Nicoll Curtin makes 2012 Recruiter Awards shortlist

Nicoll Curtin, one of the world’s leading IT recruitment specialists, has been shortlisted as part of the Recruiter Awards for the second year in a row.

The international agency, which has offices in London, Singapore and Switzerland, was picked out by a panel of independent judges and will now compete for the Best IT Recruitment Agency award along with four other firms. The company specialises in recruiting for the banking and finance, commercial and public sectors, helping to support the performance of its customers and further the careers of candidates by placing them in high profile IT jobs in London, Zurich and many other cities around the world.

Lawrence Hargeaves, Nicoll Curtin’s managing director, said: “Being commended in 2011 and shortlisted again in 2012 is a credit to all of our teams’ continuous hard work and effort.

“We have been focusing on helping our clients meet their objectives and ensuring our service exceeds expectations.”

The Recruiter Awards are recognised as the industry’s ultimate recognition of excellence and best practice. The 2012 judging panel is made up of representatives from a wide range of businesses including Linklaters, Lloyds Banking Group, Transport for London, Mars UK Chocolate and Deloitte.

DeeDee Doke, editor of Recruiter magazine, said: “Our judges reflect a breadth of world-class professionalism in a variety of disciplines, sectors and geographies. For instance, international expertise, experience and insight is very much on our agenda, as it is for much of our recruitment/resourcing community.”

The winners of this year’s awards will be announced during a ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, on Wednesday, May 2.

Via EPR Network
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Sunnier Outlook For IT Specialists In The Investment Banking Sector, Says Top Recruiter

Leading IT recruitment agency Nicoll Curtin has said things are looking up for IT professionals working in the investment banking sector. The London-based company, which specialises in recruiting for the banking and finance, commercial and public sectors, said demand for contractors to work in IT banking jobs has almost doubled in the past three months.

Major banks are preparing to spend more than $2bn (£1.3m) on IT and technology as they prepare to comply with new industry regulations, according to a report by Financial News. Nicoll Curtin said these companies are looking to find the most talented individuals to be involved with these projects, with some IT contractors earning up to £1,200 a day. Demand has also increased for permanent staff, the firm said.

According to Cian Loughnane, associate director, Nicoll Curtin Senior Appointments, there is a shortage of candidates for IT roles within the banking and investment sector who have the required level of project management experience and business analysis skills.

He said: “Banks hiring at the senior end of the spectrum continue to seek talent from direct competitors. Clients remain keenly interested in leveraging the intellectual capital candidates have generated in other organisations.

“Despite macroeconomic factors, the top 5 per cent of managerial talent continue to enjoy bull market packages with clients in some cases offering mid-year guarantees as part of a wider retention strategy.”

Mr Loughnane said banks were not just looking to top level consultancy firms such as Nicoll Curtin to fill vacancies, but to ensure their workforces remain flexible.

As a specialist IT recruitment consultancy, Nicoll Curtin has a vast amount of experience sourcing the best available talent and placing those professionals in a huge range of contract and permanent positions where they will have the maximum impact on the business’ performance. Nicoll Curtin focuses on the world’s top financial centres specialising in IT jobs in Zurich, Singapore and London.

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Support For Working Parents To Address Cuts In Child Benefit

Working parents can use salary sacrifice to reduce the impact of the recent cuts in child benefit announced in the Budget, according to Edenred, the UK’s leading provider of childcare voucher benefits.

The changes announced in the Budget will mean child benefit will now be withdrawn gradually from higher rate taxpayers earning between £50,000 and £60,000. The benefit will be reduced by one per cent for every £100 earned over £50,000 and completely removed for those earning over £60,000.

Under the Chancellor’s Budget, around 1.2 million families will now have their child benefit payments reduced. Around 840,000 of those households will lose all of the benefit. The other 360,000 will lose a portion of the benefit through the new tapering rule.

However, Edenred is advising working parents to use salary sacrifice for benefits such as childcare vouchers in order to reduce their taxable income to below the threshold and therefore offer a little more staff rewards.

Childcare vouchers are usually offered by employers via a salary sacrifice scheme which means they are taken from a parent’s pre tax salary and, depending on the rate of tax payer, are free from tax and National Insurance up to £243 a month. Both parents can claim these vouchers if their employer offers the scheme. The benefit for the company is also a lower National Insurance bill.

They can then be used for children up to 15 years, or 16 years if disabled, and can be spent on a wide range of activities such as afterschool clubs, holiday clubs, breakfast clubs, as well as nurseries, childminders and nannies. The age range covered by the vouchers means that parents of older children can also benefit.

Laura Czapiewski, product manager at Edenred, comments:
“With the Chancellor’s recent cuts to child benefit, many will be looking at ways to address this loss. The provision of childcare vouchers via a salary sacrifice scheme has multiple benefits – it serves to save a working parent tax and NI and could also help reduce their taxable income below the threshold that will be affected by the changes to child benefit.

“Any type and size of business can implement a childcare voucher scheme and it’s worthwhile for companies of all sizes, even if they have just one qualifying parent within the organisation. Parents should investigate if their place of work offers childcare vouchers.”

Edenred is the UK’s leading provider of childcare voucher benefits and has a website dedicated to childcare vouchers explaining how they work, the benefits and where to use them. See: http://www.childcarevouchers.co.uk/Parents/Pages/default.aspx

Via EPR Network
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