Author Archives: Steve Young

About Steve Young

Steve Young is the Managing Partner of Downtown Recruitment who are based in Thame, Oxfordshire. Downtown Recruitment provide a wide variety of temporary and permanent staff to the local area covering a wide range of disciplines across the commercial and industrial sectors.

Downtown Recruitment, celebrates 25 years!

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Steve Young

Downtown Recruitment this month celebrates 25 years in business in Thame.   Originally started in 1986 by Suzanne Young the successful recruitment agency is now run by her son Steve Young. They are located in spacious offices in the centre of … Continue reading →

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REC – Report on jobs

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Steve Young

The latest “Report on Jobs” from the REC has reported the first fall in permanent placements (by recruitment agencies) in over two years during October 2011.  Commenting on the results Bernard Brown, Partner and Head of Business Services at KPMG, … Continue reading →

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3 Reminders – for legislation taking effect from 1st Oct 2011.

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Steve Young

Here are three reminders of legislation all taking effect from 1st Oct 2011 which I have previously published. (1) Agency Workers Regulations – Giving Temporary workers the same rights with regard to pay and holidays after a 12 week qualifying … Continue reading →

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Recent Survey Results

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Steve Young

A recent survey of 6000 UK workers revealed the following main points:- 1. Men still earn more Male workers are paid an average of 18.5% more than their female counterparts. 2. Finance has the widest pay gap Of the industries … Continue reading →

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Firms hire on “attitude” over skills

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Steve Young

Employers prioritise job applicants with the right attitude to work rather than the skills listed on their CVs, new research shows.  With school leavers facing rocketing higher education fees, recruitment group Reed polled over 1,000 business owners to see what … Continue reading →

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Graduate job applications hit record levels

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Steve Young

Students have made a record number of applications for graduate jobs this year, with almost 40% applying early to beat the rush, a new report suggests. The number of graduate job applications reached an all-time high of 343,000 in 2010-11, … Continue reading →

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Some questions and answers on holiday

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Steve Young

The holiday season is in full swing so we thought it would be useful to include some general points about holidays. How much is the holiday entitlement? From April 2009, the rate increased to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave … Continue reading →

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Minimum Wage increase announced for Oct 2011

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Steve Young

The Government has announced that the National Minimum Wage for adults 21 or over will increase on 1st October 2011 from £5.93 to £6.08 per hour. This equates to an increase of 15p (an increase of 2.5%). Vince Cable (the Business Secretary) commented that more than 890,000 of … Continue reading →

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Question: What are the new paternity rights coming in April 2011?

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Steve Young

Answer: Fathers of babies who are due on or after 3 April 2011 can have Additional Paternity Leave, (APL) for a maximum of 26 weeks, if they meet the qualifying criteria and their partner has returned to work. The right to APL is only available to … Continue reading →

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UK unemployment total hits 17-year high

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Steve Young

UK unemployment rose by 27,000 in the three months to the end of January to 2.53 million, the highest since 1994. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the jobless rate was now 8%, the highest since 1996. However, the … Continue reading →

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