After our first ‘Meet the Team’ blog, we are going to follow it up with another insight into our team. The second of our ‘Meet the Team’ blogs will be focussed on Matt Hunt.
Matthew Hunt
Matthew.Hunt@clarkewoodconsulting.com
Describe yourself in a few words: Motivated, Passionate and building a career.
Matt, 22, has been at ClarkeWood for over 2 years and states his best professional achievement as helping to build ClarkeWood from the start. He works mainly in the Birmingham area sourcing anything IT Support related: Testers, Trainers, Field Support, Managers Etc.
He is a big sports fan and enjoys Golf, Football and going to the gym. Matt’s particular passion is Football. He plays for Archdales FC and is a keen supporter of Aston Villa. When asked about his favourite football match he said that he really enjoyed watching Aston Villa beat Birmingham 5 – 1 back in 2008.
What is your Favorite football goal?It would have to be Gary Cahill vs. Birmingham City – April 16th 2006
When Matt isn’t at work or playing football he enjoys watching films and listening to music. His favorite films are Jerry Maguire and Heat. He also likes watching any films with Natalie Portman or Mila Kunis in! He enjoys listening to Hip Hop and RnB, which has earned him the office nickname of 50 Pence!
Matt says his biggest personal achievement is when he did a Skydive for St Richards Hospice and raised £415 for the local cause. When asked who he would most like to be stuck on an island with, Matt said his Girlfriend.
How would your colleagues describe you? Matt is a conscientious and hardworking team player, always looking to help and support his colleagues throughout the day. He has a dry sense of humour and can often be heard humming along to some 50 pence ditty.
Clarkewood has previously explained in other posts that a ‘work hard, play hard’ ethos is an integral part of a strong and motivated team.
Over the coming weeks we would like to give you a little insight into our team members, by creating a short profile of each of them.
JamesBicknell
James.bicknell@clarkewoodconsulting.com
Describe yourself in a few words? ‘Ambitious, Commercially minded and self assured.’
James’, 23, is a Rock n Roll recruiter who certainly plays as hard as he works! He has been at Clarkewood for just over 18 months.
James is currently an IT recruitment specialist, who sources web and software development staff for companies in Bristol and surrounding areas. He recently achieved one of his personal goals: a City centre apartment.
He is a big fan of Heavy metal music, plus enjoys festivals and nightlife. He likes to head to Birmingham’s 02 Academy to see live music and is a keen supporter of Worcester’s local music scene. His favorite album at the moment is 'Slash - Apocalyptic Love'. James' favorite places to go in Worcester are Heroes’ Bar on Friar Street or Firefly in Lowesmoor.
What is the best gig you have ever been to?‘In 2009 I saw AC/DC in Manchester and it was most definitely the best gig I’ve been to. AC/DC are just legendary!’
Professionally, James biggest achievement is setting up Clarkewood’s Bristol patch from scratch. He states his business icon as Richard Branson because he respects his entrepreneurial spirit and his involvement in different social issues.
Office room available in an amazing city centre building - Worcester
Office room available within a Specialist IT recruitment consultancy based in the heart of Worcester.
We have ideal office space with furniture to accommodate 1 or 2 individuals looking for a professional environment to work from.
With access to a fully furnished well presented reception area with full time receptionist available to meet and greet customers/clients, and board room with enough space to accommodate 6 individuals for meetings or training.
The office is spread across one floor, with toilets and kitchen facilities. The building is glazed with large windows that open ensuring the office is open and airy as well as central heating for the winter months.
Based in the centre with access to two large NCP car parks within 2 minutes walk and the offer of discounted parking through Worcester bid, the office is located less than 2 miles from Junction 7 of the M5 making it an ideal location for clients to commute with ease.
The weekly fee of £80 per week includes 24/7 access, rent, rates, gas, electric, water, buildings insurance, maintenance, Wi-Fi broadband, furniture and nice people to share with. Incoming tenants will be expected to cover their own contents insurance and phone line install and bill costs should you require – you could however operate from your own existing mobile phone and access the current Wi-Fi installed.
The Office space would be ideally suited for designers, web developers, programmers, illustrators, freelancers, journalists, architects, photographer, tv/film/video producers, trainers, entrepreneurs etc.
You may be a new start up needing professional space where clients can come to meet with you and to operate from on a daily basis while you build your company or a small business with a team of two/three the space would be ideal for you also.
The environment is private and separate from the main recruitment company ensuring a secure professional working environment.
Email me for further details or to arrange a viewing: Victoria.taylor@clarkewoodconsulting.com
Here at ClarkeWood, we are very big on taking ownership of our CSR. The past few months have been really hectic with lots of different charity events! From inspiring talks to jumping out of an aeroplane, we really have done our bit for charities in need.
As a company we feel it is vitally important to support local charities making a tangible difference to our community. This year we have focused our efforts on two charities, St Richards Hospice and Sight Concern Worcestershire.
We'd like to share a few of our fund raising events, to show you how you can get involved. Plus the benefits that come with charity work.
January - June : St Richards Hospice
St Richards is a fantastic and worthy charity, which has a place in the hearts of local people. They offer care for ill people and support their families, offering them the best possible quality of life. Over the 6 months that we supported them, we attended multiple events such as; Ladies Day at the races, Cheltenham Gold Cup evening, we sponsored Part with a Pound day and also did a Skydive. ClarkeWood’s Victoria also spoke at a corporate event and over the 6 months raised over £9,000.
Part With a Pound Day
'Part with a Pound' day, held in March, offers the opportunity to dress up, dress down, dress wacky or simply donate a pound not to dress up! The day was a great chance to raise money for charity, while having fun and team building. Some of the ClarkeWood team got very comfortable in their new looks, as you can tell! The day raised Approx. £5000, which is a fantastic achievement!
Skydive
Recently, the team took to the skies at the Hinton Skydiving Centre in Oxfordshire and raised a fantastic £2,200! "We are all still reeling with excitement from the jump a few days after, it is truly an experience not to be missed and we all agree that it is most definitely the best thing you can do with your clothes on! The next challenge is to find something to top this!"
Other ways we got involved...
Victoria also recently spoke at an event arranged by St Richard’s, to local corporate supporters.She explained how we had got involved and how charity fundraising helps others while helping you. Getting involved with charity events seems like time and effort, but it is so worthwhile. It’s easy to get involved and it gets your company some column inches, getting your name out there locally. (As well as being great fun and improving team morale!!)
July - December : Sight Concern Worcestershire
After our incredible achievements with St Richards, we are now, supporting Sight Concern. Sight Concern helps around 2,500 people in the Worcestershire area who are blind or partially sighted across our county. A great cause which recently, got refused funding for a specialist children section - so they desperately need our help!
Although our support of Sight Concern has just begun, we’ve already taken part in some exciting events...
Jail N' Bail
The first event we took part in was 'Jail N Bail'. Several local business men were held in custody outside Worcester Guildhall, until they raised 'bail' of £500 each. Lee was detained for his crimes against consistently outrageous public displays of dad dancing. Lee managed to gain bail around 4pm after passing his target by £40!
Our support of Sight Concern has only just begun and we are sure there will be many more exciting opportunities to raise money for charity. We already have a few things in the pipeline, hopefully happening soon. Such as -
'Firewalk'
The Sight Concern 'Firewalk' is exactly what it sounds like - walking across fire! Our brave team will have their feet firmly on the ground after their skydiving challenge, yet they will be walking over burning hot coals!
Dolphin is a local pioneering company, based in Worcester, who offers computing solutions for blind or visually impaired people. They have developed a special system called GUIDE which allows visually impaired people to use a computer. What they do is fantastic, offering people the chance to be independent and have the experience that others take for granted.
We are currentlylooking to find IT job seekers, graduates and students who would be willing to give up their time and volunteer to teach and train visually impaired people how to utilise the GUIDE program.
We are raising the funds for 6 people to be put onto dolphins “train a trainer” courses where the individuals will learn how to use the software and learn how to train the users on it.
It will be an opportunity to get a free qualification and skill : making them more employable,
engaged with community and attractive to employers. It also means that sight concern can branch out around the Worcestershire area as part of their district development plan.
We will keep everyone updated on how these events progress.
Meanwhile, we hope you can see the benefits of taking control of your CSR.
Charity work is a fantastic thing to get involved in for many reasons:
Campaign. The campaign was run by the Worcester News, who more than doubled their target!
After successfully recruiting an admin apprentice two years ago, ClarkeWood Consulting decided to once again get involved with the scheme and recruited two new superb apprentices.
Ben Proctor –Sales, and Lauren Henley – Business Management and Administration.
ClarkeWood are strong advocates for companies becoming involved with apprenticeship schemes as well as encouraging young people to really consider their options and what an apprenticeship could mean for them.
With this is mind we have asked Lauren to interview Ben at the start of his journey, 3 months in as he settles and then again on completion of his 6 month, in the hope of gaining a real insight into what it’s like to be an apprentice.
To start off our series of apprentice blogs, we’d like to introduce you to Ben and Lauren by giving you an insight into what lead them to an apprenticeship and how they are initially finding it.
Lauren:In January, my year was planned and I knew exactly what I would be doing. Or so I thought. What is your background, and what were you doing 1 year ago?
Ben: I was just finishing my first year of studying Chemistry at the University of Glamorgan in Wales. During my time at university I worked part-time for a Students events company in Cardiff.
Lauren: A friend had just begun an Apprenticeship. I knew nothing about apprenticeships and wouldn’t have considered one. She loved it, and encouraged me to sign up.Did you have an opinion of Apprenticeships before you decided on one?
Ben: I had quite a good opinion actually. A few of my friends from high school had gone on to do apprenticeships and were really enjoying it; as well as earning good salaries!
Lauren:Being in full time education you seem to get filtered through School > College > University; feeling although it is the best and only option.How does learning on the job compare to being in full-time education and has it, so far, had a different impact on you?
Ben: Being in a working environment gives you more of a reason to get up each morning. Every Uni student can think of a time where they just really didn’t want to get up, be it for an 8:30 start or for the last lecture on a Friday!
Lauren:Now I’m starting to get into my apprenticeship, I’ve learnt that education isn’t always the answer. What is the most valuable thing you’ve learnt so far?
Ben:To be confident! If you are confident, people will believe in you and trust you. If you aren’t confident then it makes everything so much more difficult.
Lauren:My original plan was start a degree in Fashion Design.What are your goals for the future and how do you think your Apprenticeship has influenced that?
Ben: I’d love to get into the senior side of things, including management of my own team and patch... Time will tell how that works out!
Lauren:Finally, we both had similar situations which lead to us choosing an apprenticeship. What kind of person would you recommend an apprenticeship too?
Ben: I’d really recommend them to anyone who hasn’t completed a university course, or is looking for a complete change in career. There are so many different courses available, so there will be one suited for them.
Now that you’ve had an introduction to our new recruits we will follow them up in three months time to see how they are getting on.
During our interviews with both Lauren and Ben we hope to give you a firsthand insight into their experiences allowing you to access a viewpoint otherwise unavailable.
We hope to highlight how beneficial the apprenticeships schemes can be for companies of any size as well as rewarding and encourage you too to consider becoming involved!
For those that aren't familiar, Movember is the annual celebration of the moustache to raise awareness of male health issues and to raise funds for the first and second largest male health concerns testicular cancer and prostate cancer. Funds raised go to programmes run either directly by Movember, or their partners including The prostate Cancer charity, and the Institute of Cancer Research.
More than five men die every hour from potentially curable diseases, and according to recent research, around half of all male cancer cases could be prevented by making making healthier lifestyle choices. As such, the event aims raise awareness and encourage education surrounding men's health, to help break down stigmas and encourage men to take greater responsibility.
One in nine men will contract prostate cancer in their lives, and with the disease claiming 10,000 lives every year, the boys at ClarkeWood Consulting have stepped up to the plate to do our bit (albeit, with a couple of members of the team relying on "prosthetic 'tashes")
We’re pleased to have raised a total of £756 for the charity; to see the teams' hairy efforts and to donate, go to: http://mobro.co/ClarkeWoodConsulting
Hair RaisingMen's Health Facts
The average male life expectancy is four years less than women's
In 2008 37,051 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed and 10,168 men died
The rate of cancer diagnoses in men is considerably higher than the rate in women. In every 100,000 men there will be 417 cases diagnosed, compared to 366 cases per 100,000 females
Testicular cancer in the UK affects younger men between the ages of 20 and 50. 1,990 men were diagnosed with the disease in 2007
1 in 4 men in the UK will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives
In our last blog we talked about why it is important for a company to have a clearly defined vision and a set of value statements. A common goal which both the business and the employees engage with, work towards and completely believe in. It also has to have a meaning externally towards its customer base and clearly represent how they interact with the customer.
At ClarkeWood Consulting we totally understand the benefits of having a clear Vision, having a common goal we all believe in passionately and are striving to achieve.
To define our Vision and Values all the employees were involved. We ran a workshop away from the day to day business so everyone could focus on the objective and could clearly see the importance of what we wanted to achieve.
We were all encouraged to describe the core values that inspired us to join ClarkeWood, what values are important to us whilst we go about our core business working with each other, with candidates and companies.
Our vision is special to us, it was worked on by all members of the team and the final definitions of both the vision and the value statements were written by the ClarkeWood team.
Here is our Vision and Values statement......
Vision of ClarkeWood Consulting
To be the specialist IT Recruitment partner of choice.
Core Values
vWe deliver success by placing quality and service excellence at our core.
vWe provide a stable platform for the development of our team through personal development, reward, promotion, succession and fun.
vWe have a respectful, passionate and fulfilling environment which enhances the professional relationships we enjoy with our clients and candidates.
vWe fulfil the specialist requirements and needs of our clients and candidates.
vWe respect our team, clients and candidates and value their reputations.
vWe value trust and integrity in all relationships both internal and external.
