Insights

If you are on the hunt for a new job – you definitely need to make use of LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a professional social media platform and most people have a presence on it – so it is a powerful resource for finding a new job. LinkedIn is free, unless you want a premier account, […]

Do you find that more candidates are rejecting offers than accepting them? The recruitment process can be highly time consuming, even if you use a recruitment agency to find candidates. Interviews take up a lot of time out of your working day and it can be extremely disheartening when you find the perfect talent, only […]

The mere anticipation of an interview can make anyone nervous, but what do you do if you are struggling to get any information from the candidate? Interviews like this can be awkward for both parties, but it is important for interviewers to know how to react in these situations, so they can get the best […]

Most managers don’t particularly enjoy having to confront an employee about issues they may be having, but if an employee is underperforming – it is time to take action and find out why. If these situations are left without action, they can quite easily become worse so it is important to deal with it quickly […]

Great leadership depends upon our level of self-awareness, our willingness to learn and our acceptance that our actions and attitude influence everyone around us. When we assume a leadership role, all of our behaviour counts. Our ability to recognise and develop the qualities we naturally possess and a willingness to develop and improve upon those […]

Headhunters, in simple terms, are recruiters – but not all recruiters are headhunters. Another term for what headhunters do is “Executive Searching” and this is it in a nutshell – they search for the ideal candidates at executive and senior management level. But they don’t just match people to companies; they match companies to people […]

A specialist recruiter can be hugely beneficial to your business. It saves you the time and hassle of sourcing candidates yourself and of course, you get the experts who know how to find the very best talent, or at least they should! Many specialist recruiters claim to be the best, but how do you know […]

Technology has changed many aspects of our lives, and it’s a process that doesn’t stand still. The latest sector to feel the heat of the technology revolution is manufacturing. What is known as ‘Industry 4.0’ is all about creating smart factories where IT systems monitor physical processes and are able to make decisions without human […]

Hiring the wrong person for a job is not only financially expensive but also a total waste of time. HR hours are lost on advertising and interviewing, not to mention the training investment which is inevitably lost when the new employee is swiftly shown the door. Trigger the process all over again and at best […]

Most of us know the hard and fast rule: never accept a counter offer. We may also be aware of the statistic warning us that 80 percent of those who accept a counter offer will leave the company within six months. But do we understand why? We explore the simple truths waiting to be discovered […]

Employer branding is not just about graphics and logos, it is about the image a company portrays and the experience customers have. In a competitive market, it is imperative for businesses to have a strong brand, especially when it comes to recruiting talented individuals into the business. Your employer branding is how candidates perceive you […]

The next time your phone rings and a recruitment agency is on the other end; think carefully before you hit that disconnect button! Instead of considering it a nuisance call, think about the potential benefits it could offer you. Whether or not you are actively looking for a new role, building a good relationship with […]

The engineering and manufacturing sectors are notoriously challenging sectors to find talented staff for and this is why many companies enlist the support of recruitment specialists. You are spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing a recruiter to work with, but rather than having a list of different options, it is advisable to work […]

Every business, in every industry around the world will at one time or another, lose good staff. Whether it is for personal or professional reasons, losing a talented employee can be difficult and so can filling that position with someone equally talented. This can cost a business both time and money while they search for […]

One of the main pressures bearing down on organisations around the world is satisfying the constant demand for talented staff. It’s unrealistic to expect the most talented candidates to be looking for a new role at the same time you are hiring. Often the most talented candidates are happily engaged in employment elsewhere. We call […]

When you recruit a new employee into your business, there is never any certainty that they will be there for the long term, no matter what they may tell you during their interview. Losing a good member of staff can cause unrest within the business and can also lead to a loss of projects, if […]

After the recession, employers had their choice of candidates and could afford to offer lower salaries while still retaining staff. However, there has been quite a dramatic switch in a relatively short space of time and it is now very much a candidate market, especially in certain industries. This means that employers need to focus […]

The first thing to realise about poaching talent from competitors – is that it’s not wrong! Business is business and much like you wouldn’t have a second thought about taking a client from a competitor, you should think the same way about talent. This is particularly prevalent in the engineering sector, where there is a […]

Recruiting talented individuals into your organisation can be challenging enough, but you also have the additional headache of trying to keep them there. As it is a candidate’s market, talented individuals have a choice and many will be open to the possibility of moving jobs, if the terms are appealing enough. Retention is one of […]

When it comes to hiring new employees, it is not enough just to recruit based on an individual’s experience and skills, you also need to ensure they will be productive. Of course, this is never guaranteed but there are ways to suss out the intentions of candidates and whether they will get on with the […]

When it comes to recruitment, many companies leave it to the last minute and this can leave them with unrealistic expectations. The recruitment process can be a lengthy one and if you really want to ensure you get the right person to fill your role, it is important to take time over the process. Of […]

The hiring process is not just about finding a candidate with the right skills and experience for the job, it is also about ensuring they fit in with the culture of the organisation. If the culture fit isn’t right, it can lead the employee to become disengaged and it can affect their individual performance, as […]

With the change in the law which was recently implemented, flexible working is becoming increasingly common for those who want a better work/life balance. The new law allows any employee to request flexible working hours, as long as they have been with the employer for at least 26 weeks and the employer would need to […]

Recruiting the right staff is fundamental in ensuring a manufacturing business runs well and is profitable. People are at the core of every business and without the right people, a business will soon find itself unable to fulfil the needs of its customers. Companies use specialist recruiters in order to find the right candidates to […]

One of the biggest misconceptions we have about communication is that listening is a passive activity. How many times have we heard someone say, or said ourselves, “I’ll come along to the meeting, but I’ll just listen”? We understand listening is an essential quality of leadership, but most of us don’t know how to listen […]

As engineering and manufacturing firms will know, getting the right talent through the door is challenging and having the candidate sign on the dotted line, is just the start of the journey. If you don’t make an effort to make them feel comfortable from day one; you may soon find that they are looking at […]

It is essential to compile in-depth job descriptions for your business; not just for the purpose of recruiting candidates, but job descriptions will also be used throughout the duration of the new recruit’s employment. At any stage, an employee may ask to see their job description, they may be also be used during performance reviews […]

Announcer: You’re listening to Manufacturing Ignition Hot Topics, bringing you right up to date on the latest trends and discussions within UK manufacturing. Sponsored by Bonfire Recruitment, helping manufacturing leaders across the UK to attract the best talent for their manufacturing company. Ignite your business or career today by visiting www.BonfireRecruitment.com. Here’s your hosts, Terry Malin […]

Speaker 1: You’re listening to Manufacturing Ignition Hot Topics, bringing you right up to date on the latest trends and discussions within UK manufacturing. Sponsored by Bonfire Recruitment, helping manufacturing leaders across the UK to attract the best talent for their manufacturing company. Ignite your business or career today by visiting www.bonfirerecruitment.com. Here’s your hosts, Terry […]

Announcer: You’re listening to Manufacturing Ignition Hot Topics, bringing you right up-to-date on the latest trends and discussions within UK manufacturing. Sponsored by Bonfire Recruitment, helping manufacturing leaders across the UK to attract the best talent for their manufacturing company. Ignite your business or career today by visiting www.bonfirerecruitment.com. Here’s your hosts, Terry Mallin and Scott […]

Announcer: You’re listening to Manufacturing Ignition Hot Topics, bringing you right up to date on the latest trends and discussions within UK manufacturing. Sponsored by Bonfire Recruitment, helping manufacturing leaders across the UK to attract the best talent for their manufacturing company. Ignite your business or career today by visiting www.bonfirerecruitment.com. Here’s your hosts, Terry Mallin […]

Announcer: You’re listening to Manufacturing Ignition Hot Topics. Bringing you right up to date on the latest trends and discussions within U.K. manufacturing. Sponsored by Bonfire Recruitment, manufacturing leaders across the U.K. to attract the best talent for their manufacturing company. Ignite your business or career today by visiting www.bonfirerecruitment.com. Here’s your host Terry Mallin and […]

Speaker 1: You’re listening to Manufacturing Ignition Hot Topics, bringing you right up to date on the latest trends and discussions within UK manufacturing. Sponsored by Bonfire Recruitment, helping manufacturing leaders across the UK to attract the best talent for their manufacturing company. Ignite your business or career today by visiting www.bonfirerecruitment.com. Here’s your hosts Terry […]

Speaker 1 : You’re listening Manufacturing Ignition: Hot Topics. Bringing you right up to date on the latest trends and discussions within UK manufacturing. Sponsored by Bonfire Recruitment, helping manufacturing leaders across the UK to attract the best talent for their manufacturing company. Ignite your business or career today by visiting www.bonfirerecruitment.com Speaker 1 : Here’s your […]

Introducer: You’re listening to Manufacturing Ignition Hot Topics, bringing you right up to date on the latest trends and discussions within UK manufacturing. Sponsored by Bonfire Recruitment, helping manufacturing leaders across the UK to attract the best talent for their manufacturing company. Ignite your business or career today by visiting www.bonfirerecruitment.com. Here’s your hosts, Terry Mallin […]

Announcer: You’re listening to Manufacturing Ignition Hot Topics. Bringing you right up to date on the latest trends and discussions within UK manufacturing. Sponsored by Bonfire Recruitment, helping manufacturing leaders across the UK to attract the best talent for their manufacturing company. Ignite your business or career today by visiting www.BonfireRecruitment.com. Here’s your hosts Terry Mallin […]

Terry Mallin  :  So on this week’s hot topic, I’m joined by Tristan Bailey who is the owner of Holdingbay. Holdingbay is a exciting development agency. To put that into context, Tristan helps manufacturing companies to create websites that enable scale through brand awareness and also create sales funnels within your website which convert. My […]

Terry Mallin : Hi all, thanks for tuning in on this week’s manufacturing Ignition hot topic, and this week I’m delighted to be joined by Mike Wilson from ABB. ABB is our global leading supplier of industrial robots and systems, and to be honest if you haven’t heard about the ABB, where have you been hiding? […]

Terry Mallin : Welcome to this week’s Manufacturing Ignition Podcast, thanks for tuning in as always, and I hope you enjoy this week’s show. I’m delighted to be joined by Paddy Dwyer who is the Co-head of DLA Piper Manufacturing Practice. For those wondering who DLA Piper is, it’s a global law firm, I think that […]

Speaker 1 :You’re listening to Manufacturing Ignition: Hot Topics, bringing you right up to date on the latest trends and discussions within UK manufacturing. Sponsored by Bonfire Recruitment, helping manufacturing leaders across the UK to attract the best talent for their manufacturing company. Ignite your business or career today by visiting www.bonfirerecruitment.com. Speaker 1 :Here’s […]

Terry Mallin: Welcome to this weeks manufacturing ignition podcast. Thanks for tuning in, and I hope you enjoy this weeks show. I’m delighted to be joined by Simon Cuthbert, who is the Senior Vice President for the supply chain for Rolls Royce Marine. Terry Mallin: Simon has an executive responsibility for the procurement, planning and […]

Terry Mallin : Welcome to this week’s hot topic and we’re going to discuss as a manufacturing leader, what is the base we use to adopt change within your manufacturing business, and I’m delighted to be joined by Ben Salder from Leaning the Way Today. I’ve have been speaking with Ben for a couple of months […]

Terry Mallin: In this week’s hot topic, I’m joined by Mark Amphlett who is the general manager of Amtek plastics. Amtek is a spoke injection moulding manufacture, specifically working with all a thinking businesses, he’s been helping them to design and manufacture plastic components and parts. Mark might groans has not always been within manufacturing, he’s […]

Robotic technology is now successfully entering every sphere of the food manufacturing process – from harvesting to delivery. Whatever the task, increasingly there is a robot being created that will undertake it successfully (albeit with human help and supervision). Even the most delicate of tasks may be involved. In America, robots pack eggs, and even […]

Technology has changed many aspects of our lives, and it’s a process that doesn’t stand still. The latest sector to feel the heat of the technology revolution is manufacturing. What is known as ‘Industry 4.0’ is all about creating smart factories where IT systems monitor physical processes and are able to make decisions without human […]

Just as the eighteenth century Industrial Revolution changed the face of manufacturing forever, the arrival of the fourth Industrial Revolution is set to have a similar effect on modern production methods. This fourth Industrial Revolution focuses on digitalization and the advent of cyber-physical systems providing new capabilities for people and machines. We are already beginning […]

Food to go, the sandwiches, wraps, soups, salads and mini cakes which grace our UK high streets, is on the rise. While many traditional restaurants would like to see a reversal in this trend and a return to sit-down dining, the forecasters say this is unlikely to happen. We’ve developed a taste for even faster […]

Depending on the definition you choose, autonomous vehicles are either already a commercial reality, or are still a decade away from making a meaningful impact on the automotive marketplace. One thing that most experts can agree upon is that self-driving cars, vans and trucks are eventually going to be a hugely disruptive force, specifically with […]

Over the past few years, there has been a lot of criticism about banks not providing sufficient support for expanding businesses.  Massive losses during the financial crash and higher capital spending, as well as their own in house problems has made banks much more reluctant to invest. 25% of small firms that apply to banks […]

Announcer: You’re listening to Manufacturing Ignition Hot Topics, bringing you right up to date on the latest trends and discussions within UK manufacturing, sponsored by Bonfire Recruitment, helping manufacturing leaders across the UK to attract the best talent for their manufacturing company. Ignite your business or career today by visiting www.bonfirerecruitment.com. Here’s your hosts, Terry Mallin […]

Terry Mallin : Welcome to this week’s manufacturing ignition podcast, thanks for tuning in as always and I hope you enjoy this week’s show. This week I’m delighted to be joined by Peter Hawkins who is the managing director of Park Cake bakery in Bolton. Peter has  been running sales at the MD level for the past thirteen […]

Great leadership depends upon our level of self-awareness, our willingness to learn and our acceptance that our actions and attitude influence everyone around us. When we assume a leadership role, all of our behaviour counts. Our ability to recognise and develop the qualities we naturally possess and a willingness to develop and improve upon those […]

Have you ever noticed how many trees have Lichen. You know that grey or green moss-like plant that grows on bark and rocks. Did you know that Lichen’s have even been sent up to space and continued growing and functioning. They are one of the most successful organisms in the biological world, surviving in the […]

You have been working for the same employer for a number of years without any glimmer of a pay rise – so is it time to ask the question? If your employer doesn’t have an incremental salary scale in place, you may never have the potential of getting a pay rise, unless you move into […]

You have just landed your dream manufacturing role and want to make sure you really excel in it, but how do you ensure success? In most jobs, you will be on probation for the first few months, so you need to make sure you are at your very best during this time, but this needs […]

The best paid time management tip stories goes like this. Charles Schwab was a steel mill Magnate in the 1930s and asked a time management guru, Ivy Lee, for his top tip. Ivy Lee gave the tip and said he was so confident of his advice that Charles can try it out and pay him […]

The law now states that employees who have been with their employer for 26 weeks or more are entitled to apply for flexible working. Flexible working is not determined by your status; it is open to all – not just parents. The regulations state than an employee may only apply for flexible working once within […]

As it is a candidate’s market at the moment, employers need to be prepared to offer an attractive benefits package, in order to encourage talented staff to join the business. Employers should be prepared to offer a competitive salary, but also provide some other benefits in addition to this. Many companies only offer good benefits […]

Recruiters and employers are increasingly using social media to find candidates to fill roles, as this is a way of gaining access to a passive market. The days of advertising and waiting for applications is a thing of the past and these days, recruiters are far more proactive. If you want to make sure recruiters […]

After interviewing and marketing hundreds of people I have found many people have reservations and concerns about selling themselves. There is a huge difference between honestly presenting the facts, being secure and satisfied with genuine achievement compared to boastful non-substantiated statements. Yes, nobody really likes a braggart. But don’t throw the “marketing baby” out with […]

The job market has always been a competitive environment. Not only are we competing with other applicants for a role, we are also competing for attention. Employers (and recruiters) seek management candidates focussed on their career, not someone merely going through the motions of looking for another job. Here are the simple mistakes holding you […]

If you have just been invited for an interview for a production manager job, you are probably feeling excited; but also a little apprehensive. Although there is never any guarantee of exactly which questions the interviewer will choose to ask, it is a good idea to prepare for competency based questions. These are some standard […]

Are you are you on the hunt for a new role? Here are some super secrets for securing interviews: – Sell yourself to the decision maker.  If possible avoid HR (human Resources) unless they are the hiring decision maker.  Focus on the Line Managers. Typically HR’s function is to eliminate and reduce CVs and candidates submitted […]

A career left solely to chance is an unwise gamble. Without the implementation of a clear and workable career strategy, there is a real risk of missing any opportunities that come your way, or even stagnating at a particular point you were hoping to move on from more quickly. During the early years of a […]

Most of us know the hard and fast rule: never accept a counter offer. We may also be aware of the statistic warning us that 80 percent of those who accept a counter offer will leave the company within six months. But do we understand why? We explore the simple truths waiting to be discovered […]

It is easy to forget that an interview is a two way process and as the one being interviewed, there is a tendency not to prepare questions to ask the interviewer. However, it is vital that you do this as it will show you have a genuine interest in the role and the organisation. If […]

If you are looking for a new job, a recruiter can prove to be invaluable. Recruiters have extensive knowledge of the recruitment process, good connections with employers and are often involved in the ultimate decision of whether to hire you or not. If you build a strong relationship with a recruiter and are open and […]

No matter how much you enjoy your job, there are always going to be times when you feel unmotivated or fed up. However, if you are feeling chronically unhappy, it may be time to make some changes. Chronic unhappiness is very different to just having an off week, it can affect your mental well-being and […]

In the current economic climate, securing a new role is difficult for many candidates, but if you are lucky enough to have multiple job offers, you will want to ensure you make the right choice. It may be the case that you have been unemployed for a long time and suddenly you find yourself inundated […]

You have been invited to attend an interview and are excited by the prospect, but what do you need to do to find out if it is the right manufacturing company for you and to get yourself prepared for the interview? You may know nothing about the company but liked the sound of the job […]

A new job offer is exciting; especially if you have been out of work or you have just landed your dream role. However, it is important to take time to consider the job offer before you jump into accepting it. It is very easy to get caught up in the elation which comes of being […]

Recruiters and Head Hunters can add real value.  I am a Head Hunter so I may be a little biased, but here is how I believe we can add a lot of value to your Job Hunt: – Specialist Recruiters and Head Hunters give you access to companies in their niche.  My advice is to […]

Interviews are daunting for everyone; even the most confident person in the world can feel the heat under this kind of pressure. They are, however, part of the working life and everyone has to go through them at some stage or another. If you have got as far as an interview, then the interviewer obviously […]

In many ways, telephone interviews can seem a lot more daunting than face to face interviews. You can’t see expressions, therefore, you may not be able to determine how the interview is going. It can be easy to consider telephone interviews as a quick chat, but you should treat them in the same way as […]

If you have been looking for a new role for a while and don’t seem to be getting invited to any interviews, even though you seem like the perfect candidate – it may be down to your CV. Whether or not recruiters are desperate to fill roles, they won’t send candidates forward for jobs if […]