For most people, the idea of arriving at work naked is the stuff of nightmares and would normally result in a ’sitting bolt-upright in bed in a cold sweat’ scenario.

But this was not the case for the guys and girls at Sub-Sight’s sister company the Aspire Recruitment Group, one of the largest independent construction recruitment agencies in the south-east of England, who took part in the follow-up series to Virgin Television’s groundbreaking ‘Naked Office’ – airing now on Virgin 1 (Virgin Media channel 119, Freeview channel 20 & Sky channel 121).

The series investigates whether working naked will help to break down barriers within the office and increase positivity at a time in which doom and gloom for many industries has become the norm.

Leading behavioural change specialist and leadership guru Seven Suphi spends a week with each of the companies involved with the aim of helping them to “push their boundaries and become a close team that trust each other enough to get naked together”. The process takes each of the individuals involved on a personal and professional journey as they build up towards the dreaded ‘Naked Friday’.

With the recession in full swing Aspire had, understandably, found life tough over the past year, as had the construction recruitment sector in general.

“During tough times it is important to make bold decisions and not be afraid to stand out from the crowd”, Operations Manager, Laura Kirton explained. “So when we were given the chance to work with Seven to help bring our team together and move the company forward we jumped at it.”

“The nakedness bit was really secondary to what we wanted to achieve together as a company and we really feel that we operate better as a unit as a result.”

Laura, who played a leading part in the week’s events, continued, “Obviously, the programme-makers will focus in a huge way on the nakedness but we can take or leave that part of the process. For us it’s more about the ways in which we stand out from the other construction recruitment companies and are able to pull together as a team to really add value to our clients’ businesses.”

Links

Naked Office:
www.virgin1.co.uk/shows/naked-office/about.php

Aspire Recruitment Group:
www.aspire-recgroup.co.uk

Follow Aspire on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/aspirerecgroup

Sub-Sight is to be featured in a forthcoming edition of a weekly newsletter produced by Glenigan, the UK’s largest supplier of construction project intelligence.

Part of the EMAP media group who also own Construction News, Glenigan provide project data on construction projects, from planning to completion, across the UK.

The readership of their weekly journal is said to be climbing over the 200,000 mark and this exposure is sure to provide valuable exposure for Sub-Sight, and the many sub-contractors featured on the site.

The readership of the journal is the subscriber base for the Glenigan online service, which means a targeted audience of relevant contacts will have access to the hundreds of local sub-contractors featured on Sub-Sight.

To find out more about advertising your business on Sub-Sight call 0845 678 5577 or click here for our callback request form

Aspire Recruitment Group, Sub-Sight’s sister company and largest independent labour supplier in the Midlands & South-East of England have reported a marked increased demand for trades, labour and plant operatives in the final quarter of 2009/10.

After two hard years for the construction industry, the final quarter of 2009/10 has seen demand for construction operatives rapidly increase, with particularly elevated demand for workers associated with groundworks and civil engineering.

Requests for temporary groundworkers and groundworks labourers rose by 56% during this time, closely followed by an increase of 47% in requests for plant and CPCS machine operatives.

This marked increase in demand for labour within these sectors is starting to push up the rates paid to operatives and this, in turn, is sure to have an effect on the rates charged to contractors by agencies.

Laura Kirton, Operations Manager for the Aspire Recruitment Group, comments, “The increase in demand is due, in no small way, to the fact that many housing developers have restarted developments which were shelved during the earlier part of the financial year.”

“However, until the economy is seen to have stabilised, many contractors are reluctant to recruit for permanent staff and so the pool of talent in the temporary market is in demand. This means that we are having to pay people increased rates in order to keep up with our clients’ requirements.”

She continued, “Many labour agencies in the area seem to be experiencing a higher demand for their services in what is traditionally a slow financial period.”

“A promising end to the tax year does not necessarily mean a booming summer but the signals are positive for agencies which, like a large proportion of the construction supply chain, have seen dramatic increases in staff turnover in the last two years.”

What do you think? Leave your comments below.

Carillion have started work on the controversial Justice Centre in Northampton.

The biggest single investment by Northamptonshire Police Authority over the last 30 years will see the state-of-the-art facility replace premises at Campbell Square, Daventry and the police station at Weston Favell.

Northamptonshire Police Authority have been working in conjunction with Carillion, Trebor Developments and SMC Corstorphine & Wright to provide the 44,261 sq ft building which is located on a 2.20 acre plot at Northampton Business Park, Brackmills.

Completion is scheduled for Summer 2010.

Contact us here for more information on this project and many others.

Research completed by Aspire Recruitment Group, the sister company of Sub-Sight, to establish current charge rate trends, has produced the following data.

How do the rates being charged by your current labour and staffing agency compare?

Let us know your comments below.

How does this compare against the rates being charged by your current labour and staffing suppliers? We’d be interested to hear your feedback.

Leave your comments below.

Sub-Sight has teamed up with tCn to bring you closer to the UK construction industry.

As the most exclusive digital networking platform serving the UK’s built environment, tCn provides an excellent opportunity to interact with construction professionals, receive up-to-date news, events and product information from across the entire breadth of the industry.

Register your interest today by clicking here

Sub-Sight has partnered with one of the most successful credit service providers in the UK, to bring you free access to RiskDisk’s comprehensive online company credit report service.

In tough times for the construction industry it is vital that you know, and can trust, the companies you are working with. RiskDisk allow you to check and monitor the credit-worthiness of any business you may be about to deal with.

Riskdisk is one of the UK’s most trusted business credit reference agencies.  They provide 500,000 large, medium and small business credit reports every month, plus a complete online service to nearly 20,000 companies.

Our partnership with RiskDisk allows you access to 10 free company credit reports.

Click here to trial RiskDisk for free.

Sub-Sight, the UK’s first truly focused online directory of construction sub-contracting companies has been relaunched this week, with a fantastic new look.

But the re-skin of the site is just the tip of the iceberg and belies the real magic of a website which has already connected many sub-contracters with vital business contacts at main contracting and development companies.

The concept is simple. You own, or are responsible for a sub-contracting business in one of twenty counties in the Midlands and South-East of England. Times in the UK construction industry are tough at the moment.

You need to make more business contacts at main contracting and development companies.

This is exactly what Sub-Sight will deliver for you.

Put simply, your company will appear as one of only twelve companies within the geographical area and construction sector you choose. (see below)

How does advertising on Sub-Sight gain you business?

The driving force behind Sub-Sight is not, as you might expect, an advertising agency but a company called Aspire Recruitment Group, one of the most successful specialist construction recruitment consultancies in the UK. Having been involved in the construction industry for around ten years, and having built some of the best relationships in the business, Aspire Recruitment’s consultants would often be asked by contacts at main contracting companies to recommend sub-contractors for local projects.

In Sub-Sight we have created a more structured way of enabling the two parties to come together. Sub-Sight is marketed heavily towards the companies who need companies like yours. It has been developed, with the help of main contractors, to be useful to main contractors. The simple navigation and search systems give accurate results and prevent you from unwanted contact from people wanting services you don’t provide.

Analytics

As a company advertising on Sub-Sight, we provide you with up-to-the-minute information on who is looking at your company home page, who has asked for your contact details, and who has clicked through to your website. You can also login to your own portal and find much more detailed information.

Partnerships – Glenigan

Our partnership with Glenigan, the largest provider of construction business intelligence in the UK, enables us to bring you the latest information on construction projects in your areas. We  provide you with the information that you need to gain more business.

You can find out more about our partnership with Glenigan here.

What next?

Why not call us on 0845 678 5577 for an informal chat about advertising your business on Sub-Sight, or fill out this simple form and request a callback from one of our friendly team?

Sub-Sight, the UK’s first truly focused online directory of construction sub-contracting companies has been relaunched this week, with a fantastic new look.

But the re-skin of the site is just the tip of the iceberg and belies the real magic of a website which has already connected many sub-contracters with vital business contacts at main contracting and development companies.

The concept is simple. You are a Construction Manager, Construction Director, Quantity Surveyor, Contracts Manager or Project Manager at a main contracting company. You are working on a construction project outside of your normal geographical area. Or you may be experiencing difficulties with the sub-contractors you would usually bring in to take charge of a part of your project. You need to find new subbies for the project. Quickly.

This is exactly what Sub-Sight will deliver for you.

Simply:

1. Choose a County that your project is in
2. Choose a Sector, or type of subcontractor
3. Tick the Size of Contract that the subcontractor package is worth
4. Press Search

It really is as simple as that.

Your search results will appear as an accurate list of exactly the type of contractors you are looking for. (See below)

Then feel free to look search through the companies on your search results. Once you have found one that you feel would suit your requirements, you can contact them with details of a project and invite them to contact you.

Add to that, our partnership with RiskDisk, one of the nation’s leading credit reference organisations, and you have a complete package whereby you can search for,  source and reference prospective sub-contractors before working with them. This lessens your risks and, by choosing sub-contractors local to your project, you can help to reduce the carbon footprint of the project.