How Newham in Cornwall is the prefect place to recruit the perfect people for your business
Wednesday 17th January, 2018
Finding dedicated, knowledgeable people who are the perfect fit for your business could be a hard task. Luckily, Newham, Truro’s riverside business district is home to a number of recruitment firms all able to find the right candidate for the job.
One business, offering a unique mix of recruitment, supply and training and consultancy for the education sector, is Opus. The local business has expanded quickly over the past two years, thanks to its core value of putting education provision above profit.
Russell Main, Director at Opus, said: "Opus was created for teachers, by teachers and we use that mantra to guide us in our business development. Opus is committed to putting quality of provision above profit - always. Although this may seem counterproductive from a business perspective, ironically this ethos is the main driving force behind our extremely rapid growth and expansion. As former teachers ourselves working with schools is something the Opus team feels passionately about and that passion and commitment to quality of service has seen us organically grow consistently since our inception."
Launched in 2014, the firm provides schools across the region with three options to help fulfil their needs: Opus-ABC offers whole school supply services for schools throughout Cornwall and Devon. Whether it's for a day, a term, or a whole academic year, Opus-ABC prides itself on providing first class teachers and support staff for client schools; Opus-Training offers schools and colleges training and consultancy services through a team of extremely well qualified staff; Opus-Recruit is a free service offered to schools to allow them to advertise their vacancies free of charge both nationally and internationally.
And the success of the business, saw Opus outgrow its previous office base and relocate to Newham in 2016.
"We viewed lots of different offices in many locations around the mid-Cornwall area," said Russell. "However we felt the close proximity to Truro city centre was a logistical benefit in Newham and we felt the up and coming Truro business district fitted in well with our company profile of an up and coming rapidly growing successful local business.
"Newham BID also offered the potential for support for our business in many areas, including marketing and signage. All these factors made choosing Newham an easy decision and one that we are pleased we made a year on."
Another Newham business supporting firms across the region with their recruitment needs is Trial Balance Consulting. Launched in April 2008, the company provides specialist accountancy and finance recruitment solutions to organisations of all shapes and sizes.
Being a locally based company is an advantage for Trial Balance Consulting as the team understands the geographical and economical quirks of sourcing experienced finance staff across Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and beyond. And focusing on finance opportunities allows the company to work with one of the largest portfolio of candidates operating across all remits and at all levels of experience, in the South West.
Praising the company’s base at Newham, Alex Callister, Managing Director of Trial Balance Consulting, said: "We moved to Newham in September 2015 from our long term home on Lemon Street. Predominantly we chose Newham for investment purposes; we chose a large building and now let 14 offices to 8 tenants, mainly local start-up businesses. We have come to experience that there is a strong sense of community with a friendly and interesting range of businesses in the area. We also avoid the parking headaches of a city centre location and are able to keep fit on our lunch break at Stringers gym."
And with plans to ring in the New Year with a revamped career still on the minds of many people, is now the right time to look at a change of job role?
"Absolutely," said Alex. “The accountancy sector, whether not for profit, commercial or practice based, is one of the more recession-proof vocations and the success of our business has been entirely underpinned by the continuously prospering Westcountry economy.
"As a training vocation, it’s probably one of the best supported with opportunities for part and fully qualified candidates, as well as those that simply possess industry experience."