The new Bake Off series has inspired us to share with you some of our secret ingredients.

Rather than half-baked promises to fill vacancies at the cheapest rates in the shortest timeframes, what we offer is honesty, consistency and flexibility. Our recipe for success means a tasty return on your investment: talented, engaged and committed recruits who gel with the culture and values of your organisation.

Caraires is an independent recruitment consultancy with a family ethos. Very much like the home-baked treats people prefer over a shop-bought gateau, we provide a personal service that caters for the needs of your business and the dynamics of your team. We achieve successful placements on permanent, temporary and temp-to-perm openings.

With Caraires, you can have your cake and eat it.

It seems that temporary staff are becoming increasingly important to businesses in their recovery plans since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic 6 months ago. During these uncertain times, both employers and employees can find a real benefit from temporary work: on the one hand, it enables companies to create jobs when the future may initially look unclear, and on the other hand it gives people a chance to get back into work, earn some quick money and potentially progress into a permanent role.

According to a recent report by the REC, employers’ intentions to hire temporary agency staff have increased since May to the highest level since October 2019. It should be said that intentions to hire permanent staff have also risen somewhat, which is another sign of gradually returning confidence. For the first time since summer 2018, firms are overall more likely to consider bringing-on temporary staff than they are permanent employees over the next few months. The reasoning behind this seems to be that employers consider agency workers to be important for short-term access to key skills.

Neil Carberry, Chief Executive of the REC, said: “A flexible jobs market has always been one of the UK’s great economic assets – keeping employment high in the good times and ensuring people have more options when times are tough. Today’s data show that as lockdown eases and the economy recovers, businesses will use temporary work to start to build back. While the path ahead is still uncertain, temporary work helps firms create jobs sooner, and helps people who need new jobs get back to earning quickly.”

We have certainly experienced an interesting few months since we opened our new premises in February; challenging times that have clouded many industries and business with uncertainty and change. We are pleased to have implemented safety measures within our own building and work practices, so that we can offer our candidates and clients a comfortable, safe and practical recruitment partnership both in-person and online, whilst proudly maintaining the same values and goals as we have always had.

We have set-up interview rooms with screens to protect both candidates and consultants, for those candidates who wish to arrange an appointment at our Lawford Road offices, or we can meet via Skype, Zoom and FaceTime for candidates who still wish to have an honest and professional conversation with an experienced recruitment partner, but from the comfort of their own homes.

Many companies are still not at a point where they are ready to recruit, but some industries are recovering more quickly than others and, while the recruitment landscape may look and feel different for some time, we are the same people we were before, who take pride in delivering an excellent service to both candidates and clients: finding the right individuals for the right opportunities, and making a positive difference to people’s lives.

We hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and well.

We have been closely following the guidance issued by government in relation to business and working practices. Our aim is to continue to provide all our services as smoothly as possible, ensuring the health & safety of our team, candidates and clients.

1. Our offices at Lawford Road, Rugby will continue to operate, but will be closed to visitors.  Candidates who would like a meeting to talk about new roles will be offered Skype interviews.

2. For clients who wish to continue with their recruitment processes – we are able to Skype interview on your behalf and send a full recording of the interview to you.

3. For candidates working on a Contract for Services on our clients’ premises, we will continue to liaise with our clients and to update you as things evolve. Already we are pleased to see a number of our candidates being offered the opportunity to continue in their contracts working from home. We appreciate this will not be an option offered to all our candidates and, should you find your contract has been terminated, we will work with our payroll team so you have the necessary paperwork to claim any entitlements due to you.

4. Phone calls to our office will continue to be answered and our answerphone service will operate as usual out of hours.  All members of The Caraires Family have access to emails and will endeavour to respond to you quickly.

If you have any queries or concerns please do not hesitate to call us.