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Written by - Stuart Wallis
Celebrating a 1st Step culture of diversity
At 1st Step, we are proud of our record in employing people based on their ability to do their job and for promoting a diverse workforce. Our latest statistics back up our efforts! Looking at our entire workforce of 50 employees, 60.4% of 1st Step employees are women, some of whom are now 40% of our senior team - almost treble what it was just 4 years ago. In terms of ethnic diversity, employees from a BAME ethnicity now represent 35.4% of our workforce. We believe that our ongoing growth and success is based on our ambition to have people working for us who have the ability to succeed, alongside having a workforce that is as diverse as the communities it represents. It's good to #bea1ststepper
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Written by - Samantha Boreham
Stansted Airport Approved
1st Step Solutions have taken a major step forward in our quest to become one of the leading aviation construction workforce suppliers in the UK by becoming approved airside signatories at Stansted Airport. This means that we can support your business across the airport sector with a security-cleared construction workforce from Labourers to Project Managers. Our Chairman, Simon Cowdrey said "Congratulations to the Heathrow West team on this major achievement." adding "Between Jas and Laila a great deal of effort has gone into processing our application. Which has involved speaking with contractors at Stanstead to gain an understanding of the way they have obtained their status and for us to understand the procedure of working alongside them to achieve a great workforce. Jas Dhunna, Business Manager said, “Credit must go to Laila Haddad for her hard work in getting this over the line.” Adding “Her hard work, dedication and support from myself and Stuart Wallis has secured us this amazing opportunity to provide our services” For more information on working for 1st Step at Stansted, Gatwick or Heathrow Airports, please call us on 01753 708988 or email heathrow@1ststepsolutions.co.uk and speak to Jas or Laila.
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Written by - Samantha Boreham
Careena Dabbs 15 Year Work Anniversary
Friday, 27th September 2019 we celebrated a major anniversary as Careena Dabbs has reached the milestone of 15 years with 1st Step. Careena has been with 1st Step since the very beginning and has become a mainstay of the business reaching the position of Executive Director in 2019, as a valued member of the Board. Simon Cowdrey, 1st Step’s Owner & Chairman, said “Careena is a highly respected and valued part of 1st Step, both internally and with our clients and peers across our business”, adding “She has become an integral part of what we do. From recruitment, advising clients as a business partner or mentoring and coaching colleagues, Careena has helped to shape and deliver 1st Step to be what it is today!” Careena is responsible for key areas in 1st Step, including compliance and support services such as our database as well as managing the London & South East M&E Trades team.
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Written by - Stuart Wallis
Max White - Always in our Thoughts
Saturday 17th August 2019 will mark the four-year anniversary of the passing of our friend and former Managing Director, Max White. Not only did Max join 1st Step on day one back in September 2004 and become a bedrock of what we are about, but he became a close friend and colleague to everyone he worked with – colleagues, clients and industry associates alike. He had an aura of calm and sensibleness that belied his years and instilled confidence in people he met. Many of our current colleagues at 1st Step didn’t meet Max, but every single employee that works for 1st Step understands the impact he had on our business, embedding our business ethics and vision for how we operate as a business. Even though time has passed, his memory has not faded and he is still the talking point of everyday conversations. Max succumb to cancer, after a long and hard battle during which he decided to devote his time to his campaign “Live Life to the Max”, which aimed to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. He thought that whatever life he had left, he wanted to live it the best way he could, alongside his daughter Ellie who he adored. He said that it was as important to understand the work Cancer Research UK do to help people live with cancer as it is to try and find a cure. This is why we will continuously support Live Life to the Max and Cancer Research UK as our charity of choice, to honour his legacy. Many of our 1st Step colleagues continue to follow his mantra of Live Life to the Max, facing their fears such as zip wires, abseils and skydives all in aid of honouring his memory whilst raising vital funds for this most worthy of causes. We ask that you join us in raising a glass to celebrate Max’s life this Saturday, 17th August and take a photo and post it on Instagram with #llttm and tag @1st.step.solutions and @cr_uk for Cancer Research UK. Raising awareness and remembering Max is Live Life to the Max (his was always a Guinness!)
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Written by - Stuart Wallis
Positively bucking the trend
Despite recent monthly recruitment monitoring from KMPG and the REC in the UK reporting an ongoing decrease in the availability of candidates across the permanent and temporary markets, we are embracing the challenge, confident that we have the relationships in place with candidates and clients to make the most of this opportunity. The permanent market shows a decrease in the availability of permanent staff of 25.4%, higher than the 22% in April. In the temporary market, the decrease in availability is showing the same trend, with a 14.4% drop in availability, compared with 12.2% drop in April. 1st Step’s Managing Director, Les Fillery said “Although 1st Step has bucked this trend in the same time period, the latest statistics from KMPG and REC bare out what we have been hearing in our conversations with clients and candidates. Uncertainty in the current economic and political climate is having an impact on the jobs market, both in terms of the availability of candidates and the salary expectations of those looking to move, but with the experience of our team, we are seeing this as a positive challenge.” Average starting salaries for permanent staff have increased further in May, with on average increases being at around 17.8%, whilst the temporary/contractor market has seen pay rates increase by around 18%. This trending scarcity of availability has had a significant impact on the “market rates” for new recruits. Analysing the report, REC Chief Executive Neil Carberry said “The jobs market is still creating opportunities for those looking for work. With vacancies rising and starting salaries going up sharply, it is worth people talking to recruiters about the next step in their career.” Our Associate Director, Davinia Farr believes that this gives more reason for candidates and clients to continue to put their faith in 1st Step. “We have excellent relationships with our clients and candidates alike, with my team having industry knowledge that is second to none. We understand what each stakeholder in the recruitment process is looking for, and never forget the ‘consultant’ part of our job.” Davinia advises that “the key to anyone thinking about a move, is to work with a recruiter that wants to understand you and the kind of business you want to work with or the projects you want to work upon. We can then marry this up with the clients we think are best suited to what you want to do. By maintaining close ties with our clients, we understand better than most their internal culture and values, and what kind of candidates they would want to see. 1st Step is not in the game of mass-CV mailshots, but of cultivating the right opportunities for both parties.”
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Written by - Stuart Wallis
1st Step acquires Wells Brooks Associates
1st Step Solutions Ltd are pleased to announce the acquisition of Wells Brooks Associates Ltd, a leading provider of healthcare recruitment solutions both in the UK and internationally. As part of the acquisition, we welcome their Managing Director, Lara Cameron-Wells and her team who will be working from our Dartford office. Following the acquisition, Les Fillery (Managing Director) said “we have been in discussions with Wells-Brooks for some time, and are happy that we have managed to finalise this purchase. As with any business, diversification and expansion is necessary for growth; bringing Lara and her team into 1st Step allows us to do that. This purchase is a move away from our traditional construction sector but we have confidence in our staff, in our processes and our culture to make this a success”. Lara has a wealth of experience in providing staff both to the NHS and private healthcare sector, whether that is helping to bring nurses to the UK from international partner countries, through to supporting General Practitioners (GPs) as locum doctors. For more information about Wells-Brooks Associates, visit their website www.wells-brooksassociates.com
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Written by - Stuart Wallis
Hayley Completes PTS Training
Congratulations to Hayley Laurance who recently completed and passed her PTS training on 27th March 2019. Managing Director, Les Fillery said "It's a great achievement for Hayley to become PTS qualified, and further demonstrates her ambition to best serve our clients and candidates. Well done, Hayley!"
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Written by - Stuart Wallis
Matthew Williams promoted to Associate Director
The board of directors are pleased to announce that Matthew Williams has been promoted to the role of Associate Director with effect from 10th April 2019. Les Fillery, Managing Director, said “Prior to joining 1st Step Matthew has been in recruitment for 16 years and used his extensive experience to set up and build a presence for us in the South West. During his time with us, Matt has developed his management skills and built an excellent team who continue to provide a first-class service to our clients. Matt leads by example and I’m looking forward to working with him as we continue to develop our core strengths across the business.” Matt’s duties in managing the South West division will continue but he will also assist with the development of our staff and clients across all aspects and divisions of our business. We hope you will join us in congratulating Matt for a fantastic achievement.
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Written by - Stuart Wallis
Mental Health Matters – 1st Step can help you to help your colleagues
At 1st Step, we know that taking care of those around you, supporting them and encouraging people to speak up is important. Talking about mental health is a show of strength, and being prepared for spotting that someone might be suffering mental health issues is a core responsibility for employers. Our Training Manager, Scott Crump has bravely been very open about his progress in dealing with Mental Health, and on his journey to keep progressing and helping others, has become qualified as a Mental Health First Aider. He is now a facilitator, which allows him to deliver Mental Health First Aid courses. You can read below Scott’s very candid blog post about his past issues with mental health, which will help the reader understand how mental health has affected Scott. His aspiration with undertaking the Mental Health First Aid training course, and becoming qualified to deliver the qualifications, is to help others. With 1st Step’s support and backing, he can deliver the Mental Health First Aid Training to our industry. You can contact him for details on the ½ day, 1 day and 2-day Mental Health First Aid courses Scott can offer via scott.crump@1ststepsolutions.co.uk. Although we make no apologies for publicising our ability to offer these courses, the purpose of this posting is not to driving business, but to continue the message that Mental Health Matters! Follow the hashtag #itsnotallphysical on social media and remember it’s better to talk about mental health than bottle it up inside. Here’s Scott’s blog, first published in May 2018. "Many years ago, and unfortunately still today, if you said you had or have any form of mental health concern or need you were probably looked at as being weak and a failure, but this is not true, you have just reached your limit, and different people have different limits. After 23yrs working as a Special Constable, you get to see a few “things”. Some, unfortunately, do stick with you and resurface after many years of being blocked out. Thankfully these have been identified by me and others and the appropriate support from 1st Step and the constabulary are being offered, and the trigger that started it all off – the smell of gone off food…. For some reason the smell of it gave me flashbacks to a house I entered in December 2015, to find the resident had died some 5 days previous through alcoholism, and the smell from inside the house reminded me of something that had gone off. The smell I can deal with but the graphic images that flash into my head of what I saw in the house are something else. These are the nightmares I have and I live with….. But thanks to a very good support councillor and phenomenal supportive Wife & family, I can now start to talk about it. To start with I did feel I had failed myself, my family and colleagues and I did start to go to a very dark place. I had become withdrawn, angry at the smallest of things and I’d be very quick to explode, this is not normally me. But I am on the slow road to recovery……I WILL get through this and I WILL win, this is a fight that I am determined to not let beat me. I can now see Mental Health as the same as Health & Safety, both need to be looked at and the appropriate support needs to be given to those that need and want it. Please do not bury your head in the sand or brush it under a carpet, let’s talk…… #itsnotallphysical"
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Written by - Stuart Wallis
1st Step support apprentices to shape our future and theirs'
1st Step Solutions is proud to be supporting National Apprenticeship week again in 2019. Our Managing Director, Les Fillery recently said "As a business 1st Step has a long-held belief that it is important to support apprenticeships across the industries we serve, which has culminated in us employing apprentices on major infrastructure projects and significant social infrastructure initiatives such as DNRC in Nottinghamshire. We understand our role in promoting the value of apprenticeships for our clients and the wider industry." He added "supporting local education establishments such as Barking & Dagenham College, Havering College and LSEC alongside secondary schools in educating students on the world of work is something has been high on our list of priorities. It was something our former MD, Max White was passionate about and we will continue that legacy on." Shaping Our Future Whilst acknowledging our role externally to the wider industry, Les also reiterated the importance of investing in our own staff through apprenticeships. He said "a lot of people in recruitment join the industry and learn on the job, and there is nothing wrong with that. But there needs to be a clear level of investment in their time and skills to ensure they can reach their potential with the tools they need to do the job. At 1st Step, we are trying to do that via the apprenticeship route to complement the on-the-job training all staff gain along with experience." The apprenticeship programmes for 1st Step are organised and monitored by our HR Manager, Stuart Wallis. At present, we have four apprentices; Nicole Waymont, who is 12 months into an NVQ Level 3 apprenticeship, and we have just started the same qualification through our new provider, Recruitment Juice, for another three apprentices. Stuart said "Nicole is progressing through her apprenticeship and hopes to be completed in 2019. Through our new partnership with Recruitment Juice, we have now started the same process for three other team members; Lee Lewis and Emma Thomas in our Bristol office, and Hayley Laurance in the Rail and Civils division. It is clear to us that through their commitment to the apprenticeship, and our desire to support them with advice, mentoring and guidance, all of our current apprentices can help to shape the future of 1st Step, whilst being an excellent example to those who wish to follow in their shoes." Past Success - Future Leaders Apprentices at 1st Step is not a new thing either. One of our newly promoted Business Managers, Sean Kelly started as an apprentice at 1st Step and he has gone on to grow what is one of our most successful desks. His hard work as an apprentice, which he carried on as a Consultant, has led to his promotion to being a Business Manager with his aims set for higher destinations, something not lost on the Owner & Chairman, Simon Cowdrey. Talking about those taking on the career challenges, Simon said: "There is nothing more pleasing as a business owner than to see people you employ at the beginning of their career go on to grow into ambassadors of your business." He added "I look at my current Directors and see the likes of Sean, Careena Dabbs and Davinia Farr all having carved a career out of being with us, all in different ways. But every single one of them is a shining ambassador for their colleagues across the 1st Step companies in the UK & USA."
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