Newsletters

Our registered Buyers and Sellers receive a monthly e-newsletter. You can read our previous issues or subscribe.

September 2008

31,650 Sellers | 2,430 Buyers… so far

We are attending the «CIPD conference» in Harrogate, 16–18 September, please come and see us at stand K1, we’d love to meet you!

 

July 2008

24,000 Sellers | 2,200 Buyers

 

June 2008

23,000 Sellers | 2,100 Buyers

This month we're thrilled to announce the launch of people4engineering – from peoplebusiness in partnership with Adecco – our latest people4 site. We’re thrilled to be in partnership with Adecco, the global leader in Human Resource services, to power their engineering contract marketplace.

May 2008

10,750 Sellers | 1,900 Buyers

April 2008

10,750 Sellers | 1,900 Buyers

 

March 2008

10,750 Sellers | 1,900 Buyers

February 2008

10,000 Sellers | 1,550 Buyers

Agency Workers

The issue of agency work was headline news, with the government in dispute with unions over rights for agency workers.

You can read impartial coverage of the issue from the BBC «here»

Other sources of information are the TUC, which is in favour of increasing rights for agency workers – «see here» — and the CBI, which argues that increased rights for agency workers would threaten the UK economy – «see here»

January 2008

The highest number of contracts so far was awarded this month.

PCG partnership

We are pleased to announce our partnership with the «Professional Contractors Group» (PCG) – the not-for-profit trade association made up of freelancers, governed by freelancers, for the protection and promotion of freelance contracting and consulting. They announced the partnership to their members «here»

We launched our second white-label site for the PCG «here»

Sellers registering as PCG members get a 15% discount on normal PCG subscription rates – see our Seller offers page for more information

December 2007

9,400 Sellers | 1,500 Buyers

First white-label version of people4

This month we launched our first white-label version of people4business – where we provide the freelance services marketplace for other websites. Our first white-label partner is a magazine and website specialising in public sector recruitment – «www.opportunities.co.uk» – and you can see the white-label site by clicking on the ‘temp & freelance’ tab.

Duncan Taylor, Managing Director, was interviewed in the Guardian talking about people4charity. «Read the article here»

Most generous professionals

«people4charity» research revealed that management consultants and HR professionals are the most generous, in terms of the discounts they offer to charities – «read about the research here» and read the original press release on «sourcewire»

November 2007

We attended, and sponsored, a Facebook Developers Garage event, to further promote «people4web2»; and have received coverage in the Evening Standard.

We attended the ACEVO (Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations) conference and exhibition, where we received a very positive response to «www.people4charity.com»

October 2007

We launched our testimonials page this month, after receiving some really positive feedback from both Buyers and Sellers.

September 2007

This month we launched people4Web2.com — a specialist site targeting the buyers and sellers of Web 2.0 skills.

August 2007

7,500 Sellers | 1,000 Buyers

people4charity.com has been listed as one of the top five websites in the latest issue of NoLimits, the magazine from «UnLtd», a charitable organisation set up by seven leading organisations that promote social entrepreneurship. Download a copy of the magazine «here»

July 2007

7,000 Sellers | 950 Buyers

Read the July e-newsletter

The launch of people4charity continued to receive a lot of coverage in the sector, such as on «can-online»

The Institute of Business Consulting, which has become a people4business partner, announces the benefits to its members of registering on people4business – «here»

June 2007

6,500 Sellers | 850 Buyers

Read the June e-newsletter

Managing Director, Duncan Taylor, announces the launch of people4charity. Download a press release about the launch here

Watchdog slams UK government spending on consultants

A report published this month, from the Committee of Public Accounts, Central Government’s Use of Consultants, found that the public sector in England spent £2.8 billion on consultants in 2005–06, with central govenment accounting for £1.8 billion. Spending on consultants has risen by a third—from £2.1 billion in 2003–4 to £2.8 billion in 2005–6, largely due to increases in spending by the NHS.

The committee expressed its concern that central government is repeatedly using consultants for core skills, including project and programme management and IT, and is increasingly turning to a select list of suppliers. It concluded that better use of consultants could save central government up to £500 million a year.

Download a pdf of the report «here» [860 Kb]

The launch of people4charity was covered by the «onrec» online magazine – «here»

May 2007

6,000 Sellers | 760 Buyers

 

This month we launched our sister site, «www.people4charity.com»

people4charity is targeted at the charitable and not-for-profit sector. Using the functionality of people4business, people4charity offers high-quality professional services at a significant discount.

All Sellers registered on people4business are now able to select a ‘charity rate’ discount on their usual hourly rate, which is then available to all registered charities, via «www.people4charity.com»

Any Seller with this icon next to their listing on «www.people4charity.com» offers a discount to registered charities.

April 2007

5,500 Sellers | 690 Sellers

 

March 2007

5,000 Sellers

Read the March e-newsletter

February 2007

Read the February e-newsletter

This month, people4business is nominated for «The Best Technical Innovation in Online Recruitment Award» at the 2007 Onrec Awards.

January 2007

4,000 Sellers

Read the January e-newsletter

This month, www.people4business.com records the highest traffic to date on the website.

people4business was featured in HR magazine. You can download a pdf of the article here [672 Kb]

Freelance market on the rise

More and more people are opting to live the life of a freelance worker. Latest figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that while the number of people in employment increased by 41,000 in the period August to October last year, the rise is entirely due to more people in self-employment (up 72,000).

“Businesses are increasingly opting for a short-term injection of high value skills and knowledge to gain competitive advantage,” says Duncan Taylor, Managing Director of people4business.com.

 “At the same time, more people are opting for self employment to maximise their income and to achieve a greater work-life balance.”

The number of full-time employees in the third quarter of 2006 actually fell by 123,000, confirming that the trend for freelance working continues to grow. This was the second quarter in three that saw self-employment outstrip ‘traditional’ employee status.

December 2006

 

Read the December e-newsletter

November 2006

3,000 Sellers

Read the November e-newsletter

October 2006

CIPD – 21-23.10.06

The people4business team attended the CIPD’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in Harrogate. We generated a great deal of interest from both the private and public sector and look forward to increased Buyer activity as a result.

A few of the comments we received:

“Self-service recruitment – that’s fantastic”
 
“The next eBay”
 
“What a fantastic idea”

“Something like this has been needed for a long time”

“It’s a great idea, and it has to be the way this industry is going”

“This means that I don’t have to rely on agencies interpreting my needs – I can go and find them myself!”

Minimum Wage Rises – 1.10.06

The minimum wage rose on 1 October 1, 2006 to £5.35 per hour for all adult workers over the age of 22. You’ll find information from the «Direct Gov website». You can also download a pdf on the minimum wage, produced by the «Department of Trade and industry».

Please note that even though minimum wage regulations do not apply to people who are ‘genuinely self-employed’, people4business has a policy of not allowing any Seller to set their hourly rate below the minimum wage.

Age discrimination outlawed – 1.10.06

New regulations designed to combat age discrimination in the workplace are now in force. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations outlaw any direct or indirect discrimination based on age.

At people4business, we focus entirely on skills and competencies. So recruiting your Sellers through people4business is entirely compatible with both the spirit and the letter of these Regulations – and with other anti-discrimination legislation.

The government’s «Age Positive» website has details of the Regulations as well as other ways for employers to combat age discrimination in the workplace.

Media coverage of people4business and age discrimination from:

«Onrec»

«The Forum of Private Business (FPB)»

Newsletter

Read the October e-newsletter

September 2006

2,000 Sellers

 

By the end of September we had around 2,300 Sellers. Our Sellers have a huge range of professional skills, with over 3,000 individual skills and rising all the time. Our Buyers are amazed by the quality and variety of Sellers we’re attracting.

Our 2,000th Seller to register is a grammar expert who has advised royal websites, among others, on their syntax and punctuation. He runs Future Perfect, an organisation responsible for advising on English for blue-chip multinationals, celebrities, MPs, governments and even the Queen’s English Society. He is also an expert in marketing and journalism, writing pieces for companies such as Bradford & Bingley, J D Wetherspoon, WHSmith and Xerox.

“Spelling mistakes, poor grammar and inconsistencies in marketing material can ruin even the sharpest image,” he says. “Future Perfect assesses text for grammar, spelling, syntax, consistency and meaning – and does not check it just for spelling, as would a conventional proofreader. We help companies to avoid nasty slip-ups.”

Our managing director, Duncan Taylor, says: “His skills demonstrate the diverse nature of competences available through people4business.com; our database now includes experts in many industry sectors, including HR, IT, management and media. We also list speakers of 33 discrete languages.”

Press & Media

Download an article about people4business from «TechCrunch», a weblog dedicated to ‘obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies’.

Newsletter

Read the September e-newsletter

August 2006

1,100 Sellers

By the end of August, we had 1,660 Sellers.

Read the August e-newsletter

July 2006

500 Sellers

June 2006

people4business launches

Last updated 14.11.08