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Focus Group have teamed up with LoveLocalJobs.com and Be the Change!

Focus Group partnership

Focus Group, formed as a Telecoms Reseller in 2004 with just two members of staff, Chris Goodman and Ralph Gilbert, running the business from a shoebox home office. Their journey since has been fast and exciting with rapid growth and over 300 staff in place have now extended its commitment to employing locally by becoming a partner of LoveLocalJobs.com.

Focus Group is delighted to be a part of this programme.” Ralph Gilbert, Joint MD said “Making a difference to people’s lives and presenting them with opportunities they might not have had is an area that I find inspiring and I’m committed to help those on the programme. I strongly believe I would have benefited from such guidance in my school years, but unfortunately it wasn’t available. Today, we are in a position to offer mentoring and life skills, helping to tackle challenges and difficult situations occurring now and in the future. I also feel It will help parents and role models to understand the issues that children are facing today, that weren’t necessarily there when we were younger and together we can find solutions to these.  

The response from our employees has been incredible, achieving a great deal of interest to become involved as voluntary Ambassadors and Mentors. The thought of making a difference and raising the career aspirations of young people is high up on our staff’s agenda. From listening to the pupil’s testimonies, you can hear and see the impact Be the Change has had on peoples’ lives and it’s very humbling. 

Focus Group will take part in this programme by providing Mentors and Volunteers who will play an important role in helping these students. We are ambassadors of Apprenticeship schemes both locally and nationally”.

Listening to and responding to their customers’ needs, Focus Group launched their Customer Charter which demonstrates their commitment to providing and improving their services and is at the core of what they do. It allows them to measure their performance against their promises, which helps Focus Group to deliver the best Customer Experience. Always putting their customers first builds trust and results in long-term relationships.

Additionally, they have nurtured and rewarded staff to keep them motivated with training and development opportunities combined with attractive and competitive packages. This all leads to committed individuals and a strong and credible workforce.

About 5 years ago, the demand for recruitment at Focus Group was so high that it led to the formation of Pier Recruitment, with a partnership between Ralph Gilbert, Chris Goodman and Katie Gibson. Pier recruit within the following areas; Accountancy, Administration, Customer Service, Financial, Procurement, Logistics, Managerial, Sales, Warehouse, Cleaning, HR and Marketing, within a range of industries. They have a very strong local presence and always have a great pool of candidates from within the Sussex area, including candidates with a variety of skills and experience, looking for both permanent and temporary positions. Every client has a dedicated Account Manager to understand roles and get to know the environment and culture, helping to recruit the best people for roles. Pier consultants are all trained to carry out extensive pre-screening to make sure they are eligible to work in the UK as well as have the skills and experience their CV outlines. Other services to help local businesses are payroll, assessment centres, candidate testing and training, employment legislation training, referencing and DBS checks.

Arnaud Doggett Commercial Director at LoveLocalJobs.com, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome Focus Group as a partner. I know the firm shares our goal of providing local people with tangible career opportunities through our online platform. We are so much more than just an online jobs board and with the help of our inspirational programme, are changing the lives of many local young people.

“Focus Group is an important and influential employer in local area and beyond, and we are looking forward to working together on creating more employment and career opportunities for local people.”