2018 – New Opportunities, Rising Business Confidence & Growth but Talent Shortage Continues….

Business confidence across the UK has risen to the highest level since the EU Referendum, according to the latest Business in Britain report from Lloyds Bank.  As a result, the net balance of firms looking to grow investment in the next six months leapt by 15 points to 23% and firms looking to hire more staff also rose by eight points to 18% compared with 2017. The Business in Britain report, now in its 26th year, gathers the views of thousands of UK companies and tracks a range of performance and confidence measures.

The UK economy and GDP expanded by a better-than-expected figure in the last three months of 2017, with the service and manufacturing sectors produced particularly positive figures and growth (ONS January 2018).

Despite these promising figures, talent and skills shortages continue to plague the UK jobs market, with many employers offering inflated salaries to attract highly sought-after candidates (Recruitment and Employment Confederation Report). Whilst this may be a short-term solution it does not address the underlying issue, and unless these inflated salaries can be translated into higher wage growth across the economy the challenge will only continue to increase in the long-term.

With this in mind, employers who want to successfully appoint the required talent to drive growth and take advantage of rising confidence will need to be pro-active and imaginative in their recruitment strategy.  A strong, transparent and candid relationship with a specialist recruiter who can provide market insight and advice on candidate attraction will also enable a more creative and bespoke approach to leadership recruitment.

Berwick Partners can add invaluable expertise and access to a variety of networks to ensure we find you with the best person for the role. We lead the way in recruiting senior leadership positions across both the Private and Public sectors regionally and nationally. We support organisations in making key appointments which have a critical impact upon their businesses’ future and success.

Simon Walton is a Partner and Head of the Consumer Practice at Berwick Partners.