<p>Considering the pandemic (I know, not the best time to look back on) there has been a fundamental change with an increase in layoffs, revisiting projects, and contract cancellations during this period. Around 4.56 million self-employed workers in the UK income has been hugely affected by the pandemic frenzy. IR35, the legislation introduced to address the issue of 'deemed employment', was the next iceberg to hit.&nbsp;</p>
<p>From 6th April, 2021, contractors have to pay income tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) as if they were employees. As a result, contractor roles became more challenging to fill as IR35 made being a contractor less attractive from a purely financial viewpoint. As well as the pandemic, thanks to COVID-19, contractors can work remotely, on-site, or in a hybrid arrangement. Business leaders must understand that this work environment is the new norm and it will likely never change.</p>
<p>Here are 3 factors to how the contractor tech market has shifted:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>1 - Businesses are outsourcing more projects to contractors</h3>
<p>With remote and hybrid work becoming the new norm, businesses have increased their hiring flexibility, seeking out the most qualified from a wider pool of candidates. After the post-pandemic wave of resignations, companies are likely to use contractor specialists to cover shortages of skills and in-house staff. A Harvey Nash report states that 80% of digital leaders believe employee retention has become more challenging since a post-pandemic world has changed employee priorities. In response to these factors, businesses have been outsourcing more of their work internally, creating a growing demand for IT contractors.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>2 - IT Contractors Change In Priorities</h3>
<p>A lot of attention has been paid to wellbeing in the workplace pre and post-pandemic by perm workers. As for contractors' wellbeing, the Spinks LinkedIn Poll found that 44% of tech contractors struggle to strike a balance between work and wellbeing. With the great resignation, the pandemic gave people the time to reassess their work/life balance and understood that they prioritise other responsibilities outside of work.Simply Business reports that 64 per cent of employees planned to spend more time with family and friends. So, competitive pay and basic benefits are no longer enough. It is important that employees know that the company they work for respects them and the community as a whole. Therefore, showering contractors with offers of inflexible employment, workplace stress and shifting their priorities will make your search increasingly difficult when expecting top tech employees, especially for IT contractors at least if you're aiming to retain them.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>3 - Tech market skills shortages</h3>
<p>Start-ups and scale-ups continue to face a variety of challenges when it comes to hiring top tech talent. The UK is experiencing a major skills shortage as well as an increase in demand for IT and digital skills. In 2020, organisations spent &pound;6.6 billion to plug short-term gaps (up from &pound;4.4 billion in the previous year, according to The Open University Business Barometer report). However, there are many causes for the skill shortage in the tech industry. Some of this could be due to a lack of awareness, diversity, pay disparity caused by gender, Brexit, and confusion about what the benefits are of working in tech. This leads to an increase in contracting roles, since contractors are market experts who possess a variety of skill sets and can fill in skills shortages within an organisation quickly.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>The future of contracting in tech: what does it look like?</h3>
<p>Tech contractors will always be in high demand, as they are essential to business success. With the ongoing skill shortage, coupled with the rapid adoption of new technologies (such as AI, ML, New Energy Solutions, AR, Blockchain etc.), will always make them in high demand. Despite a global pandemic, opportunities in the tech sector have skyrocketed, allowing contractors to choose their well-being and work. Even the new remote/hybrid working landscape benefits both organisations and contractors. Allowing contractors to work with a wider variety of clients/projects while allowing businesses to access more talent from various locations.</p>
<p>So the question is, when should you hire a contractor for your business? If you're not sure, get in touch with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/robpestridge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rob Pestridge</a>, Associate Director and our contractor expert, on LinkedIn.</p>

Read our latest article discussing three main factors about how the contractor tech market has shifted:

Challenges In the Tech Contractor Market

<p>While around 15-20% of the population has some kind of neurological difference, neurodiversity in the workplace has some way to go before becoming an equal or even an entirely safe place for people with these conditions. According to ONS figures just 22% of autistic adults in the UK are in any kind of employment. Research from inclusion and technology solutions business Auticon found only 16% of autistic adults in full time employment, compared with 48% among disabled people in general. At a time of skill shortages neurodiverse candidates offer an important untapped resource. Moreover, the technology sector can be a great destination for these individuals, valuing their skills such as cognitive analytical thinking, trend spotting, problem solving and retention of information.</p>
<p>However, simply attracting these candidates is not enough. To be truly inclusive, employers must provide a holistic employment experience which means neurodiverse candidates don&rsquo;t just choose to join their business, they choose to stay. Getting into work when you&rsquo;re neurodivergent According to Auticon&rsquo;s research, 35% of neurodiverse adults find settling into a new organisation the most challenging part of their career. 27% believe holding on to a job is the most challenging aspect. Organisations need to address these issues if they want to get the best from their talent in the medium or long term.</p>
<p>Being neurodiverse essentially means thinking differently from the majority of people. It covers conditions such as Dyslexia, DCD (Dyspraxia), Dyscalculia, Autism and ADHD. How these conditions affect an individual can vary immensely which means, as with other disabilities, employers need to be ready to listen to employees and make specific and reasonable adjustments to help them in the workplace. According to Auticon 64% of respondents asked their employer for a reasonable adjustment to enable them to work. Of these, 56% got the adjustment they asked for while 42% were given only part of the adjustment. Perhaps employers can do better here in order to accept neurodiverse talent into their teams.</p>
<p>Auticon also found 70% of respondents shared their autism spectrum condition at work but worryingly only 44% believe they can be their authentic selves at work, a clear barrier to retention for organisations. Unlocking the workplace for neurodiverse people requires the creation of a company culture that supports their inclusion. Emma Walker, regional director for Scotland at auticon says employers should look at this before they even consider taking on someone with a neurodivergent condition: &lsquo;You first need to look at ensuring you have everything in place &ndash; you need the right culture, your line managers need to have the appropriate training to support and retain this talent once they&rsquo;re in the business. You need to make sure that mechanisms are in place to help this &ndash; such as the ability to act on workplace adjustment requests. All of these steps will enable talent to perform at their best.&rsquo;</p>
<p>Here at Spinks, as a Nash Squared band, one of the initiatives we use is the Employee Relations Group (ERG) NashAbility, created to identify and act upon the needs of diverse employees and ensure the business is always improving its support. The ultimate aim is for neurodivergent people to come to work without feeling that they have to &lsquo;mask&rsquo; their condition. Like anyone else they don&rsquo;t want to constantly self-censor at work &ndash; indeed trying to be someone you&rsquo;re not is extremely tiring and can lead to burnout. If the business promotes and practices inclusive values all workers &ndash; including those with neurodiverse conditions &ndash; can feel safe and appreciated.</p>
<p>With company culture delivering the right messages and support, employers can be confident in attracting and recruiting neurodivergent staff. It is worth bearing in mind that more than a third of neurodiverse workers in Auticon&rsquo;s research said the recruitment process is a challenge for them, and again employers can make a difference through a few adjustments. For example, job descriptions should focus only on the essential and desirable skills required for a job &ndash; neurodivergent talent is more likely to opt themselves out of a role if they don&rsquo;t think they meet 100% of the required criteria.</p>
<p>One step at a time, one candidate at a time Even if recruitment processes are designed to treat everyone equally it should be remembered that a &lsquo;one size fits all' approach may not allow all candidates to highlight their skills appropriately. Simply asking what adjustments could be made in the hiring process could result in the business taking on exceptional talent. Importantly, if the company culture is right, a newly appointed neurodivergent candidate will find their workplace expectations met and will want to stay.</p>
<p>At the basic level, neurodivergent candidates are really no different from anyone else in their expectations from work. They want to do something with purpose, they want to feel they have a good career ahead of them and they want to feel valued. They want to work in an environment where they can deliver their best work, make a clear contribution and work comfortably with their fellow workers. If the company culture is right, they will achieve this and alongside this the business will achieve more.</p>

Read our insights about how organisations across the UK should be creating a culture where neurodivergent talent thrives

Creating a culture where neurodivergent talent thrives

<p>Wow, what a week it was at London Tech Week 2023! As a tech enthusiast, I was thrilled to connect with some of the brightest minds in the industry. With so much going on throughout the week, I wanted to share with you my key takeaways from this amazing event.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>The UK is becoming a tech superpower.</h3>
<p>One of the most noticeable themes throughout London Tech Week was the UK's push to become a technology superpower. It's no secret that the US is reviewing its relationship with blockchain and crypto organizations, which provides a massive opportunity for the UK to offer growth potential and an alternative regulation. A16Z choosing to set up their European head office here in the UK is a nod to that! Moreover, Rishi Sunak talked about positioning the UK as a technology superpower and attracting more foreign tech direct investment projects. This goal shouldn't be limited to just London but should also expand to other big cities like Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>AI needs regulation&nbsp;</h3>
<p>AI is undoubtedly one of the most promising technologies available today. However, there are still concerns regarding governance that must be addressed. With AI developing at an exponential rate, it brings both new opportunities and unforeseen risks - making strong governance crucial. So, it was great to hear Sunak announce that London will be hosting the first global summit on AI this September with leaders all over the world attending, it's clear the UK is keen to be at the centre of the long-term growth of AI and there is hope that we can really begin to leverage the benefits that come with that. Upskilling our workforce is key We've known for quite some time how vital it is that we upskill our workforce, and effectively upscale them for roles required today and in years to come. The conversations around OpenAI and ChatGPT have only accelerated that importance. Euan Blair from Multiverse talked about how we shouldn't necessarily follow traditional routes of learning anymore but instead leverage technology and create a supervised learning ecosystem where people globally have access to coaches, mentors, and tutors.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Purpose is essential</h3>
<p>Scaling your culture while keeping faith with your core qualities is becoming increasingly important as businesses evolve from start-up to scale-up. Bev White, CEO of our parent company Nash Squared, joined a panel discussing the topic of scaling your culture � and it was something that came up again and again throughout the week. It�s clear it�s becoming more and more important for businesses to understand exactly what their �north star� is, where they are heading as a collective, and how exactly they should build a thriving culture whilst scaling up, having a �purpose�. Candidates nowadays want not just salary and benefits but also want to know what drives businesses forward.</p>
<h3>&nbsp;</h3>
<h3>Providing a platform for entrepreneurs&nbsp;</h3>
<p>Jeremy Hunt's speech highlighted how the UK is becoming a hub for entrepreneurship with a robust ecosystem. We currently have 42 unicorns in the UK (we are fourth after US, China and India) however almost all of them have had foreign VC investment that has helped them to unicorn status. So there was a lot of conversation around how we can make funding more accessible to our own UK startup businesses without the need of oversees investment. It's essential to provide a platform for growth to our entrepreneurs, and the UK is on track to do just that.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>London Tech Week 2023 was an exciting event that showcased the UK's potential as a tech superpower. With AI, upskilling our workforce, purpose-driven businesses, and entrepreneurship at the forefront of our minds, we can work towards building a better future.</p>

Read about some of the key themes from London Tech Week 2023

5 key takeaways from London Tech Week

<p>In this article, we discuss the key themes and discussion points that came up during WebSummit 2023, and get the thoughts of our team about what it means for the Tech sector going into 2024.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Is AI here to stay?</strong></p>
<p>AI is everything everywhere all at once. It feels like we are in peak AI hype right now with almost every startup seemingly throwing it into their company byline. That feels dangerous, invariably it means there is less to separate one business from the next, and surely they are ripe to be picked off by &lsquo;Big Tech&rsquo; with access to much bigger data sets? Is the strategy to hope for a quick purchase and exit? It seems a highly risky and short-term strategy. Equally as much as AI is suddenly ubiquitous, the interesting trend is the growing number of businesses asking for AI powered features to be disabled until organizations have a better grasp of what the tech really means for their business.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Diversity is key </strong></p>
<p>Web Summit itself felt under threat as it endured a crisis of leadership prior to the conference. Paddy Cosgrove, the event&rsquo;s founder, stepped back and former Wikipedia boss Katherine Maher was appointed CEO. For a conference that has long prided itself on being diverse (43% of the attendees were female, 38% of its speakers) a female CEO feels significant. It&rsquo;ll be interesting to see how she leads the series, especially as it expands into new territories. Maher has cited Web Summit&rsquo;s role as being a place for connection and conversation. Her first task will be bringing some of those who stepped away from the brand to come back to the table, and shape the future of the conversations that form the narrative at Web Summit. That may dictate just how valuable startups and growing businesses regard the connections made at the event.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Leading with compassion </strong></p>
<p>One of the more unsurprising takeaways was the need for so many speakers to talk about the value of authenticity. Aside from AI, it was probably the word of 2023&rsquo;s event. If you&rsquo;re having to tell everyone how authentic you are, and how important it is to exhibit authenticity - do you really have that quality? Rather than a load of hot air about values which should be self-evident, it is time for the industry to use its voice and be outward looking. We need to talk about the need to lead with compassion, to focus on the clear and obvious challenges facing society, and fight for inclusion and equity. Talk about authenticity feels small in ambition as there is so much more that we can all tie in to that going forward.</p>

In this article, we discuss the key themes and discussion points that came up during WebSummit 2023, and get the thoughts of our team about what it means for the Tech sector going into 2024.

Key Takeaways from WebSummit 2023

<p>Recently, Nash Squared, Spinks' parent company, in partnership with Cypher Coders, were delighted to welcome nine children to our head office for our very first Hackathon Camp.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J6AOhBE54o&amp;feature=youtu.be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to watch our video of the day.</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>This was the first of what we hope to be a number of Camps across the organisation, where children aged 9 -16 learnt about how tech is changing the world, as well as getting hands-on experience of coding and problem solving, with a particular emphasis on using tech to help make our world a greener place. Along the way they programmed drones, raced robots, and developed important creative and problem solving skills.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>"Hackathons are an excellent way to introduce children to technology in a fun and creative way. We are delighted to be working with Nash Squared to inspire children from the widest of backgrounds to take their interest in technology to a new level."&nbsp;</p>
<p>Elizabeth Tweedale, CEO of Cypher Coders.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>"It was exciting and inspiring to see so much young talent here at Nash Squared. Seven in ten digital leaders cite that a technology skills shortage is holding back their organisation, and many more identify a need to broaden diversity in the sector. I am delighted we helped nine young people see that a career in technology is creative and interesting and really does give you an opportunity to change the world."</p>
<p>Bev White, CEO Nash Squared.</p>

Recently, Nash Squared, Spinks' parent company, in partnership with Cypher Coders, were delighted to welcome nine children to our head office for our very first Hackathon Camp.

Nash Squared Hackathon

<p>Nash Squared CEO, Bev White, takes out her crystal ball and shares her thoughts on what will be trending in technology in 2024. This article first appeared on ComputerWeekly.com. Technology is moving and developing faster than ever before. What do the next twelve months have in store? We like to look ahead at the end of every year, even if we don&rsquo;t always get it right.</p>
<p>Last year, we didn&rsquo;t see generative AI coming (just like everyone else), although we did predict that it would be a massive year for automation, robotics and RPA (Robotic Process Automation). We also predicted that balancing the digital and the human would be key &ndash; this feels like a more pertinent point than ever now. And that getting the hybrid/in-office working model right would be an important focus &ndash; and this has proven to be a big area during 2023 as Big Tech in particular has increased its push to bring talent back inside its walls.</p>
<p>Here is what we see as five really major trends next year:</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Generative AI will need time to hit the heights There is no doubt that generative AI will continue to be a hugely important disruptor as the technology develops and organisations deploy it into their operations. However, we believe that after the initial excitement and hype of 2023, people will begin to ask more searching questions around &ldquo;What can we actually do with this?&rdquo;. That&rsquo;s not to say that genAI won&rsquo;t lead to incredible things. But that the eureka applications of it may take a bit longer to emerge. AI will become more embedded into day-to-day technology infrastructure &ndash; integrated into browsers, search engines and databases &ndash; so that it becomes less visible. This makes it even more important to get the rules around it right. Regulation is expected to appear soon, such as the EU&rsquo;s AI Act, and it will be vital that this provides clear guidelines around transparency, explainability and anti-bias and disinformation measures.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>But we will see the first massive AI-generated cyber attack On the risk side, generative AI has obvious capabilities to help cyber criminals launch sophisticated attacks at scale. We are already seeing instances of incredibly convincing, tailored phishing emails that appear to have been generated with AI. In time, the success rate of phishing campaigns could leap exponentially, from the present level of about 0.1% to anywhere around 20%. Then there is &ldquo;AI poisoning&rdquo; &ndash; infecting the content that is subsumed into the learning process of an AI algorithm so that it becomes untrue, biased or downright malicious. To this we can also add malware - it may not be long before generative AI can develop malicious code that is almost impossible to block. Malware potency could hit new levels, and the cyber industry will need all its skill and investment (and some help from &ldquo;good&rdquo; AI) to combat it. When we put these in combination, it&rsquo;s not difficult to see the risks that generative AI poses &ndash; and it would be a surprise if we did not see it harnessed to create a significant, disruptive and prominent attack somewhere within the public sphere during 2024.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>It won&rsquo;t all be about AI Although AI and generative AI will be dominant themes, other areas will continue to develop. We can expect quantum computing to grow as an area of interest. Our 2023 Digital Leadership Report found that one in ten digital leaders globally are already actively considering its use, and quantum as a service (QaaS) is beginning to grow as an offering from the likes of IBM, Amazon and Google. If the cost of accessing QaaS falls, increasing numbers of businesses are likely to start using quantum computers to speed up the calculations and computations they need to solve key challenges. Uptake in quantum computing will be accelerated further if governments around the world follow the UK&rsquo;s lead in committing significant investment (&pound;2.5bn) in this area. Meanwhile, another non-AI discipline that we expect to see growing in 2024 is platform engineering. This featured at number 4 in Gartner&rsquo;s top ten technology trends for 2024, and we agree it&rsquo;s going to be big. Through platform engineers developing self-service infrastructure, templates and frameworks, it enables developers to accelerate their productivity and get to end results faster &ndash; at a time when technology budget growth is coming under more pressure, we can expect more focus on platform engineering as a way of bolstering ROI.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>People will be frustrated about the lack of diversity progress in tech Levels of diversity in tech remain stubbornly and disappointingly low, despite efforts to change the position. Only 14% of tech leaders are women; while only around a quarter of tech teams overall are female and about the same proportion are from ethnic minority backgrounds. I think 2024 will be a year when increasing numbers of stakeholders within tech will lose patience with the glacial rate of change &ndash; and what I hope they do in response is to take control of the factors they can influence. That means making a difference on the ground, within individual companies and teams &ndash; reviewing not only the hiring policy and processes, but also questions such as &ldquo;who represents our team in engagement with senior leadership?&rdquo;. Try putting forward someone different, reflecting more diversity &ndash; and you&rsquo;ll almost certainly find they do a great job and bring a different perspective to the Board, maybe changing their perceptions. It&rsquo;s by building a wave, one team and one company at a time, that change will happen.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The heat will rise on sustainability The fact is that the tech industry needs to do more around sustainability and the road to Net Zero. One of the most sobering findings in the Digital Leadership Report is that the technology sector lags at the bottom of the pile in terms of having a Net Zero target and plan &ndash; 58% of respondents from tech companies said they didn&rsquo;t have one, far ahead of the next two worst offenders, healthcare (51%) and business/professional services (50%). This position really isn&rsquo;t tenable. The pressure will inexorably rise on businesses across sectors to report and disclose more around their sustainability targets and progress. The tech sector has to get behind this. The big players already have ambitious and far-advanced programmes, but we need to see more commitment down through the industry. Rather like with diversity, I hope tech players focus on some of the often quite simple things they can control to lower their carbon footprint: are there ways of cutting email traffic, taking off unnecessary attachments, is there a clear policy that devices should be turned off overnight (where possible), is travel being managed down with collaboration tools utilised instead? Look up and down your value chain and see where you can make a difference. Ask your cloud and data centre providers about their footprints and what actions they are taking. Embrace transparency and disclosure. As a sector, the time has come for technology to grasp the nettle. This will be placed under a fiercer microscope in 2024.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>2023 has been a challenging year for many businesses. There are signs that conditions in 2024 may be modestly better, perhaps appreciably so in the second half. Whatever happens, technology will remain critically important to most organisations&rsquo; operating models and transformation aspirations &ndash; putting those technology businesses who are really focused on serving their customers&rsquo; needs in a strong position to flourish.</p>

Nash Squared CEO, Bev White, takes out her crystal ball and shares her thoughts on what will be trending in technology in 2024. This article first appeared on ComputerWeekly.com. Technology is moving and developing faster than ever before. What do the next twelve months have in store? We like to look ahead at the end of every year, even if we don’t always get it right.

Tech trends: what will be hot in 2024?

<p>Hiring an effective salesperson can have a major impact on your business. If you're responsible for hiring new talent into your team, it's helpful to understand the key areas in which you must focus on in order to get a salesperson that has the right culture fit as well as long-term objectives in mind.</p>
<p>In this article we discuss the common stumbling blocks businesses find when hiring new talent, while highlighting key tips for other start-up scale-up business hiring in the tech space.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Understand what you need</h3>
<p>Many companies have issues pinpointing when to hire a salesperson, understanding how many salespeople they need and what level the candidate should be. However, it's vitally important you get this right, as the candidates you bring in will be at the forefront of representing your business.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Hire a Customer Success Manager</h3>
<p>One thing a company can do initially is bring a Customer Success Manager into the business. These people are great at representing the company, tell fantastic stories, create useful case studies and most likely will cost a lot less than a senior sales candidate. They are great advocates of the business and will build long-term client retention for you.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Look at previous success&nbsp;</h3>
<p>A good candidate will have great knowledge in their market, be able to tell you what they would do stepping into the business and be able to provide some sort of references that can back this up from previous roles. It's easy for anyone to say they've overachieved, or always hit their targets but can they back this up with data? A good way of doing this is to ask them to demonstrate what they would do stepping into the business through a presentation in the final stage interview. A lot of good candidates will even have a portfolio of companies they've worked with, the work they carried out and still hold good relationships with their old colleagues.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Focus on attracting talent</h3>
<p>This is something every company wants but not all can achieve. If you want the best salespeople you need to have something that�s attractive for them to work for you. This can be salary and OTE if affordable, benefits or stock options.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Set your budget</h3>
<p>There are things to consider when looking at salaries and OTE's. First you need to figure out the level of candidate that you are looking for, what experience they need to step into this role and what's expected of them stepping into the business. Are they coming from a start-up or a large enterprise? Salaries can range from 80k - 120,000k plus commission and stock for a senior individual with great experience.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Set goals and objectives</h3>
<p>How do you know if your sales team or individual is working out? You should now if this candidate is right and can perform within the first 3-6 months of bringing them into the business. A good way of understanding this is by tracking performance on a monthly and quarterly basis, by setting achievable goals and objectives. By doing this, you can clearly see if your new sales hire is working effectively, needs more time to settle in, or isn't quite the right fit for the business.</p>

Find out about the common stumbling blocks businesses find when hiring new talent, as well as some top tips for scale-up business hiring in the tech space.

6 tips to hiring a successful sales person

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<p>Previously, the word 'unprecedented' was something used sparingly, kept for exceptional and rare occurrences. But jump forward to today, and that word is now commonplace &mdash; the COVID19 pandemic, global events such as the war in Ukraine, record-breaking inflation, and now predictions of the longest recession in recent history are becoming the reality most people and businesses face.</p>
<p>Businesses everywhere are facing greater uncertainty driven in many instances by factors outside of their control. So how do you best plan and prepare for the future when there is a high level of uncertainty? What happens if the unprecedented strikes a fast-growing company?</p>
<p>One of the current challenges many companies, particularly start-ups and scale-ups, face is rapid growth. Indeed, this is a good and means that things are going well. Customer demand is likely high and as such you need to hire the resources quickly to meet this increased demand. There's nothing like seeing your team and your business grow.</p>
<p>Finding the right talent with the right growth mindset to help you take your business to the next level is an exciting time. But how do you do it? What do you need to put in place to attract this talent?</p>
<p>An in-house recruitment team is one tried and tested route to helping you achieve your ambitious growth plans. But it's certainly not a quick fix. Building an in-house recruitment team is a process that requires a lot of investment in time. Onboarding the team into the culture of the business, developing and defining your employer value proposition, setting up processes, and ensuring a first-class candidate experience is central to it, training hiring managers on how to interview, creating a pipeline of potential talent, scheduling interviews, and feeding back to candidates not to mention managing the candidate through from offer to placement all need to be bottomed out.</p>
<p>But once done, it's an amazing feeling. But what happens to this team you have invested so much in during uncertain and unprecedented times? How do you safeguard that recruitment team when the unexpected happens?</p>
<p>Whatever the 'unprecedented event is, in reality, it usually means one thing. For your company to survive, you need to make some tough decisions on where you can cut costs. And as we have already seen from the likes of Netflix, Klarna, and Pelaton, in-house recruitment teams, unless they can be redeployed elsewhere in the business, are often the first to go.</p>
<p>The embedded recruitment solution &mdash; an alternative to scaling up quickly. An easy way to prevent brand damage and save you from hiring a complete talent department is to use an embedded recruitment solution. An embedded talent team is a great way to build the flexibility you need into your hiring strategy.</p>
<p>Partnering with an external talent provider on an as-needed basis allows you to scale-up quickly while avoiding the expense of maintaining a full-time internal recruitment team. Either acting as your talent acquisition team or bolstering the one you already have in place; their support and expertise can be flexed up or down as business needs change.</p>
<p>Ultimately you have complete control over the amount of help needed. Whether it's support with ad hoc hires or the need to hire a huge volume of new recruits, the embedded talent team scales with you, making you much more agile to respond to increases or decreases in demands.</p>
<p>A flexible solution to your talent needs. Aside from the negative PR that is associated with redundancies, making a talent team redundant is a difficult and emotional process. With an embedded talent team, you don't have to go through this worry. Because they are not full-time employees, they can be brought in as needed, without the same level of commitment or notice period as would be required for a full-time team member.</p>
<p>This can be helpful when a company needs to ramp up or down their staffing levels quickly, or when they need to fill a specific skills gap on a project basis. Regardless of your growth plans, whether it's five times your headcount or more, the beauty of an embedded talent solution is that it scales with you. Moreover, it scales quickly, much quicker in fact than if you had to hire more into your own talent acquisition team. Essentially it provides you with exactly the right amount of support to get what you need. And when you've finished hiring, or another 'unprecedented' event hits, reducing the amount of support you need is uncomplicated - the embedded talent team roll off-site seamlessly. No redundancies and importantly no damage to your brand. You have complete control over the growth of your business without any adverse effects.</p>
<p>Commercial Benefit There are many benefits to having an embedded talent team as opposed to a full-time team too. For one, the cost benefits are significant. An embedded talent team can be a fraction of the cost of a full-time team, and they are just as effective, if not more so.</p>
<p>As an example, when a company has a full-time team, they are responsible for the salaries, benefits, pension contributions, national insurance, and other associated costs of those employees. The cost of an embedded talent team, on the other hand, is limited to the cost of the services they provide. This can be a significant saving for companies, particularly when the services required are only needed on a short-term or project basis.</p>
<p>There are other benefits too such as diversity of ideas, speed of deployment being significantly reduced. And let's not forget, ultimately they are a supplier to your business and will have a very strong vested interest in delivering results quickly, Expertise On Demand When building a talent team, it is important to ensure all areas of the talent cycle are covered.</p>
<p>Talent is more than just recruitment. In today's market, an experienced talent partner is an invaluable asset. Engaging with people who can create a role priority matrix, devise a skill-set risk assessment and ensure there is continuous workforce planning is critical to any business growth. However, hiring several senior hires in talent can be costly, time-consuming, and often unnecessary in the longer term.</p>
<p>When engaging an embedded talent solution, you also have access to wisdom, experience, and learnings gained from multiple projects. Leaning on this experience will help ensure you lay the right foundations for future growth. Business Brand Finally, a strong business brand and relevant networks is imperative to building your talent pool.</p>
<p>Your network is important to generate a continuous, sustainable pool of potential employees who are inspired by your business. It's not something that happens overnight but can be destroyed very quickly, particularly in instances where you are having to make redundancies within your internal recruitment team. Internally, redundancies can damage morale and motivation levels, which can have a big impact on productivity.</p>
<p>Externally, it can damage your reputation with customers, suppliers, and future employees. Don't forget your internal recruitment team is often the first point of contact for all your new employees. This again is where the flexibility of an embedded talent solution safeguards your brand reputation.</p>
<p>If you do need to roll-off the embedded talent team, it isn't a shock to your new hires. They were always only a support solution. The bottom line is that an embedded talent team offers a number of advantages over a full-time team, including cost savings, flexibility, and access to a wider range of skills and expertise. For companies looking at how they optimize their workforce, an embedded talent team may be the way to go.</p>
</div>
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Businesses everywhere are facing greater uncertainty driven in many instances by factors outside of their control. So how do you best plan and prepare for the future when there is a high level of uncertainty? What happens if the unprecedented strikes a fast-growing company?

Embedded Talent: How can you scale and remain agile at the same time?

<p>We were delighted to end what turned out to be a fantastic Birmingham Tech Week by supporting TechMids Conference with their annual event at the ICC in Birmingham, hosting world class speakers and a range of different Meetups including Brum.js, Golang and DevOps.</p>
<p>Key Talks James Constantinou, specialist DevOps recruitment consultant here at Spinks, had this to say about the event: &ldquo;It was great to hear from both sides of the coin on some of the challenges that start-up founders face when growing their business in the scale-up/start-up zone. We had talks from founders of later stage scale-ups and early age start-ups, giving us an eagle-eyed view of some of the struggles they can face whilst scaling".</p>
<p>Another fascinating talk was the one hosted by PitchHub Ltd the IoD Fintech &amp; Finance Group: &ldquo;Funding Startups and Scaleups; The Roles and Opportunities for Corporate Organisations&rdquo;. I was particularly interested in finding out how corporate businesses can have a fundamental impact on the growth of budding start-ups and scale-ups, as most typically assume the two are separated from each other, even sometimes seen as competitors within their markets."</p>
<p>Diversity and Inclusion We also heard from our very own Kirsty Thomas Brown with her talk &ldquo;Beyond the Business Case: Embracing Diversity and Inclusion for Lasting Impact&rdquo;. "Most businesses are aware that there is a strong business case for diversity, with studies suggesting that a more diverse workforce creates a better culture, working environment and performance. However, leading with diversity and thinking that this will create the increased performance, culture and profits is misguided, and it's important to recognise that a diverse environment does not mean it is inclusive by default. It is necessary to recognise the nuances in becoming "more diverse", and to ensure it is not seen as a tick box exercise that can inadvertently reduce people to members of identity groups rather than the individual they are."</p>
<p>The future of Tech in the Midlands With the recent announcement showing Birmingham becoming one of the fastest-growing UK startup ecosystems for venture capital investment in the UK, at +195% since 2019, it&rsquo;s clear that the Midlands is on the right track for longer term growth in the sector. Of course, London is still the main player in the market, but its share of VC funds is starting to become more equally spread across the region. Martin Ward, West Midlands Tech Commissioner states: &ldquo;This is exactly the effect we see for Silicon Valley relative to Austin, Miami and Dallas&mdash;it&rsquo;s not a &lsquo;winner takes all&rsquo; game and it&rsquo;s clear the UK has space for regional tech superpowers alongside London.&rdquo;</p>
<p>It was amazing to see so much passion and positivity about the Tech sector, and with the news that Birmingham is starting to see some real growth in the industry, we can look forward to a promising 2024 and beyond.</p>

We were delighted to end what turned out to be a fantastic Birmingham Tech Week by supporting TechMids Conference with their annual event at the ICC in Birmingham, hosting world class speakers and a range of different Meetups including Brum.js, Golang and DevOps.

Key Takeaways from Birmingham Tech Week and TechMids

<p>Earlier this month, Spinks, Investec Capital Solutions and Investec Wealth and Investment (UK) hosted an expert roundtable for CEO&rsquo;s, founders and investors to share their experiences about their growth journey as an entrepreneur and provide valuable insights for others to take on board. In what was a fantastic evening, it was great to hear from such talented people in the scale-up industry, including three expert key note speakers who hosted insightful discussions about their individual areas of expertise.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Advice for founders</strong></p>
<p>To kick the evening off, Philip Green, ex-CFO of Deliveroo and Amazon, talked about his experience as an investor and his role at Amazon, specifically focusing on discussing: &ldquo;where is the value in a business?&rdquo; and &ldquo;how and when should you go to market in order to be successful?&rdquo;. Philip focused on the need for businesses to be ambitious and to dream big enough in order to be successful long term and get the return out of the business &ndash; and how any financial model is just an output of ambition. Interestingly, he spoke about the need to focus on your vision and your &ldquo;why&rdquo; rather than the general forecast to ensure you keep your values and core fundamentals in check.</p>
<p>Ensure you know exactly what your strategy is, and more importantly, understand the steps you need to take to achieve your growth plan. Being a founder is difficult. You have to be obsessed with your goal and become extremely detailed orientated. But you also have to accept that people aren&rsquo;t as interested in your business as you are &ndash; you have to be everything all at once and have to know all of the answers. It&rsquo;s a difficult job and the bigger your business gets, the harder this becomes.</p>
<p>Leaning on his experience, one of the things Philip suggested to cope with this is focusing on building a community around your business to help with any hurdles or failures that occur along your growth journey, and to support and balance your beliefs and humility. Be willing to say this isn&rsquo;t the right route and move on quickly &ndash; and be agile enough to ensure you don&rsquo;t stay on the wrong path. Philip also talked about the importance of coaching and mentoring from leadership when on your growth journey. Ensure you understand the VC market &ndash; and have a high bar when it comes hiring, so that you get talented people on board who can support your growth. Making it your employees journey too &ndash; and not just yours &ndash; is an effective way of getting them on board and creating a high performance culture. Ensure you listen to your team, and make sure they keep you accountable! Often, your most passionate employees are the ones that make the most difference to your team &ndash; not necessarily the most talented &ndash; so it&rsquo;s important to keep that in mind when hiring new employees.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Managing economic changes</strong></p>
<p>Kiran Russell, Head of FX Dealing at Investec Bank, was the second speaker of the night. He discussed the current key macro-economic impacts that have caused the market to be as it is today, and went into further detail about what&rsquo;s to come going into 2024. He touched on the main key drivers over the last few years:</p>
<ul>
<li>Covid-19</li>
<li>The war in Ukraine</li>
<li>Uncertainty and lack of confidence causing the pound to drop further</li>
<li>US dollar continues to hold strong</li>
</ul>
<p>Kiran discussed the likelihood of a mild recession over the winter into Q1 of 2024, with the pound getting more interest and therefore becoming stronger and stronger throughout the year - noting that the mortgage market is unlikely to be majorly effected by this as only around 30% of housing in the UK is mortgaged. If a larger recession hits the UK in 2024, there will likely be phased in changes by whoever is in Government &ndash; whether that be a continued Conservative or new Labour leadership. Kiran discussed how spending power in the UK is likely to change over the next two decades, and how you can manage this risk as a business using three main methods:</p>
<ul>
<li>Do nothing and stick around.</li>
<li>Lock in at a rate and plan around that for the next 12 months.</li>
<li>Move back to a data focused strategy.<br><br></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Using data and technology</strong></p>
<p>Scott-Ashley Whiteley, Co-Founder of Blott.io, concluded the evening with his talk around creating user-centric technology in the Fintech space. Scott talked about how early stage founders often mix passion and bias with perception when it comes to creating user-centric technology for their business &ndash; often using their new product very confidently without having thought of their target audience, their customers, their route to market or potential problems that might occur along the way. This has a much bigger risk when going to market with a product that is based on passion &ndash; there needs to be a clear mission with defined objectives.</p>
<p>Touching on recruitment, Scott discussed about how hiring can be a challenge for new startups as they know they need resource but they&rsquo;re often not exactly sure where to start. He recommended building cohesive product teams in groups of 5 for the first twelve months, which gives founders the opportunity to review their strategy, take a look at themselves and where their business is heading. Tracking data is essential for building a product and staying away from &ldquo;passion-first&rdquo; growth &ndash; as it allows you to leverage key data points to influence the product you&rsquo;re building. Using the correct technology to track this data is also key, ensuring you invest enough into this to get the right data back will often influence just how successful your growth journey will be. Scott also discussed how future products are likely to become hyper personalised which will massively influence buying behaviour and the way you should define your go-to-market strategy. With the right governance, products are likely to become more focused around the individual &ndash; tracking key personal metrics and data.<br><br></p>
<p><em>Want to join our next expert roundtable? Get in touch with us at <a target="_new">info@wearespinks.com</a> to confirm your interest now.</em></p>

Earlier this month, Spinks, Investec Capital Solutions and Investec Wealth and Investment (UK) hosted an expert roundtable for CEO’s, founders and investors to share their experiences about their growth journey as an entrepreneur and provide valuable insights for others to take on board. 

Gather and Grow Roundtable: Spinks & Investec

<p>Spinks, the trusted talent partner to the start-up and scale-up community, are delighted to announce that after our embedded talent solution, Spinks on Site, was shortlisted for three awards at this year's In House Recruitment awards, we were chosen to win the Silver Award in the Outsourced In-House Recruitment category.</p>
<p>The awards evening was hosted at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge on the 29th November, and brought together talent recruitment teams from across the UK to announce winners for a range of categories recognising the top achievements across the industry.</p>
<p>We are delighted to have been recognised for the hard work our fantastic talent team put in on our embedded project with Couchbase, and are thrilled to be able to make a real difference in supporting businesses to scale up successfully. Chantelle Jones, Talent Strategy Director here at Spinks, had this to say:</p>
<p>&ldquo;We are absolutely thrilled to be recognised as Silver Winners at the In House Recruitment Awards for our embedded talent project with Couchbase &ndash; this recognition is a testament to our dedication to supporting our scale-up clients find the right talent and grow successfully. It is an absolute honour to have been nominated for three different awards in just our second full year as a service, and to win Silver is a reflection of how talented our Spinks on Site team is and how well they support our clients. We are incredibly proud of everyone who has contributed to this accomplishment and appreciate all the support our clients, candidates and partners have provided to us along our journey. Our embedded talent solution is more than just finding talented candidates; it&rsquo;s also about understanding our clients&rsquo; needs, culture and longer-term goals.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Our project with Couchbase saw us exceed all targets by developing a scalable and repeatable graduation programme from the ground up and developed their sales and technology teams on a global scale. You can read more about our project with Couchbase here.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>About Spinks on Site</strong></p>
<p>Spinks on Site is the embedded talent solution of Spinks, the trusted recruitment partner to the start-up and scale-up global community and part of the wider Nash Squared Group. With over thirty years of experience, Spinks has a rich heritage and an unrivalled global network to help businesses grow their teams in an increasingly demanding market. You can find out more about our embedded talent solution here.</p>

Spinks, the trusted talent partner to the start-up and scale-up community, are delighted to announce that we have recently won the Silver Award in the Outsourced In-House Recruitment category.

Spinks on Site win Silver at the In House Recruitment Awards

<p>As you know, scaling a business can be an expensive and time-consuming process with constant hiring and firing. By getting someone who is a market specialist, flexible, and uses their most efficient short-term solutions, contractors can solve those problems completely.</p>
<p>If you are having trouble deciding whether you should hire a permanent member of staff or a contractor, to make that decision easier, here are three key reasons to consider hiring a contractor:&nbsp;</p>
<p>1.Time On time-sensitive projects, contractors can start on short notice. In start-ups, most projects are conscious of time, so hiring a contractor who can get things moving as quickly and efficiently as possible will save you time and money.</p>
<p>2.Market experts for Projects Contractors are experts in what they do, so they are valuable for one-off projects. They will have worked on a variety of requirements, which makes the scope of knowledge obtained in a contractor's world more versatile than a permanent employee. They can not only adapt to changing work environments and provide quick turnaround times, but they can also implement disruptive technologies to increase efficiencies against your current process.</p>
<p>3.Different perspective Contractors have exposure to a variety of different projects, leading to why their knowledge is quite diverse (compared to a typical permanent employee). However, it is not just about their extensive knowledge, they can provide an external perspective compared to the rest of the team. An unbiased opinion from a contractor could help you spot opportunities for improvement.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>Next steps</h4>
<p>In general, you need to consider your hiring goals and decide whether a contractor is the best option for your company. Perhaps hiring a freelancer, permanent, or temporary employee would be a great first step for your start-up. You know your business best, so get the best for your current needs.</p>

If you are having trouble deciding on the type of next hire for your business, here are three key reasons why hiring a contractor might be for you.

3 Step Guide to Knowing When to Hire a Contractor

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<h3 class="section-title">A world of disruption.</h3>
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<p>Almost nine in ten digital leaders believe that major global change is happening faster than ever.</p>
<p>Where once disruption might have been a term reserved for new entrants in the market or a competitor&rsquo;s new products, it now comes from all directions including geopolitics, supply chains and &lsquo;the great resignation&rsquo;.</p>
<p>As the world grows more interconnected, one region can have direct implications for other geographies.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>88% believe major change is happening faster than ever.<br><br></strong></li>
<li><strong>88% are concerned by economic disruption.<br><br></strong></li>
<li><strong>63% are concerned by supply chain issues.<br></strong></li>
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<h3 class="section-title"><br>Budgets drop, but remain high.</h3>
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<p>Digital leaders are facing economic pressure, those expecting budget growth has dropped from six in ten to just over half.</p>
<p>That said, this remains the third highest reading in the 17 years we have been measuring it.</p>
<p>When it comes to the economy, technology has a role to play both when the sun shines, and when the clouds gather.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>52% expect tech budget increases.<br><br></strong></li>
<li><strong>Top 3 aims include: operational efficiency, customer experience, new products.</strong></li>
</ul>
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<p>Managing cybersecurity has never been more challenging.</p>
<p>The increased use of the cloud and global unrest have led to 40% of our respondents fearing an attack from foreign powers &ndash; over three times what it was in 2018.</p>
<p>Overall, major cyberattacks have jumped by almost a fifth in the last 12 months, and only around a third of organisations consider themselves &lsquo;very well&rsquo; positioned to deal with the challenge.</p>
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<li class="col-md-12"><strong>40% fear attacks from foreign powers.<br><br></strong></li>
<li class="col-md-12"><strong>28% have been attacked in the last 2 years.<br><br></strong></li>
<li><strong>51% of large organisations have been attacked in the last 2 years.</strong></li>
</ul>
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<h3 class="section-title">Skills shortages.</h3>
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<p>There is no let-up in the war for talent.</p>
<p>Up to 70% of this year&rsquo;s digital leaders state that a skills shortage prevents them from keeping up with the pace of change; the highest we have seen since we started reporting 24 years ago.</p>
<p>Six in ten feel the rising cost of living has made salary demands unsustainable.</p>
<p>However it isn&rsquo;t all doom and gloom, remote working has enabled a quarter of organisations to start recruiting talent from overseas.</p>
<p>The market for talent is now global.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>70% suffering major skills shortage.<br><br></strong></li>
<li><strong>58% planning to grow tech team.<br><br></strong></li>
<li><strong>62% feel they will never have enough tech staff.</strong></li>
</ul>
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<p>Tech spend on cloud remains strong, but it has slowed in emerging tech like artificial intelligence (AI), automation and big data, threatening opportunities to innovate through global economic instability.</p>
<p>Although almost two-thirds of digital leaders think that big data and analytics will be in the top 2 technologies to deliver competitive advantage in the next year, only a fifth feel that they are effective at using data insights to generate more revenue.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</div>
<div class="col-md-6">
<ul>
<li><strong>64% see big data as a competitive advantage.<br><br></strong></li>
<li><strong>21% are realising revenue from data.<br><br></strong></li>
<li><strong>Implementations have shrunk by 10%.</strong></li>
</ul>
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<p>During the depth of the pandemic, technology that enabled remote working kept many organisations alive.</p>
<p>But is the honeymoon period over?</p>
<p>Work-life balance remains a key positive of hybrid working, but productivity has dropped significantly this year.</p>
<p>Many organisations are thinking very carefully about how they support their employees as they move into a hybrid working model, and many are targeting wellbeing and mental health, with some success.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>53% have their staff in the office 2-3 times a week.<br><br></strong></li>
<li><strong>40% feel collaboration has declined.</strong></li>
</ul>
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<h3 class="section-title">Gender diversity, good news.</h3>
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<p>At last, some positive news in gender diversity &ndash; almost a quarter of the tech team is now female, and the pipeline is improving, with 28% of new hires being female.</p>
<p>Female digital leader respondents to our survey are now at the highest level there has ever been, but the figure is still low (14%), and the overall pace of change in female participation is slow.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>28% of new hires are female.<br><br></strong></li>
<li><strong>14% of digital leaders are female.</strong></li>
</ul>
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<h3 class="section-title">Making difficult choices.</h3>
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<p>It&rsquo;s never been easy being a digital leader.</p>
<p>The challenge for many is to balance what&rsquo;s urgent and what&rsquo;s important, and for many, dealing with cloud, cyber and resourcing is enough to be getting on with.</p>
<p>But what this research shows over its 24 years of running, is that the really successful digital leaders look beyond what is immediately in front of them.</p>
<p>While cloud will keep you alive today, it is data, innovation and diversity that will help you flourish in the future.</p>
</div>
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</section>

Download one of the most influential global studies on technology strategy.

The Nash Squared Digital Leadership Survey. How do you compare?

<p>Not Found</p>

<p>About Us</p>

<p>We're passionate about what we do. Whether you're looking to hire at scale or just need a small number of new employees to help you reach that next milestone, we lean on our expertise in talent acquisition to find the right people for your business.</p>

<p>Recruiting the right talent for your business.</p>

<p>As specialist experts in recruitment for start-up and scale-up business, we are backed by Nash Squared, and specialise in recruiting for a range of different sectors. Using our expertise within the market, we're able to draw on a wide range of information and data to bring you insights into the latest hiring trends, in-demand skills and salaries &ndash; allowing you to make data-led and informed hiring decisions.</p>

<p>We're located in the UK, across Europe and the US and, like our start-up and scale-up clients, we're continuing to expand month on month. <br><br>The Spinks team connect many of the world's top innovators with highly skilled and diverse talent. We focus on people with growth mindsets to help accelerate and fuel your growth.</p>

<p>What you need to know about Spinks.</p>

<p>Our talented recruitment team are passionate about finding you the right people for your business. Experienced in a range of industries within the start-up, scale-up space, their commitment and results-driven approach will support you in delivering on your growth plans.</p>

<p>Meet the team.</p>

<p>Case Studies.</p>

<p>We're passionate about Diversity and Inclusion. It's the DNA that binds us all together, ensuring we create an enviroment where our team feel that they belong.</p>

<p>Diversity and Inclusion.</p>

<p>We are immensely proud to be recognised as a Hive Employee Voice certified business for our ongoing commitment to continually improve our employee experience through the power of our employees&rsquo; voice.</p>

<p>We are Hive Employee Voice Certified.</p>

<p>You might have a question or two, want to work with us on your growth journey or just fancy saying hello&hellip; we&rsquo;d love to hear from you.</p>

<p>Say hello!</p>

<p>Latest News.</p>

<p>Latest Posts</p>

<p>Contact Us</p>

<p>You might have a question or two, want to work with us on your growth journey or just fancy saying hello...</p><p>we'd love to hear from you.</p>

<p>Contractor recruitment.</p>

<p>Whether you're an established business or looking to scale-up in the near future, flexibility and reliability are crucial on your journey.</p>

<p>Contractors offer you the ability to get key talent through the door, up to speed and to start producing results incredibly quickly.</p>

<p>Here at Spinks, we have over 30+ years of experience in placing contractors across the globe. Our networks are unrivalled, meaning we can draw upon key skills quickly to meet your needs.</p><p><br></p><p>Our end-to-end contract services management saves you time and money. Essentially, we manage everything, from onboarding, compliance and payroll so you don't have to.</p>

<p>Our dedicated contractor team really are experts. Specialising in tech verticals, they excel in finding you the best skills the market has to offer.</p>

<h3>Contractors: your ingredient for growth</h3><p><br></p><p>Speed and flexibility is key when it comes to getting contractors on board. We know just how important it is to find you exceptional talent that can get up to speed and start delivering results quickly.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>And we also know that things change. Should one of your projects start to overrun -&nbsp;and you need to get the job done quickly - we work with you to deploy a contractor from our talent network at speed and ensure you benefit from their experience and skillset and get the project over the line. </p><p><br></p><p>Likewise, if you don't have the skills internally to deliver on a key business goal, we can provide you with contingent resource to get it done.</p><p><br></p>

<p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Contractors work on a time and materials basis; this means you’ll know exactly how much someone will cost for the duration, unsurprisingly (but helpfully) this makes forecasting and cash flow much easier to manage.</p><p><br></p><p>Perhaps you’ve grown rather accustomed to your contractor and it’s mutual... again, no problem. It’s not uncommon for contractors to become permanent members of staff after the project is complete.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Either short term or long term - contractors can be options for both.</p>

<p>Why choose Spinks?</p>

<p>You might have a question or two, want to work with us on your growth journey or just fancy saying hello… we’d love to hear from you.</p>

<p>Diversity and inclusion.</p>

<ul class="custom-ul">
<li class="custom-li senary-color-primary-bg">Celebrate our differences; and recognise the benefit that those differences bring to our business.</li>
<li class="custom-li senary-color-primary-bg">Have consistent global approach to D,E&amp;I; which delivers sustainable outcomes and enables all our people to feel respected and valued for who they are and what they do.</li>
<li class="custom-li senary-color-primary-bg">Our leaders, managers and colleague's role-model inclusive behaviours; which permeate through our business internally &amp; externally.</li>
</ul>

<p>Our diversity <br>promise is to:</p>

<ul class="custom-ul">
<li class="custom-li secondary-color-primary-bg">Measuring sentiment across the organisation through our twice-yearly employee engagement survey and giving people a voice so that we can listen and act on that feedback.</li>
<li class="custom-li secondary-color-primary-bg">Providing a safe environment for our colleagues to connect, share ideas, educate and influence visibility through our Employee Resource Groups.</li>
<li class="custom-li secondary-color-primary-bg">Reporting Globally on our Gender split and implementing actions to support improvements at a senior level through balanced shortlists, talent programmes and mentoring.</li>
</ul>

<p>We know that to deliver on our Diversity Promise we need to keep continually improving which is why our promise is delivered through our actions, including:</p>

<p>Delivering our promises.</p>

<p>Our partners.</p>

<div class="blog-listing-excerpt">
<p>Download one of the most influential global studies on technology strategy.</p>
</div>

<p>Download</p>

<p>Find Talent.</p>

<p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Our team can strategically plan your next recruits or, simply put, jump straight in and start hiring the best people for the positions you’ve already earmarked.</span></p>

<p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Whether it's a specific role or an entire team, we partner with you to identify the right solution that will deliver you the very best results.</span></p>

<p>Accelerate your growth with our recruitment solutions</p>

<p>As specialists across the key tech markets, we can strategically plan your next recruits or simply jump straight in and start hiring the best permanent talent to fuel your growth.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>We work with you to understand your business culture, vision and the skills your team need to source the right talent for your business so they can hit the ground running and help your business to scale-up.</p>

<p>Permanent.</p>

<p>Contractors aren’t always top of mind when considering hiring strategies however, they can provide an unrivalled boost to team performance and productivity - this is particularly useful when looking to get a project over the line or test a service before an important launch date.​&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>No matter the project or the length of time a contractor is needed, we don't just source the right people, we manage all aspects from onboarding to payroll, saving you time and money.</p>

<h2>Contract.</h2>

<p>Our Spinks on Site solution provides you with a quickly deployable Talent Acquisition team who will not only help attract the talent needed for growth but help define proceses and strategy to ensure that growth is achieved, retained and sustained.</p><p><br></p><p>We supercharge outcomes by placing our experienced Talent Managers within your business, managing all aspects of the recruitment process, from attraction and screening through to onboarding. Recruiting talent this way ensures consistency, efficiency and most importantly, a first-rate candidate experience.</p>

<p>If that wasn’t enough, our embedded talent approach offers flexibility, scaling up or down to meet growth demands.</p>

<h2>Embedded.</h2>

<p>If you're looking to evolve your leadership team, our Leadership Search is for you.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Whether you're a scale-up or fast-growth organisation, we connect you with the very best leaders, providing you with talent that will supercharge your growth, share vital industry knowledge and help you secure that all important next level of funding.</p>

<h2>Leadership Search.</h2>

<h2>Say hello!</h2>

<p>This is a 404 error, which means you've clicked on a bad link or entered an invalid URL.</p>

<p>Fuel your growth</p>
<p>as a Greentech scale-up.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">In a world where Green Tech is experiencing unprecedented growth fuelled by heightened global climate concerns and technological advancements, here at Spinks we aim to support you in leading the charge towards a sustainable future.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As you strive to meet ambitious long-term growth targets, we know the competition for the very best tech talent can be fierce.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At Spinks, we recognise the importance of securing the very best talent to propel your business to the next level, maintaining your competitive edge and ensuring you reach your full growth potential.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That&rsquo;s why we are pioneers for change.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We work alongside you, saving you time and money and ensuring you get the very best candidates to support your growth plans as you continue to make a positive difference to the world we live in.</p>

<p>The future is green.</p>

<p>Why Spinks?</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We are experts in connecting innovative Green Tech scale-ups with the very best tech talent. Our Green Tech focused consultants are driven by their passion for sustainability and are experts at evolving our solutions to match your needs.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our unique market insights and strong tech talent networks means we excel at delivering hard-to-find talent that others can't.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We know that as the Green Tech industry continuous to evolve, the demand for the top tech talent will rise &ndash; and being able to lean on our talent networks puts us in the very best position to become your long-term talent partner, supporting you to hit your long-term growth targets.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Partnering with Spinks, you&rsquo;ll reduce your time to hire, save money and get the right talent in at the right time.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p>

<p>Resources.</p>

<p>Find out how we can help</p>

<p>The trusted talent partner for</p>

<p>We are Spinks.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The people you hire shape the success of your business.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>We provide fast-growth businesses with the support they need to find the right talent at the right time, connecting many of the world's top innovators with highly skilled and diverse tech talent, helping to fuel their growth.</p>

<p>Find the right tech talent</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Wherever you are in your career journey, we are here to help you take the next exciting step.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>For over 35 years, we've supported thousands of people just like you take their career to the next level.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>So are you ready for your next adventure?</p>

<p>Find your next role</p>

<p>Connecting fast-growth organisations with exceptional talent.</p>

<h3><strong>What is IR35?</strong></h3><p>IR35 isn&rsquo;t new. It was introduced by the UK government in 2000 to address concerns that workers who were providing their services through intermediaries (such as limited companies) were, in some instances, &lsquo;disguised employees&rsquo; and were therefore avoiding paying employee income tax and national insurance contributions.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>With the introduction of IR35 these individuals are now classed in one of two ways. Where they are &lsquo;inside&rsquo; IR35, PAYE deductions must be made from the entire contract income as if they are an employee.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Where they are &lsquo;outside' IR35 their work is classed as a genuine service, in business on its own account, and not subject to the same tax treatment as employees.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>Why are people talking about it now?</strong></h3><p>Up until 2017 the legal responsibility for defining whether a placement is inside or outside IR35 was with the worker themselves.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In April 2017 that responsibility switched to the client. This was limited to the public sector, but it is probable that this will extend to the majority of the private sector from April 2020.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>What is the risk and responsibility for companies?</strong></h3><p>In a nutshell, companies will need to assess their workforce and determine whether each role is inside or outside IR35. The legislation states that all companies must take &lsquo;reasonable care&rsquo; when assessing, simply classifying every role the same way will not work. You can visit the government&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/understanding-off-payroll-working-ir35" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>IR35 web page here</strong></a>, and <strong><a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-employment-status-for-tax" target="_blank" rel="noopener">see its assessment tool (CEST)</a> </strong>here.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>If a non-compliant procedure is followed the financial penalties can be significant. Just as importantly, your non-pay rolled workforce may also be concerned by this change, and ensuring you engage with this important group will be key to ensuring you retain your supply of talent.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The good news is there is still time, and support available to help. And, in our view, this change is not as &lsquo;cataclysmic&rsquo; as some might suggest.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>What can you do right now?</strong></h3><p>Right now, the government is still finalising the detail of the legislation, but it is critical to begin to plan now. This is what we&rsquo;d recommend:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>1. Conduct an Audit</strong></p><p>Understand who your contingent workers are, how are they engaged, what the contracts look like, how they are paid and what the associated risks are</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>2. Engage Stakeholders</strong></p><p>Engage with your contractors, managers and agencies to tell them what you are doing and how you can work together.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>3. Assign Responsibility</strong></p><p>Build a steering team with responsibility and accountability to oversee the change programme and gain sponsorship.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>How can Spinks help?</strong></h3><p>We are conducting Discovery Meetings with all our clients . We want to help them, and the contractors working for them, plan for this important change. This is entirely free of charge, and typically would include:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Explaining the legislation in more detail</li><li>Helping shape a response plan</li><li>Providing our opinion based on our previous experience, especially in the public sector</li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Spinks also have a wide number of services that can support your needs, ranging from Contractor Audits, to Statement of Work to Outsourcing. We do however believe for most organisations, relatively simple, well thought through changes will bring them in line with legislation.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>What is Spinks' experience?</strong></h3><p>There are few organisations who know this space better than Spinks does. As part of Nash Squared, we have managed tens of thousands of contractors and service providers in a highly compliant way for over three decades, working in some of the most rigorous and regulated sectors.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>During 2017 we helped many of our major public sector clients, and thousands of contractors, deal with the IR35 changes. We also have a wide range of experience working in other countries that have implemented very similar legislation (for example the 2016 DBA Act in the Netherlands).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In addition, we run webinars, conduct research and write articles on this topic. Our insights and opinions have been quoted in the Financial Times, Computer Weekly as well as contractor press.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>For more information around contracts or IR35, contact our resident expert <a href="mailto:rob.pestridge@wearespinks.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rob Pestridge here.</a></strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>&nbsp;</h2>

<p>IR35.</p>

<h3>Apply today.</h3>

<p>Ready for your new role?</p>

<p>Want us to find a job for you? Send us your CV and we'll find you the most suitable role.</p>

<p>Send us your CV</p>

<p>What our candidates say.</p>

<p>Head of Talent</p>

<p>Join our team.</p>

<p>Throughout the years, Spinks has been joined by a diverse bunch - from footballers to archaeologists, gardeners to actors and Olympians to ballerinas - and all have brought one common interest ... TECH! <br><br>Each individual has demonstrated their own personal passion for all things tech, along with respect, honesty and trust to the people around them. Couple that with a drive to succeed, that's what we look for!</p>

<p>You'll be partnering with start-up and scale-up businesses that have a real clarity of purpose, whose goals are to change our world for the better through technology. <br><br>If you want to hear more about our current opportunities please get in touch with us below!</p>

<p>Are you keen to join a team where you&rsquo;ll be in full control of your own personal career development, as well as the innovation and growth of our business?</p>

<p>Join Spinks</p>

<p>Leadership search.</p>

<p>As you scale, having the right leadership team in place is critical to your long-term growth and success.</p><p><br></p><p>But how do you know what type of leader you need or where to find them?</p><p><br></p><p>At Spinks, our experienced consultants work with you identify exactly the type of leader you need, whether that's Fractional, Interim or Permanent. We then find and recruit the best person who will bring fresh perspectives and experience to fuel your growth.</p>

<p>We know that finding the right leader for your business is critical for your growth - and getting them in quickly is just as important.&nbsp;Our Leadership Search solutions are designed specifically&nbsp;for scale-up and fast-growth organisations looking for the perfect fit for their leadership function.</p><p><br></p><p>We find the very best talent that fits your culture, vision and long-term goals. We're transparent; understanding your current needs and advising you on the best route for securing the leadership skills you need. We know searching for leadership roles can be time-consuming - so we take that pain away, allowing you to focus on doing what you do best.</p>

<p>Through our Leadership Search function, we utilise our networks and lean on our headhunting expertise to source the most suitable leaders for your business, delivering a concise shortlist so you can compare top talent and identify the perfect individual for your business.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>We've built a strong community of fractional, interim and permanent leaders which means we can find you the perfect leadership talent much quicker than traditional executive firms.</p>

Meet our team.

Our talented recruitment team are passionate about finding you the right people for your business. Experienced in a range of industries within the start-up, scale-up space, their commitment and results-driven approach will support you in delivering on your growth plans.

We work with the best so you can recruit the best.

<p>Our partnerships.</p>

<p>Our awards.</p>

<p>Our specialisms.</p>

<p>Our commitment to understanding the unique demands of each industry allows us to deliver tailored solutions to our clients, and allows our expert talent team to source skilled professionals who fit your business.</p>

<p>Our approach focuses on building lasting partnerships. We go beyond matching CV&rsquo;s to job descriptions; we connect organisations with individuals who bring long-lasting value to your business.</p>

<p>Navigating the dynamic landscape of recruitment, we recognise that different sectors demand specific skills, experiences, and expertise.</p>

<p>Take a look at just some of the industries we recruit in:</p>

<p>Permanent recruitment.</p>

<p>When it's time to scale up, we help you recruit key permanent talent that will help fuel your growth across key tech markets, saving you time and money.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Our experienced consultants work with you to understand your business culture, vision and the skills your team need to hire the right talent for your business so they can hit the ground running and help your business to scale-up.</p>

<p>We are experts in connecting you with the very best talent to help you grow.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>We're dedicated scale-up organisation and understand the importance of speed whilst ensuring future employees have the skills, passion AND cultural fit to drive your business forward.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Our unique market insights and strong tech talent networks means we excel at delivering hard-to-find talent that others can't.</p>

<p>We're specialists in recuriting for Software Engineering, DevOps, Data, Infrastructure, Cyber Security, Technical Sales, Product &amp; Design and Business Change roles (to name a few!).</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>We're also champions of diversity, equity and inclusion.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>We'll help you reduce your time to hire, freeing up important resources so you can focus on other priorities.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Privacy and Policies</p>

<p>Latest posts.</p>

Say hello

<p>This site and its design, text, graphics, the selection and arrangement thereof and software are copyright of Nash Squared Limited. [The trade marks depicted on this site are the property of Nash Squared Limited and Nash Squared Limited retains all right in such trade marks].</p><p><br></p><p>All rights are reserved except that permission is granted to download the materials contained on this site to a single personal computer and to print a hard copy of such materials solely for personal, noncommercial use. Any other use of materials on this site, including reproduction, modification, distribution or republication, without the prior written permission of [Nash Squared Limited], is strictly prohibited.</p><p><br></p><p>The information provided on this site is free of charge and for general informational purposes only and the transmission, downloading or sending of any information or other material through or in connection with this site does not create any contractual relationship between you and Nash Squared Limited.</p><p><br></p><p>This site may contain links to third party sites. Those third party sites are beyond the control of Nash Squared Limited and you accept that when you leave this site (whether knowingly or not) Nash Squared Limited can no longer be responsible in any way or accept any liability whatsoever for any material that you encounter on those sites nor for any transactions between you and those sites.</p><p><br></p><p>Nash Squared Limited uses reasonable care and skill in providing the content on this site but does not represent or warrant the accuracy, timeliness, completeness or suitability of the content, or that use of the site is free of risk of viruses or other damage.</p><p><br></p><p>Nash Squared Limited will not be liable for any claims, losses, including but not limited to direct, indirect, special, economic and consequential loss or damage (including but not limited to loss of profits, loss of revenue, loss of goodwill or loss of or corruption to data), whether in contract, tort, negligence, misrepresentation, breach of statutory duty or otherwise howsoever arising out of or in connection with the use of this site.</p><p><br></p><p>Nothing in this Disclaimer shall exclude or limit the liability of Nash Squared Limited for death or personal injury due to its negligence or for its fraud.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Terms and Conditions.</p>

<p>Whitepapers.</p>

<p>You Equal Tech.</p>

<p>When we launched our D,E and I surveys and events back in 2011 we were one of the first to create a community and ask the questions of the tech world; what can be improved? where can we help? what do you the community really think? Roll on over 10 years later and the tech landscape including most organisations, have completely changed their thinking when it comes to growing their business and the benefits of a diverse team. &nbsp;&nbsp;Our YouEqualTech team and community continues its journey, building on those foundations and asking those challenging questions to make our work place, a great place!</p>

<p>We believe in the power of community.</p>

<p>From bitesize &lsquo;how to&rsquo; guides on topics such as 'how to create an inclusive work environment' and 'how to break into and progress in the technology industry' to blogs, monthly meet ups, annual conferences and industry research. <br><br>We hope this will enable individuals; tech professionals and business leaders to take action and create positive change, leading to a diverse and inclusive technology and digital industry for all.</p>

<p>We aim to provide&nbsp;content and events on entering and advancing your career in technology and digital.</p>

<p>Events.</p>

<p>Whether you want to sponsor an event, contribute a 'how to' guide or just learn more about us, we'd love to hear from you!</p>

Resources.

With decades worth of experience of building teams and growing businesses to fall back on, we’re proud to share our knowledge and expertise…

Latest posts.

Say hello!