News & Events

​You’ve probably seen it in the news by now – Job vacancies outpace unemployment for the first time...ever?! The unemployment rate fell to 3.7% between January and March, its lowest for almost 50 years, as job openings rose to a new high of 1.3 million, it really is a candidates market, and employers will need to work harder to secure the talent they need. Maybe now is the time that even more organisations will find benefit in reaching out to recruiters to give them a helping hand in finding candidates and taking advantage of our market insights.CEO Andy Fitzmaurice comments;More job vacancies than unemployed people in the UK for the first time since records began? We’ve seen similar rates of unemployment before and obviously, it’s a concern for many employers. The middle management in the food, agriculture and horticulture supply chains where we focus has always had a pronounced shortage of talent to be honest, which is why recruiters like MorePeople exist in the first place. We always have our work cut out when it comes to pipelining talent. We spend most of our time on candidate work – mapping the careers of the best people in the industry so that we are in the right place at the right time to be able to help them. Naturally, we do deal with some ‘active’ candidates who are busy online with their various applications, and these candidates have a lot of choices right now. There are lots of opportunities for active candidates and often an inevitable counteroffer proposal when the resignation comes. All these factors create a perfect storm in to win the race for top talent. Acting fast and having a great recruitment process (and a great recruiter on your side), is key to getting the best people into your business. If you’re unsure how you can improve your odds, then please feel free to give us a call and we can let you know where some of the quick wins may be hiding.If you're struggling filling your vacancies and fancy a chat...you know what to do!01780 480 530 | info@morepeople.co.uk​https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61475720

9th – 15th May this year is Mental Health Awareness week, this year the Mental Health Foundation is focusing on Loneliness. ‘One in four adults feel lonely some or all of the time. There’s no single cause and there’s no one solution. After all, we’re all different! But, the longer we feel lonely, the more we are at risk of mental health problems. Some people are also at higher risk of feeling lonely than others.’ Lawrence is our Mental Health First Aider at MorePeople… When did you become a mental health first aider?I became a Mental Health First Aider back in October 2020. It was actually sourced through my Rugby Club as we wanted to really make a stand about Mental Health support through Sport and the club to ensure we were doing as much as we could for not only the Senior Teams but the Youth that were coming through the club. Of course, through the skills and learning can transfer to any environment. How long did the course take, and how did you find it?Because of lockdown, where the course is meant to be over a weekend and in person, we did 1 evening a week for 4 weeks to go through all of the content and learnings. It was amazing to chat with likeminded individuals who have all had their own journey to becoming a MH First Aider and passion for raising awareness. The content of the course was very eye opening and at times hard to hear and discuss, for many. First and foremost, the figures and statistics around Mental Health and Mental Illness were devastating and just highlights the need for more awareness and more open-discussion about the topic, whether that be in the workplace or with friends and loved ones. What made you want to take the course & become a mental health first aider?Being the only male on the course, within a group of circa 12 people, this stood out for me as to what I can hopefully take away and how I can hopefully influence others. Men do not discuss the topics of Mental Health and Illness, whether that is through stigma or lack of understanding or knowledge, I endeavour to discuss mental health with as many males as possible. The other side of things, is that it provides you with tools to identify early signs and symptoms for those that may be going through a tough time. Why do you think work places should have people trained in mental health and the benefits of it?After finishing the course and coming back to work through Lockdown, I discussed the topic with a lot of our clients and the range of resources, opinions and methods to try and battle the issue of mental health in the workplace was astonishing. It shows that there is still work to be done and if even by 1%, this might be able to make a difference. I think with people in the business that have the training provided, it brings the conversation to the forefront (or at least tries). The other side of things is that spotting the signs early, means that those that you may not even realise are going through some troubling times can be spoken to and supported in the ways they need. What does mental health awareness week mean to you?A week of highlighting the topic will mean so much for so many. If someone starts a conversation that may allow someone to open up about themselves and difficult conversations, it may just make the difference. If we can reduce the stigma, and make conversation and provide educated support, then it may just help those in need. To find out more, visit the Mental Health Foundation website: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-weekOr Mind:https://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/mental-health-awareness-week​

​This year, MorePeople are participating in the Peterborough Dragon Boat Festival in aid of Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice for a fun team day out at our local rowing lake. Some of the team from Sue Ryder recently visited us to show us why these fundraising events are so important to the running of their services, and how much Sue Ryder supports communities at the hardest times of their life. Sue Ryder run 7 hospices across the UK offering palliative care, and also run 4 neurological care centres. They support people through the most difficult times of their lives whether it be a terminal illness, the loss of a loved one or a neurological condition. There is a growing hospice at home service, where many opt for their love ones to be cared for at home in their final days. Click here to view a Hospice at Home team case study >>Money raised through initiatives such as the dragon boat race is so important as just £20 could pay for a patient’s meals for the day in one of the hospices and £500 could help fund 24 hours of expert care for a patient, helping them and their families in their final days. Watch this video to see what it's like inside a Sue Ryder hospice >>Sue Ryder also offers online bereavement support, for anyone that may need it – not just families of their patients, along with help and guidance for employers supporting staff during difficult times. They have some really good resources on their site to help, which you can view here.We’re looking forward to the day on 11th June and taking part in the races, watch this space for updates on how we do! Please visit our Just Giving page to donate and support the amazing services Sue Ryder offer, click here!​

Life at MorePeople...On Instagram!​Weekly prizes, monthly lunch clubs, quarterly incentives, client dinners, site visits and more… want to see what we get up to in the world of recruitment at MorePeople and what it’s all about? Then get onto our Instagram page now and give us a follow! We’ve been building our Instagram to really showcase what life is like at MorePeople, whether it’s what we’re up to in the office or out and about around Stamford you’ll see what we’re celebrating, where we’re eating, who we’re visiting and generally what we’re up to on a weekly basis. In the coming weeks we’ll begin the move into our newly renovated office, which is going to look amazing and we can’t wait to get posting about it – definitely watch this space! Go check us out and give us a follow >>

​MorePeople joined Fruit Logistica at the beginning of April in Berlin, catching up with clients and keeping on top of all the latest innovations, products and services the show has to offer. The show provides us a great opportunity for us to meet a number of clients in one location. Fruit Logistica takes place in Berlin and covers every sector of the fresh produce business at every link in the international supply chain. On average 3,300 exhibitors and 72,000 trade visitors attend Fruit Logistica each year. Fruit Logistica analysis sees healthy eating and technology (replacing labour) as the two biggest changes coming in the fresh produce market and analysts believe online will remain strong and the catering sector's use of fresh produce will return to pre-pandemic levels, though it will take longer for business travel to get back to where it was pre-2020. Sales of products such as fresh cut fruit may stay lower too as people continue to work from home and buy less lunch/snack convenience food. Will joined Richard and Morten this year and it was his first visit to the show. Three observations from my first visit …It wasn’t as big as normal but at least it was still on! It was, albeit my first time in Berlin and attending Fruit Logistica so I had a mixture of anticipating the unknown whilst preparing myself for the sheer scale of the event that colleagues / clients had attempted to illustrate to me. To say it is vast is possibly an understatement. That being said it was certainly noticeable how few people were milling around on Tuesday and the empty halls were difficult to ignore. Moving it from earlier in the year to April had no doubt meant exhibitors and visitors couldn’t attend However, … not only did the organisers do a good job of its continuity, we were thankful that it was indeed live at all. It doesn’t need me to point out just how resilient the food / fresh produce sector is but it certainly struck me that the event going ahead and in full swing by the Wednesday, was the apotheosis of the sector. It was fun! Although to synonym the Fruit Logistica ‘exhibition’ with carnival might be a stretch, it is really a celebration of fresh produce and the atmosphere we enjoyed whilst meeting clients was not only welcoming but positive and cheerful! The team have definitely tired of me, Morten and Rich saying “when we were in Berlin…” but we certainly haven’t! A lot of our meetings were undoubtably serious and there were by definition ‘catch ups’ so one can only imagine the true measure of importance between customers and suppliers for those three days. Don’t mention the War… for talent. One major thing occurred to us as a common theme amongst clients was just how much of a candidate led market it is at the moment. I have heard the term ‘war for talent’ quite a few times recently and it was very evident through meetings we had. Most if not all clients seem to be facing the same challenge (amongst everything else going on in the sector!) – not only are there more jobs out there than there are ‘good’ candidates but they are guarding all the locks and holding all the keys ... so to speak. It is so seldom at the moment that a candidate doesn’t have more than one opportunity to chose from, they’re counter offered by their current employer and they can inflate package demands. What are we to do? Well, Greg Savage recently posted on LinkedIn with some typically pertinent insight. We now have to consider the importance of selling to candidates, reacting to talent faster but slower to understand candidates. Whilst condensing the interview process, we need to work harder to understand motivations. To quote him directly; “it’s no longer about you choosing them, it’s more them choosing you”!https://www.hortweek.com/fruit-logistica-signals-return-normal-fresh-produce-market/fresh-produce/article/1751123 ​

​The MorePeople team is continuing to grow, welcome Natalie and George… ​After graduating with a degree in Dance from De Montfort University in 2016, Natalie Dunne made the move alone from her hometown of Boston to Peterborough and eventually Stamford. Natalie has since worked in a variety of customer service roles across an array of industries such as finance and food service & hospitality. Now joining the MorePeople team and learning the world of recruitment, Natalie will be supporting a variety of roles whilst a part of the MorePeople academy. ​​George Mallender is a graduate of Harper Adams, with a love and passion for the countryside which took him through a variety of agricultural and countryside-based jobs, from farming sweetcorn to diversifying wildlife habitats to encourage local biodiversity. George will be putting his fantastic industry experience and knowledge to good use at MorePeople! ​​Luckily, our ever-growing team will soon be moving to our new premises in Stamford, we’ve outgrown our current office and there’s no sign of stopping us yet!