Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 25th April 2024 Issue no. 1111
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BREAKING NEWS
Selden Research acquires Premiere Products
The Directors of Selden Research are delighted to announce the acquisition of the brand, assets and goodwill of Premiere Products from James Briggs (Hygiene), saying:
“We recognise this as a tremendous opportunity to develop what is one of the longest established and most respected brands in our sector. The Premiere Products portfolio is a perfect fit into the Selden offering; distribution channels are similar; manufacturing requirements are similar, methods and ethos are similar also.
“Production will move this week to our modern super-efficient Selden factory in Buxton. Investment into the production facilities continues this year. We have already added additional manufacturing capacity, added a new anti-bacterial focused lab with brand new analytical equipment, and plan to start extending the main warehouse and new administration centre this Summer.
“Selden Research is exhibiting at the Cleaning Show at ExCel, London, March 14th – 16th. Premiere Products will feature on our stand together with Jeyes Professional – and the new Selden brand image will be unveiled.”
http://www.selden.co.uk / www.premiereproducts.co.uk
Yesterday's Office for National Statistics announcement that UK employment reached 74.6% in the last quarter of 2016 - the highest rate since such records began in 1971, while unemployment remained at its record low since 2005 on 4.8%, compared with 5.1% for the same period the previous year - has caused quite a stir.
Of particular interest to this industry was the announcement that the number of EU nationals employed in the UK had risen by 190,000 in the final quarter compared with the same period the previous year, but, comparing the final quarter of 2016 with the preceding quarter, there were 19,000 fewer EU nationals employed - the first three-month fall in since Q3 2014.
While David Freeman, ONS senior statistician, warns that the fall in the number of workers born in other EU countries should be treated with caution as the figures have not been seasonally adjusted, the latest Labour Market Outlook from the CIPD and Adecco says that labour and skills shortages are starting to bite in UK sectors that employ a high number of EU nationals - such as cleaning. It suggests that, despite a near record number of vacancies (748,000 according to ONS data), UK employers are struggling to fill roles with the right candidates and that low-skilled sectors which typically employ a large number of non-UK nationals from the EU are facing particular recruitment challenges.
The CIPD says employers need to review their approach to workforce development and training and improve the attractiveness of their jobs through better line management and job design, developing closer links with local educational institutions and improving pay and employment conditions where possible. Interestingly, the Outlook also asked employers that employ EU nationals how they would respond to potential migration restrictions. A quarter (26%) said they would 'pay the difference' and absorb the extra cost of recruiting EU nationals, whilst others said they would seek to retain older workers (19%), invest more in training and up-skilling (17%) and recruit more apprentices (17%).
Having spoken to many cleaning contractors who rely on non-UK EU nationals to keep their contracts flowing smoothly, and knowing how many of these employers are committed to paying the Living Wage, I wonder whether these latest figures and findings are really going to impact on this industry or whether it's going to be very much, 'business as usual'.
What are your thoughts?
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Yours,
16th February 2017