he isn’t getting all the money he thinks he deserves. In time there will be some high profile cases, and examples will be set.

Many of our customers have sensed this change in the wind and are keen to make sure that they are not the example. We work very closely with our customers, and where in the past they felt safer in ‘not knowing’ now an increasing number sleep better in their beds in the knowledge that proper compliance is not just offered, but can be proven on a day-to-day basis. After all there are not many Umbrella or Subcontracting companies out there that say they are not compliant, so make them prove it!

There are benefits to both the agency and the worker using a company such as ourselves, but only if that company acts within the rules. Step outside these rules, and it just becomes a tax evasion scheme, and ignorance will be no excuse.

In the next couple of years we predict a reduction in the number of providers in our field, with the demise of the less stringent. Non-compliance is not a long term strategy.

Last week I sent out my second news letter to recruiters throughout the UK, a bigger undertaking than one may realise.

Nonetheless it was completed and sent to my current list of 4,000 recruiters, it is amazing how ones contacts grow over the years.

I decided to write the newsletter as I felt that there was a need for a way to recap the weeks news in a format that was more informative by linking to the source of the news and filter out the duplicates. I also wanted a more informative and humorous news items to be included, which can be quickly scanned to see what is of interest. On top of this I receive various news items, which do not necessarily fit well on this blog, hence a need for something a little different.

Obviously there is a lot of news to take in so I have have also collaborated with a couple of my contacts for their knowledge firstly Fiona McKay as an expert on the legal side of recruitment and Sarah Bennett with her expertise as a trainer of recruiters, thereby I hope to give readers a Newsletter with some added depth. I have also enlisted a little help from Andy Headworth with a compilation of blog posts and the humor from The Guru from Personnel Today
If you are interested in keeping up to date with the news that affects our industry, in a format that I think I would describe as a cross between a newspaper and web 2.0 then complete the form embedded here in this article below:

Email Marketing You Can Trust

I am finally getting back into the swing of it after the Xmas break, but each day in I was getting further away from my first post of 2010.

So without further a do I shall start

Last week while I was browsing the stats of Recruitment Views and I could not help notice a banner advert from Jobsite, but what caught my eye was that this was no ordinary advert, it was serving up vacancies related to my last visit to their site, talk about being blown away, it was as if the advert was talking to me!

In some ways I was not surprised, as I am well aware cookies are used, but it is the first time I have noticed them working.

I was fascinated on how this was happening and who was behind it, so I followed the advert back, not to jobsite but to Struq, who have developed this for their client. I then contacted them to find out more.

Although they did not want to give too much away or maybe they are not the greatest communicators, it kind of happens with IT people! They replied with almost a one liner it is all explained here, which of course it was.

This was all fine except it doesn’t lead to a great posts, so after a couple more emails, I have managed to get a slightly better insight into the company. Basically the advert has done a storm for the Jobsite Campaign, more than can be said about Portsmouth FC one could say! The advert has seen a huge improvement in click through rate, making their advertising cost more efficient, which I think says it all.

The technology is all owned and built by Struq. and their technology has 4  core engines, you can find out more about them here says Sam Barnett CEO & Founder.

The adverts are served up, not through google but via their own publisher network, proving Google do not have it all their own way. So it is of no surprise to see them get a mention in the Guardians Top 100 Tech Media Companies and for the Telegraph to say “Innovation like Struq’s is essential to the online industry”, This can only can mean we will see more companies using this technology.

Well another year has gone, which for the Recruitment industry has been particularly tough and I am sure we are hopping for a more prosperous 2010.

For me the year has been mixed with many highs, but loosing my father to cancer will of course be the lowest point.

So what happened during the year for me and recruitment views, well it all started with my first guest speaking role in Ireland for the National Recruitment Federation, which after my most controversial post for the year meant another opportunity as a guest speak at the Guardian, fame was beginning to grow…well that was until I was targeted from America, as public enemy No 1

I suppose one of the biggest changes of the year has been the Twitter phenomenon, which I reluctantly took up only to realise how handy a tool it was, don’t they say “never say never”.

But I think one of the highlights of the year was meeting up with Peter Gold and Andy Hedworth, two of the most influential recruitment bloggers in the UK.

So what is planned for 2010, well I have a couple of things one of which is probably a …… I think I will announce in the New Year, just in case it al goes belly up! Secondly I really need to get back to regular posting.

But in the meantime I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a profitable New Year and as you try to get to work this morning wondering what has happened to this global warming, then maybe you should read this on global cooling by James Delingpole of the Telegraph.

Talk about exasperated, I cannot believe I had to look into Recruitment Views again, as it was crashing virtually every time I went into the admin section of Wordpress.

It is a sure sign my site was hacked again, so I had no choice but to completely wipe it from the server and delete the database, no fun whatsoever!

All passwords are changed and I did a quick check with Googlebot to see if it can see any more references to p**n, and at the moment it appears to have vanished.

With that finally out of the way I could not help but reflect on the time I have managed to waste trying to rid Recruitment Views of its infection, not just in productivity but also the amount of quality time I did not spend with the family. Although my wife is convinced I am in love with the computer, I would have much preferred to have sat on the couch watching Emmerdale Farm with her, than at the computer all night

Also surely these Hackers could be employed, instead of giving us grief. They are obviously talented or has the crisis just meant they needed to generate more income, so some bright spark sets off a virus to earn a few extra quid over Christmas or am I just a cynic!

Well  just maybe I can now get on with doing the job rather than fire fighting, but one thing is for sure these IT bods will be constantly in employment, until someone finds a way to stop computers crashing and viruses spreading, hmm and pigs might fly.

Finally after a couple of attempts Recruitment Views has finally launched its own recruitment consultant job board.

Although it has taken a number of years to find the ideal software package to integrate with this blog or my ability to develop my ability to grasp programming! It was an obvious step considering the thousands of targeted visitors who visit Recruitment Views, at the end of the day the people who read my blog are in fact Recruitment Consultants.

The other question was whether to target just recruitment companies or to include rec2rec agencies, considering the negativity within the industry over some rec2rec agencies. On this point I am still divided and maybe the best way forward is to see how the job board develops. My initial thought was to enable agencies to advertise for free, but given the quality of targeted readership then it seems only fair to charge per vacancy.

What I do hope is that if you are looking for your first step into recruitment or as a experienced recruiter looking to develop your career then jobs.recruitment-views.com is the place to find your ideal position. While at the same time gaining some valuable tips on how to break into the recruitment sector, maybe it is worth reading my thought on “what is a recruitment consultant?” or  how to get into recruitment maybe a good place to start on your search for a new career.

Well it seems that although mypeoplebiz.com may not have a huge amount of vacancies, the ones they do get are being filled and half of which are being filled by a few canny recruiters.

Mind you I cannot blame them, as all the new business has been done, the recruiter just needs to find a candidate and earn their fee. I am sure those recruiters would prefer that I do not mention this small fact, so they can keep it all to themselves. Whatever the case the site has to be ideal for those independent recruiters, who may be finding it a little hard at the moment. It’s also a way to to open the door to major corporates who have a PSL, who wouldn’t normally give you the time of day, a frustration I am only too aware of.

This post may be a little soon after my previous digg at the company, but it proved worth while as Frank Varela was kind enough to show me around, and took the time to point out some of the less obvious functionality.

I am glad he did, because although the site needs more vacancies the company have really made an effort to get the back office functioning superbly, because they have understood what companies and recruitment agencies need.

Probably one of the most frustrating issues for us both is duplicate applications, no longer is there an embarrassment to find out the client has already received the cv from another agency or even the candidate, because you get an immediate response that the CV has already been submitted. This on its own is a huge saving of time for agency and company, a far cry from reading the time stamp on the fax header, sorry for showing my age there!

Another major facet is the ability for the company to control the fee available to the agency, although this can be frustrating it does mean there is no confusion when the candidate is placed, I suppose you could say take it or leave it. Saying that the company have some flexibility as some positions are harder to fill so offer a better rate and visa versa, which has to be a positive.

The site may not have many vacancies as of yet, but at least the vacancies are genuine not duplicates.It also surprises me that recruitment companies have not advertised their own recruitment positions here, when you consider how much they hate using REC2REC companies. At the end of the day it is free to advertise and you only pay on success and it doesn’t need to be via an agency, now where have I heard that before!

While I write this I suddenly realised that it would be a huge benefit to our industry, because I am sure it would be a way to get those companies that do not use recruitment companies starting to see the benefit, as my ex boss said “think of it as a sweet shop come in and have a look around, you never know what you may find”, in the end it really does come down to who is the best candidate for the job.

Although there are more technical aspects of the site, one thing that does appeal to me as a recruitment consultant, if I was looking I think I would prefer to apply direct and get that “golden handshake”, well wouldn’t you….

To be honest the UK recruitment bloggers I know are a great bunch, always willing to help each other. So as Louise launches her UK Blogger of the year, the fighting gloves come off to win this converted accolade.

But before I cast my vote I thought I would check out my own blogroll, to see who is missing and although I do not want to include more to the list and thereby limiting my chances I certainly feel that some of the below are worthy of your vote. A few of which may be under the radar as they focus on their own recruitment sector, which in my humble opinion is what a recruitment blog is all about, well that is if you are still a recruiter of course!

So just a few more to consider are as follows:

careerplayer All about careers and videos
hjafands plain and not the best design, but functional updated regularly and includes their latest vacancies, making sure they get found on Google of course. Mike if you need your blog updating let me know
freshminds talent excellent site well structured and well written
legal recruitment an excellent blog, often gets missed as it is aimed at the legal profession
Mr Resourceful written by Nic Tomlinson of HTS Specialist Recruiters, sorry Nic just noticed you moved your blog, Oh a link to your own company would be a good idea!
Prefio Aimed solely to the property market, although I find it a little confusing in its layout, not very blog looking if you get my meaning
View from a Hill Sue Hill’s recruitment blog, again well written but I am surprised she has no link going from her blog to her website, missed opportunities!
TFPL recruitment blog Recruit in Knowledge and Information, says it all really
The Blunter Headhunter Now I am surprised this one isn’t on the list, as it is one of the more controversial

And the ones who have seemed to have lost their way

Bornto Advise Not written since july

Tag Recruitment blog An example on how it can go wrong 5 posts then that was it!

But of course if you feel I am still worth a vote then please feel free…

Recruitment Juice Press Release

ISSUED 12 NOVEMBER 2009

RECRUITMENT JUICE LTD PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE FIRST EVER ‘JUICE LIVE’ EVENT “BOOST YOUR NEW BUINESS DRIVE” SEMINAR

Recruitment Juice Ltd, leading supplier of innovative DVD training programs to the recruitment industry, is building on their success with the addition to their product portfolio of their first live seminar event.

The event, which will take place on Tuesday 12^th January 2010 in central London, will be presented by Roy Ripper, host of their DVD programs and will focus purely on transforming the way recruiters approach new clients and generate more business – a topic close to many recruiters’ hearts working in today’s market.

“We hope the event will offer a great opportunity for recruiters to network, learn new strategies and techniques and get a massive motivational boost for their new business drive in the New Year. The seminar will be really high-impact and full of energy as we want the delegates rushing back to their desks desperate to use their newly learned skills and get started on new business!” said Roy.

Presenting alongside Roy, will be author and sales motivational speaker Gavin Ingham, who has been well known for over ten years for his inspirational and compelling approach to sales training.

Matt Trott, Director of Recruitment Juice commented, “We are extremely excited to have secured Gavin’s involvement in this event as we know he will bring something truly unique to the program. We are also very proud to have Dan McGuire, Managing Director of Broadbean Technology, hosting the welcome address and delivering some of his entrepreneurial flair to the delegates as he did when he appeared as an ‘expert’ in our second DVD series.”

For full agenda details and further information on the event visit http://www.recruitmentjuice.com/juice_live.htm or call 08700 677 567.

The event is proudly sponsored by JobShop HQ – www.jobshophq.com & Broadbean Technology – www.broadbean.com. Media Partner – UK Recruiter, www.ukrecruiter.co.uk.

For interviews or more information please contact: Dee Parker, 08700 677 567, 07909 644 105, dee@recruitmentjuice.com

I am sitting here looking at mypeoplebiz.com in a kind of amazement really, when you consider they launched back  in May and find that 6 months later they have only 32 vacancies available, tells me they are doing something wrong

OK there may have been some criticism at the time from Sirona, but at the end of the day the concept is fine and is different enough to succeed. If you then consider Ford are offering just under £6,000 as a placement fee to any agency who can find a Inventory Parts Manager, surely that shows there is some potential.

I am thinking someone at the company isn’t selling this service they are just waiting for clients to call them, how difficult is it to say to the HR Manager “How would you like me to stop the 100 of calls a month from recruiters and at the same time never miss a quality candidate” on top of this wouldn’t it stop the problem of duplicate applications?

Correct me if I am wrong, thousands of companies use agencies, they all want to save cost or be seen to use alternative methods to find candidates, then why has mypeoplebiz only got just a dozen or so clients.

A standard recruiter could achieve more than this on his or her own, it cannot be that difficult to sell!

Obviously it will not suit every company, but 32 vacancies I ask you, even I could do a better job.