We're pleased to report that our Office Manager Katie Ashley is now qualified as a Mental Health First Aider, which is vital in enabling us to provide support to our internal team and also our candidates and clients in the Facilities Management and Construction sectors. As a recruitment company, we're dealing with people everyday, many of whom may need support. According to The Mental Health Foundation, 1 in 6.8 people are experiencing mental health problems in the workplace.

It’s time to talk legislation. Specifically, IR35, and the impending changes to the private sector planned for April 2020.

Our aim isn’t to overwhelm you with information and jargon; we simply want our clients and candidates to understand how the changes could affect you and how the team at 300 North can help.

Last year 300 North announced that we are sponsoring Callum Hall, International Wheelchair racer in his bid to reach qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  We asked Callum to do a guest blog to update us on his progress over the last quarter and here's what he had to say...

We wanted to take a minute to introduce our new team member Amy Bell and say a huge welcome to 300 North! We're all delighted that Amy has joined the Newcastle office as a Recruitment Administrator supporting the team, our clients and candidates in the North East and Scotland. Already having a good knowledge of the Facilities Management (FM) sector, Amy has got stuck in straight away and we're loving having her!

Mindful of the fact that many of us are fed up with the ongoing ‘situation’ we all know as Brexit, we’ve delayed writing this post for some time. However, ignoring it won’t help anyone; least of all the sector’s employers, employees and contractors.

A lot has happened since the UK’s original exit date back in March but one thing that hasn’t changed is the uncertainty and how a deal or no deal agreement might impact the UK’s economy. Without knowing exactly what will happen come 31st October, it’s hard to know what the future holds but there is one dominating factor throughout all of this…people.

We would like to say a really big welcome to Laura Maddocks, the latest member of the 300 North family. Laura has joined us as a Recruitment Administrator to help support our team of consultants and make our client and candidate experience as smooth as possible. Laura has a professional background in customer experience, sales and administration and is looking forward to getting stuck-in to the recruitment process and leaning more about the Facilities Management Sector.

Careers. Our favourite subject. Especially those within the Facilities Management (FM) sector. However, there is a problem. Is FM given enough credit for its breadth of stimulating and diverse career options. No one goes through school proclaiming, ‘I want to work in FM when I’m older’. That’s because FM isn’t traditionally seen as an inspiring career path, despite its strong credentials.

Following on from an earlier post, listing 10 great reasons to work in FM, we continue our mission to:

• Fly the flag for FM.
• Campaign for better awareness of FM careers.
• Inspire a new generation of FM professionals.

On the 02 September Carolyn Taylor from Walking the Talk consultancy published an article in Facilitate Magazine about the importance of good culture in the workplace.

'Everyone likes to work in an organisation with a great culture because it brings out the best in us all. Like a rising tide that lifts all boats, a good culture helps us to be more constructive, more supportive of others and more courageous with our ideas. A great culture undoubtedly improves the wellbeing of those who work within it'.

At 300 North, having a great culture is something we place at the heart of our ethos. It is born out of our embedded values of honesty, integrity, knowledge and enthusiasm, all with a sprinkling of fun.