The past year has been one of consolidation for the Building Services Engineering Employment Agency Alliance, according to its independent chairman, Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan.
Speaking at the second annual general meeting of the Alliance, Lord O'Neill pointed out that membership had continued to grow modestly over the previous 12 months - and that the organisation had enjoyed 'a number of opportunities to fine-tune the way it operates', and to 'refine its aims, objectives and longer-term aspirations'.
At the end of its first year of existence - in April 2009 - the Alliance had comprised 15 members, accounting on average for more than 17,000 monthly lettings of skilled personnel to contractors and service providers across the sector.
'In what has been a demanding period for the industry, it is pleasing to be able to confirm that only two of that number are no longer involved in the business,' said Lord O'Neill.
Indeed, 'steady but solid growth' had continued, with the recruitment of a further five agencies - accounting for 7,900 average monthly personnel lettings - with a number of further prospects in the pipeline.
During the meeting, membership certificates were presented to five new members - ABC Contract Services Ltd, Active Technical Resources Ltd, Exxell Group, Jark Construction Ltd and Meridian Business Support Ltd.
Frank Boyle of On-Site Recruitment Services was elected to fill a vacancy on the Alliance's Executive Committee.
The business session which immediately followed the meeting featured three
expert speakers. They were: Caroline Yarrow of law firm Bircham Dyson Bell
on the introduction of the Agency Workers Regulations; Liz Bridge, secretary of
the Joint Taxation Committee for the Construction Industry, on HMRC's
proposals for tackling 'false self-employment' across construction; and Peter
Rimmer, HVCA head of employment affairs, on the work programme and
initiatives currently being taken forward by the Alliance.
The Building Services Engineering Employment Agency Alliance was established
by the HVCA in April 2008, in acknowledgement of the increasingly important
role which employment agencies are playing in the sector's supply chain.