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A number of people have asked me which is harder, interim or permanent recruitment. After some consideration and with the benefit of twenty years recruitment experience, I can say with certainty it is the former. Interim recruitment is a response to an immediate and often critical need and more often then not it is unplanned. It requires the recruiter to have immediate access to a pool of available talent who have already been pre-screened. The critical nature of assignments requires candidates with the skills and attributes to handle high levels of pressure and to start delivering from day one – there is no learning curve. Permanent recruitment allows time for the recruitment process to run (often many months), time for the candidate to settle in and often offers a broader candidate criteria i.e. select an individual with the potential to deliver.
It is for these reasons that I recently joined Interim Partners as Head of TMT Practice. Having invested heavily in their technology platform and digital media strategy, in my opinion IP now have the best interim recruitment management system in the industry. They are now the largest commercial interim business in the UK. The calibre of their consultants and the depth of their support team have contributed to IP being on the preferred supplier list of some of the UKs top businesses.
With a sustained recovery in the interim market, IP are perfectly positioned to deliver sector beating performance and I am looking forward to playing my part in their success.
Chris Jenkins is Head of TMT Practice at Interim Partners.
You may say that this is not unusual as most Chief Executives would like to grow their business every year but this year it seams different. ln 2010 clients were speaking to me about cost reduction, margin improvement and cash, this year so far it has all been about growth, market share, new revenue streams and acquisition / integration.
It is also encouraging to see the first private equity deal of the year in Support Services with Endless investing in Liberata and the big news in the industry will be about Costain if they are successful in purchasing Mouchel.
I think that we will also see many more high profile bundled deals being won by support services companies from central and local government. This could transform the service offering of the organisations who are bold enough to break into complimentary services.
I would be interested to hear your predictions for 2011.
Do you think that private equity industry should be looking into the support services sector?
Will the government back down from its plans to outsource more services?
Where will the growth in the sector come from, acquisition or organic growth?
Mark Kitchen is Head of Business & Support Services.
It is plain for all to see that Apple and Google are on the up. Google’s share price grew 10% last year whilst Apple’s share price has more than tripled in the past 24 months. Apple have just released record Q1 results this week. Notwithstanding Steve Jobs’ health issues the future looks rosy.
This growth is creating nervousness in certain quarters. Some operators are calling for Apple, Google etc to pay for future network developments to sustain the data hungry services they provide. However it is the growth of their respective operating systems which is the latest cause for concern. Apple’s iOS has grown rapidly but still only accounts for less than 20% of smartphones sold in the third quarter of 2010 whilst Google’s Android has grown from 3.5% a year ago to 25%. Apple’s proprietary OS is destined solely for their own devices whereas Google’s Android is free for all device manufacturers. Nokia’s 40% market share is falling.
As a duopoly position is a real possibility Vodafone, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom have created a panel to monitor this area of the market to identify if there are any unfair tactics.
It will be fascinating to see how the situation develops. Will we see some handsets subsidised to create a broader range of operating systems? Operators will need to avoid anti-competitive practices but perhaps their concerns lie more in who controls the mobile advertising space.
I welcome your thoughts on how you see this area of the market developing.
Steve Blake - Technology, Media & Telecommunications, Interim Partners.
With Christmas fast approaching, I’m curious to hear the views of the interim community as to what is in store for 2011 – will it prove to be another tricky year, or do the manufacturing output figures, ahead of forecast for another consecutive quarter, bode a more prosperous year ahead?
The debate about Public Sector cuts in the media have subsided to an almost inaudible squeak courtesy of the weather, the Euro, and ongoing debate over tuition fees, which also leads me to ponder an earlier headline – UK Manufacturing to Collapse in 2015. Will fee increases exacerbate an already tight skills shortage that could actually presage a collapse, or will they have little if any impact? I’m interested to hear your thoughts.
I digress – the year ahead. 2010 has not been the easiest year for many interim managers I talk to, but there has been a marked improvement in recent weeks and despite low volume for the higher £750+ per day roles, there remains encouraging levels of demand at the £500-600 level. This reflects the same pattern as Q4 2009, although demand is up by 25% for the manufacturing sector. My only concern is that if this trend follows into 2011, we can expect a 37% drop in activity levels looking at statistics for this year, with no real movement until Q2.
I think we all share concern that the Eurozone could cause a fairly major headache later next year, partly because exports could be hit if the Euro crashes and Sterling loses competitiveness, but more likely because it will suck up precious credit reserves, much needed for growth.
The global economic recovery is strengthening, underscored by a glance at the Commodities index (cause for concern in its own right!), driven in the main by continuing growth and appetite for resource in the Asian economies.
Forgive the analogy, but instinct tells me that whilst next year will be more ‘The Ghost of Christmas Present’ than ‘Scrooge”, it remains in my view a pretty tough outlook for interim manufacturing specialists. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on what you expect will be the main drivers for the next year.
Finally, my thanks to all my interim managers and clients. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with you all this year and I look forward to building on our successes to date in 2011 and beyond.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and New Year!
Tom Legard is Head of Manufacturing at Interim Partners.
It seems that there is a new case brought to the courts daily in the smartphone patent wars. A few examples – Nokia is suing Apple, Apple is suing Nokia, Apple and Motorola are suing each other, Oracle are suing Google and Spansion, Gemalto and Nokia are suing Samsung… I could go on…
I wonder if this is promoting or limiting progression/development in fear of litigation regarding existing technology.
Bear in mind today’s makers of smartphones must steer a wary course through patents which have existed for 20-30 years or more and relate to the fundamental usage of a mobile telephone or spectrum. I’ve heard it said that it’s virtually impossible to release a new device without infringing upon these early patents.
Where then does that leave us? I cannot see an end to this as every company will be keen to protect ‘their’ IP and if they generate revenue by the award of damages as a result then so be it.
Another question might be who is paying for all these lawyers fees? Will the consumer ultimately foot the bill?
As always I look forward to your thoughts.
STOP PRESS! SAP has been fined $1.3bn for admitting the downloading of millions of files from Oracle and then selling the software to Oracle’s customers in possibly the largest ever copyright infringement case.
Steve Blake is Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications.
This week some of the broadsheets have stated that the FSA is now understood to be looking at whether board members - including Chief Executive Garvis Snook - understated the scale of ROK’s problems for the benefit of themselves and the company.
With the redundancy figure approaching 3000 my opinion is that the FSA should investigate out of respect to the unemployed workers who will be left without an income. This not withstanding it is clear that mistakes concerning governance were made and the shareholders should be aware of what caused the very sudden loss of their money.
I am interested what the Interim management community think about a potential FSA investigation at ROK, will it add any value to the Support Services Industry?
Mark Kitchen is Head of Business & Support Services at Interim Partners.
You have to laugh, after all the howls of anguish from Labour and the Unions about the cuts announced last week, we’re now told that economic growth over the past six months has now hit 2% - the fastest pace of expansion seen over two consecutive quarters for 10 years!
This was driven by rising activity not only in manufacturing (the largest contributor to this growth), but even Construction – an area we were told that would be consigned to oblivion and cause a double dip! More interesting, this is the first reflection of the Coalition’s period in Government.
So why all the fuss? Why do the Doom Mongers seem to hold sway? The Coalition is arguably not cutting spending – in 2015, spending will still be higher than it is today (ignoring inflation) so why the anguish? In real terms, spending will fall back to 2006/7 levels – is that really cuts? Was that such a period of austerity? When looking at the spending cuts from this perspective, you have to wonder why all the hand wringing and dark talk of a stagnating economy!
What about the argument that these cuts don’t go far enough? Surely, the best stimulus would be tax cuts, or reducing red tape for businesses that would provide a huge shot in the arm for UK Plc’s? Adding 10% to companies energy bills in the name of combating global warming - £1bn a year additional tax – is hugely counter productive, especially given that Manufacturing is leading factor in our economic growth and will bear the brunt?
I would be very interested to hear whether our interim managers feel that the cuts are regressive or progressive, and whether you think they will hit you in the pocket over the coming months? Please share your thoughts with me.
Tom Legard is Head of Manufacturing at Interim Partners.
It is clear after digesting the many articles published after the government spending review that the support services industry is to expect a wave of public sector outsourcing deals in the medium to long term.
Although a recent article published in FM world seems to contradict this theory; “Even with public sector influence, the result is a marginal deterioration in the FM market since mid 2008. The market for outsourced bundled services and “total facilities management” (TFM) was valued at almost £14.2bn in 2009. The market is forecast to stabilise and reach £14.9bn by 2014.” In terms of this quote I am not quite sure how to define the difference between outsourced bundled service and total facilities management, whatever the breakdown is £14.9bn is a very large pie for my clients’ to take a slice of.
In my opinion outsourced bundled services should lead the service offering to the client and include FM as a service line. A great case study for this is Serco who have managed to perfect the art of outsourcing regardless of the service line, this expertise has grown from a maintenance contract that was won in the 1960’s. TFM as an Industry has proven that it is very good at managing an often critical service and is also an expert at transferring the contractual rights of staff using the TUPE process, surely this is a platform that can be extended to contact centres, finance and accounting services, shared service centres etc. The only missing component is service line knowledge and technology – both of which can be hired in initially and perfected.
My question is; Will the major FM companies be able to respond to the governments increasing need to outsource everything that is non core?
Mark Kitchen is Head of Business & Support Services at Interim Partners.
Many will have read the comments made by Professor John Bryson at the RGS conference earlier this month, where he said that a skills shortage threatens the survival of UK manufacturing within the next 5 years. But is this just scaremongering in the face of savage Public Sector spending cuts, or a realistic assessment?
Today, Jaguar have unveiled a World first at the Paris Motor Show. An electric powered supercar capable of speeds over 200mph and unbelievably capable of covering more than 550 miles without needing to be recharged through a plug – the nearest competitors can manage is 100 miles! And guess what? The technology was designed by a British Engineering business based in Shropshire – can it really be possible for the UK to have companies with such advanced engineering teams faced with such dire outcomes?
And what about the skills required for the Aircraft Carrier projects – if BAE Systems have already invested £1bn in the project and have 10,000 people involved, how much have other key suppliers invested, and how many people do they have involved?
I think these predictions are designed to make a point and to caution a Government poised to slash spending in University research budgets. UK manufacturing is now generating more in terms of value than at any since 1966 when manufacturing employment peaked, by focussing on high value, precision engineered products – not something that can have been achieved without a steady flow of new entrants to industry.
What are the views of the interim community specialising in manufacturing and engineering – are you really a dying breed and all set to retire in 2015 along with the designers and manufacturers behind the Jaguar success story and the Aircraft Carrier projects?!
Tom Legard is Head of Manufacturing at Interim Partners.
The media industry has been fascinating to observe and be a part of in 2010. With acquisitions, streamlining, cuts in public sector spending, relocations, new technology, changing business models and plenty of movement of executives at both the top of the broadcasters as well as their key presenters/personnel, it’s been a busy year.
What now? Will there be a period of calm whilst Salford welcomes new inhabitants or will teething problems gnaw away any benefit for such an upheaval?
What of the fate of Project Canvas? It’s past a number of hurdles so far but the objectors continue to rumble and grow in number so it remains up in the air as to whether it will fare any better than Kangaroo.
Content – be it content from the PC/Mac to the TV or phone. This is an area which seems to be technology driven, or perhaps handicapped. How, and on what, will we be viewing content in 12 months time?
I am also excited about the future of ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five. Each has demonstrated their own approach to the market and it will be seen over the next 12 months who will take or lose market share.
And what of 3D TV – a proven concept at the cinema but will it convert to the home?
I am interested in your thoughts on how the media sector will evolve over the coming year on one or all of the above topics. This is not intended to be a formal survey; more a collection of views to discuss, debate and perhaps chuckle about when time proves us we’re right (or oh so wrong)!
Steve Blake is Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications at Interim Partners.
