Highlights of 2024 so far...and what’s still to come
2024 is our 25th anniversary year — a huge milestone for an organisation that started with 14 members representing one sector in the 1990s. We now have an international footprint, supporting the growth of almost 1,500 member companies worldwide. Our mission has never changed, though – to serve the needs of the professional recruitment sector.As the dust settles after our big 25 celebrations in London, where we launched our book ‘APSCo 25: The story so far...’, we’d like to look at how much we've achieved so far this year and what is still to come. Let's start with what is coming up:
- Collaborating with the UK Government on our Manifesto recommendations
- Launching a new website with an enhanced user experience
- New media service – to optimise job board efficiency and help you save
- Hosting the esteemed APSCo Awards for Excellence to honour our community
- New Trusted Partner Discount Programme to help you get the best services for less
- Implementing more Talent Development programmes for productivity, upskilling, and talent retention
- Increasing the volume of research, reports, and events, including the APSCo Disrupt series
“For any recruitment business, joining APSCo shouldn’t be seen as an add-on, but more a necessity if you want to continue to grow, learn and prosper. Can’t recommend enough!”
And, here is a run-down on the highlights so far this year...
Supporting your growth:
We have already published 30 pieces of timely research and market intelligence, including analysis of the Spring Budget and our quarterly ‘Inside Economy' video analysis, ensuring recruitment owners and leaders make qualified decisions and understand and act on trends before the competition.Our network of 125 Trusted Partners and Advisors is easily found in the online Directory, along with discounts and exclusive offers shared regularly. These exclusive offers are supplemented with dedicated ‘APSCo Insights’ – a series of events from Partners which showcase their insights and expertise. By the end of the year, over 20 ‘APSCo Insights’ will have taken place, giving you access to new innovations and the opportunity to build relationships with new suppliers, with the next one on September 18th, Navigating the 2024 holiday pay reforms - unpicking the legislation.
Ensuring your business stays compliant:
Since January, our legal and compliance team has answered over 1,200 queries from members. As a member, you gain access to a wealth of information, contracts, and templates, ensuring compliance and business protection. These services alone can cover the cost of membership.
We utilise a wide range of APSCo services, our contracts and policies are based on the APSCo templates, we are involved with the Compliance+ initiative, we regularly access the various help lines. On top of all the expertise provided, the team at APSCo are also a pleasure to deal with. We are extremely happy to be partnered with such a supportive and progressive organisation.
Additionally, our hugely popular quarterly Inside Legal and Compliance report provides guidance on upcoming legal changes and we've launched APSCo's 10 Steps Towards AI Compliance a practical guide for a new world.
The team are absolutely phenomenal and their response rate in terms time accuracy and helpfulness is above and beyond. They are one of the main reasons I would not want to leave APSCo.
Inspiring you through networking:
From APSCo Disrupt to APSCo AI Decoded, our members have benefitted from a busy events calendar. We have already hosted over 50 events with over 2,000 people signed up in the first half of 2024, covering a diverse range of recruitment topics, with another 54 already in the calendar before December.APSCo is an invaluable community and resource base and has been extremely useful and supportive for a young business like ours. They offer a strong range of webinars and in-person conferences for hot industry topics of the day and while we'd love to get out to them all, those we've attended have been excellent and insightful. These meetings are also a chance to meet with other industry leaders and minds to get their perspective, there's real value in getting first-hand thoughts and experiences from outside your bubble.
For staffing leaders, our 12 exclusive Executive Dining events across the country so far this year have provided an excellent platform to discuss key recruitment issues with like-minded professionals.
Hopefully you were one of the hundreds of members who attended our first-ever virtual AI conference in March. APSCo AI Decoded saw industry experts converge to decode the intricacies of AI implementation and its transformative potential for recruitment businesses.
Fantastic event with many topics for conversations and learnings.
Forming a new Representative Committee:
Earlier this year, we asked you to nominate and vote for your new Representative Committee. The response was overwhelming, and we were thrilled to announce our new RepComm in April.The APSCo UK RepComm plays a critical role in ensuring that our strategy and business plans are focused on your needs and support the best interests of the recruitment profession.Providing a united voice for members:
Our aim is to give a voice to professional recruitment, to differentiate it from the rest of the sector, and ensure that the unique issues of the sector are considered by policy makers. The APSCo 2024 Manifesto – Tackling the Professional Skills Crisis was launched in the House of Commons in April. Our recommendations on appropriate regulation, training, inclusion, and digital technology are designed to raise efficiency and drive economic growth.Upskilling and retaining your talent:
Our training has been described as world-class, and every programme and course is tailored and discounted for members. We have already run 79 courses, and launched three new ones, this year with over 500 delegates. We also welcomed a new partnership with Recruitment Juice to deliver Recruitment Apprenticeships with an added benefit for APSCo members.If you want to enhance your recruiters ability to go and make money, to improve the profitability of your recruitment business, and retain the best people because you're enhancing their learning then absolutely, I would say it's the right course, and definitely recommend it.
Making international expansion a reality for you:
We remain the only UK recruitment trade body with an international footprint. Our comprehensive international services are designed to support your international ambitions and include expert guidance and support on immigration, international compliance, and navigating the nuances of the global recruitment landscape.
APSCo offers global services to the international recruitment sector and they are passionate about helping to differentiate the professional recruitment market by raising standards and delivering expert support and market intelligence to members of APSCo around the world.
Our regular Trade Delegations continue this year, taking us to the US in September. A calendar of international events and webinars focused on key growth markets, recently on Saudi Arabia and Outsourcing, also give members the best support possible for expanding operations into new regions.
Adepto leveraged an opportunity to attend a US delegation, enabling us to gather crucial information and establish key contacts in just two days, a process that would have taken six months otherwise. We are now on the verge of establishing our US company entity and opening our first office in Austin.