Slough – A hub for Business

Slough, located in the county of Berkshire, has undergone significant changes in the past 50 years. In the 1970s, Slough was primarily known as an industrial town, with a focus on manufacturing and technology. However, over the years, the town has undergone a major transformation, and today, it is a vibrant and diverse hub for business, culture, and education.

One of the most significant changes that have taken place in Slough is the development of its infrastructure. The town has undergone a major redevelopment programme, which has led to the construction of new buildings, roads, and public spaces. The Heart of Slough project, which began in 2010, has transformed the town centre, creating new retail spaces, public plazas, and a new library.

Slough has also seen a significant increase in its population over the past few decades, with many people moving to the town for its excellent transport links, proximity to London, and diverse job opportunities.

In terms of education, Slough has also seen significant developments. In 1970, the town had only two comprehensive schools, but today, it boasts a wide range of educational institutions, including private schools, academies, and colleges. This has helped to attract families to the town, and it has also helped to ensure that the local workforce has the necessary skills to support Slough town’s businesses.

The economy of Slough has also shifted significantly over the past few decades. In the 1970s, the town was primarily known for its manufacturing sector, which included companies such as Mars, Black & Decker, and Fiat. Today, the town is home to many global companies and it has become a hub for technology and innovation. The Slough Trading Estate, one of the largest industrial parks in a single private ownership in Europe, has also played a significant role in the town’s economic development.

Slough has undergone a significant transformation over the past 50 years, moving from an industrial town to a diverse and thriving hub for business, education, and culture. The town’s redevelopment programme, population growth, educational developments, economic diversification, and cultural transformation have all contributed to its success, and Slough continues to be an attractive destination for people from all walks of life.

Recruitment in Slough – what has changed

Recruitment practices have undergone a significant shift over the last 100 years, what hasn’t?! But these changes have been primarily due to advances in technology, demographic shifts, and a change in cultural norms. Here are some of the most notable changes we have seen as a recruitment agency working in Slough:

• Technological advances: The advent of the internet and digital technologies has transformed the recruitment process. Employers can now post job vacancies online and receive applications from candidates all over the world. Online job boards, social media, and mobile apps have become the norm, enabling companies to reach a wider pool of candidates and streamline the hiring process.
• Globalisation: The rise of globalisation has had a significant impact on recruitment, with companies increasingly looking beyond their domestic borders to find talent. This has led to an increase in cross-border recruitment, with companies seeking out candidates who have the skills and experience necessary to operate in an international environment.
• Diversity and inclusion: The last few decades have seen a growing emphasis on diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Companies are now actively seeking out a diverse range of candidates and taking steps to eliminate bias in the recruitment process. This has led to the adoption of new practices, such as blind screening, to ensure that all candidates are evaluated fairly.
• Emphasis on soft skills: While technical skills and qualifications remain important, there is now a greater emphasis on soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. As a result, recruitment processes have become more focused on evaluating a candidate’s overall fit with the organisation, rather than simply assessing their technical abilities.
• Shift in employee expectations: The workforce has become more mobile and independent, with an increasing number of workers seeking flexibility and hybrid working. As a result, recruitment practices and employers have had to adapt to meet the needs of staff and the new way many companies are now working. It is more commonplace for companies to offer more flexible working arrangements and alternative forms of employment.

Overall, recruitment practices have evolved significantly over the last century, driven by changes in technology, demographics, and cultural norms. As the workplace continues to evolve, we can expect further changes in the recruitment process in the years to come. As a company we are always looking at ways to adapt to the changing recruitment world. We stay on top of trends, new legislation and standardised practices so that we can provide our clients and candidates the best possible service when recruiting for them or finding them a new job.

If we can help you to recruit for a permanent, temporary or contract employee in Slough or the surrounding areas let us know by contacting us or sending a job brief.

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We are members of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and have been for a VERY long time. So when we were asked to contribute to their Recruitment Matters magazine with a little insight from our MD Joanna Cooper on how we had achieved 100 years in business we jumped at the chance. Here is the interview from Jo, if you do want all the wonderful insights, industry news and support the REC provides on a regular basis you’ll need to sign up.

The basics don’t change

Our business is 100 years old this year, and the fundamentals are still the same as when my grandmother bought it in 1947. The company assets then were a set of index cards with the details of the clients.

It’s who you know

Relationships are the key to everything. In 1947, a successful recruiter would know all the personnel managers in the local employers and, when a promising candidate walked in, they would contact them and say “you need to see this person”. They didn’t need CVs. It was all about the relationship and the client trusting the recruiter to know their business and understand their culture. This is still crucial today – and it’s why recruitment can never be fully automated. Successful recruitment depends on human interaction.

Take the long view…

I’m the third generation of my family to run the company, and we know that it goes back at least to 1922, because we have a letter from 1947 referring to it being established for 25 years. We’re not the oldest recruitment company in the UK, but I think we may be the only one that still has retained its name (it was originally called Bucks and Berks Commercial and Domestic Bureau). Some of our team have been with us over 25 years, our clients and candidates stay with us too – we have placed the grandchildren of former candidates in their first roles.

… but evolve constantly

We’re proud of our long history, but we have survived and grown by continually moving with the times and the market. The fundamental ethos is constant, but everything else evolves.

Find out how we can help your business with matching you with the staff you need when you need them click here

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These checks have undergone several developments and changes over the years. Most recently the flexibility given to accommodate the changes in working practices over the Covid period. A transitional process was introduced that allowed documents to be checked remotely over an online video call. As of 1 October 2022 that flexibility is coming to an end and the law surrounding Right to Work checks changes, make sure you are prepared and don’t get caught out.

What has Changed:

Before an employee commences employment, the employer must do one of the following:

• Complete and in person manual check viewing the original documents in presence of the potential employee.
• Use the Home Office online checking service for non UK residents here
• Check using an accredited provider of Identification Documentation Validation Technology (IDVT/IDSPs)

The government website check list details the process out in 3 clear steps

1. Obtain
2. Check
3. Copy

While it has always been a requirement to obtain, check and keep documents the difference now is that checks via video call will no longer establish a statutory excuse. Furthermore, the storage of such sensitive information needs to be carefully considered and managed.

Why is it important?

Aside from the ethical responsibility on any employer and recruiter in ensuring that the correct right to work checks are made, there is a significant legal obligation too. Employers could face penalties of up to £20,000 if they are found to be employing someone that is not legally allowed to work in the UK. If the employer knows, or ought to know, that the individual does not have the right to work they can also face criminal sanctions.

It is vital that a right to work check is made that meets the Home Office’s requirements, set out here. This will give employers a statutory excuse, the ability to defend themselves, should the employee be later found to not have the right to work. The documentation demonstrating that valid right to work checks have been performed should be kept securely for the duration of the employment and for two years afterwards.

How we can help

As a recruiter of temporary and permanent staff across the Thames Valley we have been reviewing our procedures in anticipation of this change and putting steps in place well ahead of the change date. We have made sure that Bucks and Berks Recruitment and our clients can confidently meet the new legal requirements. We use an accredited provider to run all our checks. Our candidates will not start a temporary booking or go on an interview without having had this check. A process that takes place via an app and is easy to download and navigate for the candidates. All the documentation is kept within the secure portal, so accessible to us, but secure and safe for the candidates.

Let us know if you have any questions or need help with your recruitment plans

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It goes without saying that factors such as technology has played a big role in taking more traditional organisational departments such as HR into a more complex place. As well as technology, there are also other strong influencing factors at play – such as modern legislation on levels of data privacy and protection, stringent requirements regarding information security, and a myriad of additional company policies relating to social media, health and safety, employee wellbeing, maternity and paternity rights, and gender discrimination – to name just a handful.

Developments such as these have transformed the HR industry massively. They’ve also had a knock-on effect on the average employee’s expectations of their employer (in that they’re far higher!), as well as their ability to positively affect staff retention levels.

Here, we look at a couple of the biggest challenges likely to impact HR teams in the year ahead.

Technology and software

We briefly touched on this factor above, but technological developments, including software and the use of AI, are likely to play a role within the average HR department in 2019:

• HR software: No longer confined to just recording and requesting holidays and sick leave, managing employee benefits and professional development records. More advanced features are now appearing, including that of allowing organisations to better recruit, evaluate and analyse potential job candidates – potentially reducing human error or any bias, and bringing with it a new level of ‘transparency’ regarding the hiring process.

Another future use for HR software extends to evaluating work performance in real time; no longer confining the activity to just monthly 1:1 meetings or annual appraisals.

• Chatbots: Those which are integrated within procured HR systems and platforms will become more commonplace, with 2019 only seeing the trend take an upturn in popularity. With a chatbot dealing with employees’ frequently asked questions such as “where can I find the holiday and sickness policy?” and “where are the contact details for medical insurance?”, the rest of HR is freed up to deal with more complex queries and cases – as well as specialised project work.

• Learning and development (L&D): Training of this kind is becoming accessed more and more via portals, and portals which can offer more sophisticated functionality – not just your classic e-learning ‘watch and learn’ modules.

During 2019, we will continue to see a rise in the take up of this kind of software, as HR departments migrate their internal L&D capability and individual employee development records into ‘The Cloud’, and the pressure to keep a workforce happy and satisfied means a requirement for L&D to be of high quality.

The added challenge of an increase in all of these uses of technology is that some HR staff may need a little learning and development of their own in order to get them up to scratch with using features and software – some of which we’ve already mentioned above.

Maintaining policies and procedures

Whilst this isn’t a particular new challenge for HR teams to deal with day-to-day, the level of complexity around keeping a workplace’s digital filing cabinet of corporate ‘rules and regulation’ in order, has grown. Not least due to the sheer number of statutory and recommended policy documents your typical head of HR has to oversee and keep updated these days.

From bog-standard health and safety policies to newer ‘anti-corruption and bribery’ related paperwork, your HR team is likely steeped in dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s – now more than ever.

As well as policies and procedures which are statutory, forward-thinking organisations are now investing in developing and deploying internal regulations with more pragmatic themes.

The rise of social media, for example, has brought the ‘social media usage policy’ well and truly into existence throughout firms up and down the UK.

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Maidenhead is set for a major facelift over the next few years. The town is currently undergoing a £250 million regeneration of its centre. What’s more the completion of the project is set to tie in with the arrival of the much-anticipated Crossrail 1 scheme.

Both of these ambitious projects are scheduled for delivery in 2019. But what do the plans involve and what will they mean for locals in Maidenhead?

Area For Development

The development will span the area between Broadway, King Street and Queen Street. This is set to transform a significant portion of the city centre. It also aims to improve access to The High Street and Nicholson’s Shopping Centre from the train station.

“With Crossrail arriving in 2019, Maidenhead needs an entrance to the town which it can be proud of,” commented Doug Higgins, managing director at Developer London and Aberdeen, when plans were submitted in 2014.

Shops and Offices

The project is set to bring many new shops and restaurants, which should boost commerce and attract new visitors to the town. The development includes a huge 265,000 sq ft of office space providing plenty of Maidenhead job opportunities and 48,000 sq ft of retail space with 375 new parking spaces.
To date, shops and retail outlets in Maidenhead have faced stiff competition from scenic Windsor and Reading, with the Oracle shopping centre. The scheme aims to make the town a shopping and leisure destination in its own right.

Public Areas

The regeneration program is also to feature public spaces including ‘Lantern Circus’, a central plaza where public art installations are to be displayed. This should bring a new vibrancy to the town centre and attract shoppers, diners and other visitors.

Living

The development includes 225 new apartments to occupy the upper levels of three buildings in King Street and Queen Street. These one, two and three bedroom properties are to provide convenient, modern accommodation within easy access of the railway station.

The regeneration and arrival of Crossrail is also predicted to further boost the local property market. The current average house price in Maidenhead is £481,168 whilst flats currently sell for an average of £287,146.

Transport

Excitement is building for the arrival of the Crossrail 1 project. The new service will provide a fast link to central London with a journey time of 43 minutes to Tottenham Court road and 55 minutes to Canary Wharf.

The impact of the new line is expected to be significant for many workers, cutting journey times in half in many cases.

Plans have also been proposed for a new rail link to Heathrow airport from Slough, which could potentially half the current journey time from Maidenhead via The Heathrow connect service from Hayes and Harlington.

In addition to new parking spaces, there will also be around 500 cycle park spaces, to encourage sustainable modes of transport.

A Bright Future for Maidenhead

The project is predicted to boost the local economy and tempt new residents to the area. The addition of shops, restaurants and offices are expected to bring thousands of new job opportunities to the town.

Maidenhead has long been a popular location to live and work and the regeneration looks set to further enhance its appeal.

For more information on job opportunities in Maidenhead, get in touch with a member of the Bucks and Berks team today. We recruit for a variety of positions in in Maidenhead and the surrounding area.

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Despite enthusiastic promotion of remote working and flexible ‘hot desking’ in the business pages, it remains far from commonplace. There are still 81.2% of the working population that regularly commute to a fixed location in the UK. Petrol or train fair costs, seem to rise at a wallet punishing rate and the cost of a commute to work is something that must be considered when taking any job, a high cost commute can make that pay rise so much less significant by the time it reaches your account.

The average motorist travels 18.6 miles a day to get to and from work. With the average car costing around 59.6p per mile to own and run, driving to work costs the UK worker on average £15,496 a year. While a season ticket from Reading to central London will set you back just shy of £5,000.

However, there are other costs to a commute; the cost on health, time, personal wellbeing, and achieving the elusive work life balance. Often the biggest effects on long commutes to work tend to be stress-related health issues, and the impact upon personal relationships and performance at work. As a result of this there has been a shift in the priorities of job hunters. Now the economy is stronger, companies are increasing their workforce, and employees that are unhappy where they are now have the confidence that they can find something better. They are choosing an agency with local expertise because finding something closer to home is being seen as a key part of the package. People are looking to further their career while not sacrificing other personal priorities.

On average we spend over a year of our lives getting to and from the office, a total of 10,634 hours (443 days). Workers in London endure the longest average commute (74.2 minutes) followed by the South-east and East (56.4 and 56 minutes respectively). Those in Wales (41 minutes) and the South-west (44.8 minutes) enjoy the shortest journeys to work. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the worst possible commute for your personal happiness is a journey of 30 minutes or more on a bus. On a global scale, the effects of commuting are only too plain to see, contributing to air pollution, global warming, urban sprawl and traffic congestion.

Long hours of commuting, especially if you’re driving, are associated with high blood pressure, musculoskeletal disorders, increased anger and resentment at work, absenteeism, lateness, and an inability to concentrate and perform to the same standards as those who live in much closer proximity to the workplace.

Coping with the Commute:

What can companies and employees do to help limit the negative effects of the daily commute? Some companies, like Google and Virgin, have realised the damage that long commutes can have and have become pioneers of promoting flexible working locations. Allowing employees to work from home as often as possible. This can reduce the impact caused by the daily grind of getting to and from work. For example, you can produce a document at home and send it via e-mail to the office instantly. You can even hold a meeting with other staff members and clients via video or teleconferencing.

However, for some jobs, there is no escaping the daily commute. Preparation the night before can help. Sorting out clothes and lunches for both the worker who has to commute and any children they might have can often prevent a ‘panic stations’ scenario first thing in the morning. Finding a little time for a family breakfast ‘get together’ has been shown to help a lot in relieving stress, although, for many, that’s not always possible.

If all else fails, and the commute is just not as fun as it used to be it may be time to ‘Cut The Commute’. Across the Thames Valley we are lucky to have a wealth of large organisations that provide a variety of challenging roles, working with exciting products and brands, and plenty of opportunity for career growth. Find your next role in Wokingham, Slough, Bracknell, Maidenhead or Reading area – get in touch with Bucks and Berks Recruitment and see how we can help.

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With Wimbledon 2021 Championships starting we thought we would look at how the top tennis tactics can help you ace your next job interview.

“I really think a champion is defined not by their wins, but how they can recover when they fall.” – Serena Williams
So you’ve done it – you’ve gone through the entire interview process with the confidence that you will finally land the dream job when the phone rings – your application has been declined.
Sound familiar? Frustrating we know but instead of pulling the duvet back over your head, look back at your interview and recognise any potential mistakes you made. Were you prepared enough? Was your experience aligned with the job requirements? Would you have been happy there, was the cultural fit right? Remember that on average, every corporate job opening attracts over 250 CV’s but only 4 to 6 of these people will be called for an interview. If you were one of them, leave the frustration behind and keep on polishing your skills – just like successful tennis players do – in order to win your job-hunt game.

“If you don’t lose you cannot enjoy victories” – Rafael Nadal
While being interviewed for a dream position candidates can feel cautious talking about their weaknesses and failures.
If you happen to be one of them, remember that life is full of ups and downs and they barely have a long-term, negative impact on your professional life. On the contrary, the mistakes you’ve made during your professional journey are a great lesson and you can easily turn them into learning opportunities to enhance your career.

But when it comes to an actual interview, you might notice that uncomfortable feeling you get when you’re being asked to discuss your weaknesses. Don’t worry though – this is a natural reaction. But if you want to maximise your chances of getting hired, it’s a good idea to think about what these might be beforehand and reflect on what you have learnt from them. Just like tennis players reflecting on their failure in a game, address any issues head on and know that you have gained skills you can apply in your next role. We all learn from our mistakes as life goes on.

“I think I am great…therefore I am.” Roger Federer
Confidence in what you can achieve, backed up with the proof you can deliver. When it comes to discussing you being a perfect fit for a company, providing a few real-life scenarios from your experience to-date is key to victory. To impress a hiring manager, make sure you note down the most remarkable facts and statistics. If you work in marketing, this might be, for instance, an increase in conversions from the latest digital campaign after you changed the landing page format or, if working in a HR role, how you implemented a new internal staff portal that improved staff satisfaction scores. Remember that just as in sport, winning is subject to your ability to present your best side by showcasing your skills and expertise. So make sure you’re well prepared and confident in what you do!

Looking for more hints and tips to help you along your recruitment journey? Read our CV & Interview tips to make your CV stand out from the crowd.

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