A multi-sector West Midlands recruitment firm has increased its workforce by 36% to meet growing demand.<\/p>\n
Starting Point Recruitment (SPR), based in Walsall and Birmingham, has taken on 12 new staff this month, increasing its total headcount from 33 to 45.<\/p>\n
SPR said in a statement that the new hires reflect its continued expansion over the last two years as the West Midlands continues to attract significant investment in the life sciences, tech, manufacturing and creative industries.<\/p>\n
In the 12 months to the end of March, SPR placed 1,148 professionals into jobs – a 65.4% increase on the previous financial year when it delivered 694 job starts. The past financial year was SPR\u2019s best performance since its inception in 2002.<\/p>\n
This comes against the backdrop of a bleak UK jobs market. The West Midlands’ latest unemployment rate, from December to February, is 5.5% compared to a national rate of 4.9% for the same period, according to the latest Office for National Statistics data.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite a tough national and regional jobs market, the West Midlands is currently attracting huge investment, and that requires talented people to resource, which is where SPR comes in,\u201d said Professor Paul Cadman, chief executive of SPR.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the skyline of Birmingham, you can see a new Life Sciences Quarter, a new Knowledge Quarter, a new Creative Arts Quarter and a new Sports Quarter visibly taking shape as billions of pounds pour in. We\u2019ve expanded our workforce by more than a third to cater for this growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThere has never been a more exciting time to be right here in this region, a region whose best chapters lie ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Birmingham’s new Sports Quarter alone represents a \u00a33bn investment, forecast to create 8,400 new jobs annually.<\/p>\n
Jamie Naish, executive director at SPR, added: \u201cThere is no substitute for great people, and we\u2019ve just hired 12 to help broaden our client offering as the West Midlands charts a course of strong growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
SPR\u2019s 12 new starters are:<\/p>\n
These new starters will maintain and build on the more than 100 job starts each month that SPR currently handles.<\/p>\n
They will also build the flow of matching top talent into specialist commercial roles across sectors including tech, life sciences and advanced manufacturing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Significant investment into the West Midlands in the life sciences, tech, manufacturing and creative industries is set to boost job opportunities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":273032,"featured_media":2111025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,127684],"coauthors":[137112],"class_list":["post-2111024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","category-recruitment","tag-featured-story","tag-greater-birmingham","tag-staffordshire"],"yoast_head":"\n