HR & Finance Newsletter

Christmas 2019

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Welcome

Happy Christmas and welcome to the final Ashley Kate HR & Finance newsletter of 2019.

As we head towards Christmas how will we review 2019? Has it been a year of inconsistency due to uncertainty or a year of progress and development? With a new government being elected in December there is already a general feeling of optimism as we move into 2020. Will the next 12 months see a period of positive change within industry across the UK? We will wait and see.

Whilst 2019 has been a challenging year, we have enjoyed successes at Ashley Kate HR & Finance, expanding both our Finance and HR teams. We’re focused on utilising our experienced managers and consultants to support and nurture the new talent we have brought on board, and we are proud of how our new consultants are developing.

It has been wonderful to see the progress of our junior consultants, who under the wing of our experienced team, have flourished. Like all industries, recruitment is not immune to talent shortages and our strategy to “grow our own” and upskill people from a variety of backgrounds has been incredibly successful putting us in a great position heading into 2020.

We want to take this opportunity to wish all our candidates and clients a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year and thank you all for your continued support from all the team at Ashley Kate HR & Finance.

The Ashley Kate HR & Finance Team

Head Office – 0115 9223000

Email – solutions@ashleykatehr.com

Ashley Kate Events

Event Round Up

We are delighted to have hosted numerous fantastic events throughout 2019 with Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP.

Our HR Directors Boardroom events have covered a whole variety of key topics and have stimulated discussion and challenge amongst senior HR professionals across the country. What is particularly refreshing about these events is that these are current HR Directors or ex HR Directors who are willing to share their journeys and importantly their learnings from these. It is rare to have such an honest and open insight into the heart of an organisation’s HR focuses. One of particular note was the discussion led by Tony Cooke, HR VP Northern Europe Adidas on Diversity and Inclusion, which was also very insightful and humorous!

Topics covered in 2019 included:

Can we solve the gender issue – Ria Bailes, Group People and Change Director One Housing
Diversity and Inclusion – Tony Cooke, Human Resources Director North Europe at Adidas Group
Flexible Working, Work happens in Brains not offices – Ruth Gawthorpe, CEO, Smart Working Revolution

Summaries of these discussions are available on our website

As always, Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP has provided us with excellent Employment Law updates covering all recent case law, The Good Work Plan, Ethnicity Pay Reporting and IR35 to name a few. It has been a difficult task this year with so much uncertainty, but the areas that have been covered are very likely to come into play. Our advice would be to book on early next year as we will have more clarity on the way forward, and there is likely to be a lot of change.

Summary from 2019

I love attending these events each year. Please never change these!

Case studies were brilliant with case law incorporated.

The session was very useful and informative and provided a good summary.

Great presentators, very clear and informative!

We are delighted to have hosted over 400 clients and candidates at these events across the country in 2019 and with feedback averaging at 9.7 out of 10 we know that these were very well received.

Please follow this link to the latest ebrief from Eversheds Sutherland which highlights the General Election 2019 – what are the parties saying about key issues on employment, equality, Brexit and immigration? The key messages from the parties and what you could be facing next year.

This briefing summarises the key promises made in areas that will be of interest to organisations in relation to:

As next year will undoubtedly see many new initiatives, Eversheds Sutherland are looking to give you a head start by providing a course on the new IR35 rules (from April 2020) and when, and to whom, they apply. This will take place in various locations on various dates in January and February 2020. If you are interested in attending please click here.

Upcoming 2020 Events

HR Directors Boardroom events:
Thursday 5th March – Nottingham
Wednesday 15th March – Leeds
Thursday 2nd April – London
Thursday 30th April – Birmingham

Employment Law events:
Wednesday 13th May – Manchester
Thursday 4th June – Cambridge
Wednesday 17th June – London

If you would like to attend one of these events then please email solutions@ashleykatehr.com or call us on 0115 922 3000.

Guest Articles

The HR and Payroll Apprenticeships - Guest Article by Ian Holloway

Employers struggle to find talent, as there is either not enough new blood...read more...
Don’t like the Annual Appraisal? Make it Redundant - Guest Article by Ian Thompson

Would this approach overcome the flaws in the annual appraisal process?...read more...
Managing Difficult Conversations - Guest Article by Sarah Darbyshire

The most common concerns I come across are around probationary periods...read more...

Exciting Developments

Our new Head of Ashley Kate HR & Finance

I am delighted to have joined Ashley Kate HR & Finance at such an exciting time of change and development as we head into 2020. Knowing the outstanding reputation of our HR brand that has been one of the most recognised in the UK market over the past 18 years, I will be using my knowledge and experience towards developing a Finance business to be a true equal partner at Ashley Kate.

Finance will concentrate on senior management & leaderships positions along with core finance support roles. This will include all levels of accounting transactions (accounts payable/receivable, sales/general/purchase ledger, payroll, and credit control) through to Financial/Management Accountants and Analysts, Finance Manager, Financial Controller, Finance Director and CFO. Our aim is to add commercial value to our clients and candidates at all levels, supporting our candidates through their career and being a key advisor on talent for the clients we represent.

My overall focus will be working with the management team to expand our UK wide capabilities within our specialist areas of HR & Finance. Ensuring that I am personally building client and candidate relationships, increasing our brand recognition via events, marketing and social media and driving all aspects of performance.

In my 20 year career within the recruitment industry I have managed and grown teams prominently within accounting & finance and also business transformation and change. HR has always been a key part of the recruitment processes and I have built strong relationships within this profession.

My experience has allowed me the opportunity of making placements in London, across the Midlands & North UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the Middle East. I am confident that I will be able to enhance the high standards adopted by our business and grow the reputation of Ashley Kate HR & Finance as the ‘Recruiter of Choice’.

No Single-Use Plastic Week

In November Nicholas Associates Group took part in Single-Use Plastic Free week which began with our Group rolling out reusable bottles which have been a huge success throughout the business – this has not only increased how much water we all drink but has reduced our Single-Use plastic usage to virtually 0!

Nicholas Associates Group created an internal and external campaign with tips on how to reduce our Single-Use plastic usage. There was a series of facts to go alongside this with the aim to educate on what is classed as a Single-Use plastic and what impact it is having on our planet.

Here are some tips to take away;

Vitamins are vital for a healthy body and mind. Ditch the plastic packaged vitamins – they may be helping you but not helping the environment. Try Vegum Multivitamins that come in plastic-free eco-friendly cardboard packaging.
Straws have been banned in a few countries already but even some paper-based straws still aren’t widely recycled. Pick reusable metal straws. There are a shocking 8.3 billion plastic straws on shorelines around the world.
Pets – the most popular pet owned in the UK is a dog. Something you expect when you take your dog for walks is picking up its poo. The amount of plastic bags that go directly into landfill is outrageous. Next time you pick up some more bags try these.

By simply changing one little habit, you could change how much pollution we are creating and therefore SAVE THE PLANET!

Latest HR & Finance Vacancies

Hot Jobs!

Operations Manager (Payments) – London – £50K – Permanent

HR Manager – London – £55K-£65K – Permanent

Reward Manager – London – £65K-£75K – Permanent

HR Manager – Croydon – £45K-£50K – Permanent

HR Business Partner – Newbury – £40K-£50K – Permanent

Pension Specialist – Leicester – £25K-£30K – Temporary

Finance Manager – Lichfield – £50,000 – Temporary

Salary & Benefits Guide 2020

And finally, we are after your help!

Every year Ashley Kate HR & Finance produce our well-respected HR Salary and Benefits Guide, in to make this guide as informative as possible we utilise data from thousands of our candidates and clients. If you haven’t already, could you please complete the short survey below and as a thank you, we will send you a free copy in the new year.

Click here to complete the HR survey. Be aware the deadline for this survey is 10th January.

In addition, we are delighted to produce our first Finance Salary and Benefits Guide in 2020. Again, we would appreciate the support of all our Finance clients and candidates to complete the survey in return for this informative guide.

Click here to complete the Finance survey. Be aware the deadline for this survey is 10th January.

A Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2020!
From all of us at Ashley Kate HR and Finance.

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Our teams are specialists in their field, supporting apprentice and graduate placements, flexible workers, quality permanent recruitment, executive search and innovative L&D and software consultancy. Click below to visit our company websites.

The HR and Payroll Apprenticeships - Guest Article by Ian Holloway

Don’t like the Annual Appraisal? Make it Redundant - Guest Article by Ian Thompson

Managing Difficult Conversations - Guest Article by Sarah Darbyshire

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