Hamilton Mayday Embraces New Beginnings, Relocating its London Office to Old Compton Street

After three decades of successful operations in Great Chapel Street, renowned staffing and recruitment agency Hamilton Mayday has decided to embark on a fresh chapter by moving to new offices in the vibrant neighbourhood of Old Compton Street in Soho. The relocation marks an exciting new era for the company as it seeks to expand its reach and continue providing exceptional services to its clients.

Having firmly established itself as a leading player in the staffing industry, Hamilton Mayday has built a strong reputation for its expertise in matching talented professionals with companies across various sectors. The decision to move to Old Compton Street reflects the company’s forward-thinking approach, embracing change and growth to better serve its ever-expanding clientele.

The new offices, strategically located in the heart of London’s bustling entertainment district, promise to provide Hamilton Mayday with a fresh perspective and opportunities for further development. Old Compton Street’s vibrant atmosphere and central location make it an ideal hub for the agency’s operations, offering easy access to clients, candidates, and a diverse talent pool.

“We are thrilled to be embarking on this new chapter for Hamilton Mayday,” said Simon Curtis, the Managing Director of the company. “After 30 successful years in Great Chapel Street, we believe it is time for new beginnings. Our move to Old Compton Street signifies our commitment to growth, innovation, and providing exceptional services to our clients. We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.”

The move to the new offices will not only enhance Hamilton Mayday’s operations but also create a more conducive work environment for its dedicated team of professionals. With modern facilities, state-of-the-art technology, and a contemporary design, the new space aims to foster collaboration, creativity, and productivity among the staff.

“We believe that the physical workspace plays a crucial role in driving employee satisfaction and engagement,” added Curtis. “Our new offices in Old Compton Street have been carefully designed to create an inspiring and comfortable environment for our team. We want to ensure that our employees have the best possible resources to continue delivering outstanding service to our clients.”

Hamilton Mayday’s clients and partners can look forward to a seamless transition, as the company has made meticulous plans to ensure uninterrupted service during the relocation process. The agency’s contact details, including phone numbers and email addresses, will remain the same, ensuring a smooth continuation of communication and collaboration.

As Hamilton Mayday bids farewell to its long-standing home in Great Chapel Street, the agency eagerly anticipates the opportunities that await in Old Compton Street. With a focus on innovation, exceptional service, and a commitment to its clients and employees, Hamilton Mayday is well-positioned to continue its legacy of success in the staffing and recruitment industry.

Staff Shortages

The shortage of workers that is currently effecting supply chains across the country could go on for a number of years warns the CBI.

It said that the Government should adopt a more flexible policy on immigration to tackle the problem.

McDonalds, Wetherspoons, Ikea and Iceland have reported that they are falling short of some supplies.

“The CBI has heard from companies actively cutting capacity because they can’t meet demand, like the hoteliers limiting the number of bookable rooms because they don’t have enough housekeeping staff and can’t get linen laundered,” said CBI director general Tony Danker.

“Meanwhile some restaurant owners have had to choose between lunchtime and evening services when trying to make the most of summer.”

 

The CBI said the list of “shortage occupations” which determines whether overseas workers are granted work visas should be widened to include HGV drivers and other areas where its members had identified shortages, including welders, butchers and bricklayers.

“The government promised an immigration system that would focus on the skills we need rather than unrestrained access to overseas labour,” said Mr Danker. “Yet here we have obvious and short-term skilled need but a system that can’t seem to respond.”

The CBI said members also cited shortages of fruit and flower pickers, food and meat processing operatives, livestock and arable workers, factory assembly workers, scaffolders, carpenters, chefs, cleaners and housekeepers.

 

We are experiencing this first hand and seeing the demand for staff outstrip supply.

We have never experienced such high demand for candidates as we are seeing right now.

Take a look at our current vacancies here

Job vacancies in the UK are Soaring but there are not enough workers

According to a KPMG Survey, the demand for workers rose at its fastest rate in May for more than 23 years.

Hospitality venues are struggling to fill thousands of jobs with waiting staff and chefs in particular demand as Covid-19 restrictions continue to ease, industry body UK Hospitality said last week.

Many hospitality firms have struggled during the pandemic despite extensive government support, including rates holidays and the furlough scheme, and staff have lost their jobs or seen their hours reduced.

The monthly survey of more than 400 recruitment and employment agencies is proof that the economic recovery is gathering pace.

Some are warning that their could be a staffing crisis this summer, partly caused by gaps left by workers from the EU that returned home at the beginning of the pandemic and have not returned because of Brexit.

To see our current opportunities, take a look at https://www.hamiltonmayday.co.uk/job-search/

Brighton and Hove receive UK’s first Gold Sustainable Food Place Award

The Sustainable Food Places Network is a rapidly growing movement of people in towns, cities, boroughs and counties across the UK working to make healthy, sustainable and local food a defining characteristic of where they live.

Tom Andrews, of Sustainable Food Places said: “It’s amazing to present this award to Brighton and Hove, recognising the extraordinary innovation and effort to change attitudes and perceptions about food and create a more sustainable food system.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has shown just how important it is that people have healthy diets and can access affordable, healthy and sustainable food no matter who they are or where they live. But the pandemic has also shown just how resilient communities can be when they work together to help those most in need, and nowhere more so than Brighton and Hove.

“In achieving this first ever Gold Sustainable Food Places Award, Brighton and Hove has shown what is possible in transforming a local food system for the better.

“Recognising that food is not only at the heart of some of today’s greatest challenges but is also a vital part of the solution, Brighton and Hove Partnership are leading a vanguard of more than 50 pioneering local food partnerships and creating one of the fastest growing social movements in the UK today.”

Brighton and Hove Food Partnership Director, Vic Borrill, said: “We have coordinated this bid, but the activities and achievements in it are not ours alone- they belong the whole city and beyond. Food has never been so important.

“It is a lens for understanding the most complex problems. It has the power to bring people together and changes lives. The approach brought together businesses, community and voluntary groups, local authority departments and individuals across the city.

“Because of our collaborative approach Brighton and Hove is one of the few areas of the UK bucking the trend on childhood obesity, has breastfeeding rates 25% above the national average and has tripled the number of community gardens.”

Through local food partnerships involving local authorities, charities, businesses and community groups, the Sustainable Food Places Network is using good food to tackle some of the biggest social, economic and environmental issues today, food poverty and obesity and the decay of our high streets and the disappearance of family farming to climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and waste.

Brighton and Hove was the first city in the UK to create a citywide food strategy, the first to have food growing written into planning guidelines for new residential developments and the first to require all Council food procurement to meet minimum health and sustainability standards.

Borrill added: “Tackling food poverty is a great example of Brighton and Hove’s pioneering, proactive and joined-up approach.

“Spurred by a survey revealing one in five residents did not have enough money to meet their basic living costs including food, Brighton and Hove Food Partnership began to focus on the issue in 2012.

“An Emergency Food Network was set up and food poverty became a galvanising focus for the city via the 2015-2018 Food Poverty Action Plan.”

She said that when Covid-19 hit, the Food Partnership launched the ‘Hungry at Home’ fundraising appeal and the Emergency Food Network became the vehicle for an astonishing citywide emergency food response to the pandemic lockdown.

As well as signposting thousands of people in need, a central food-processing hub was established, where wholesale and surplus food was organised and distributed to food banks and meal projects across the city by a team of volunteers. The city’s businesses, residents and mutual aid groups stepped in to ensure an unprecedented response.

Recognising that food banks were not the answer to food poverty, the city is now taking a more preventative approach. For example, the Food Partnership is working with residents to pilot several affordable food schemes, bringing good quality, low cost, nutritious food to areas outside the city centre.

“Brighton and Hove’s approach to food poverty is widely recognised and is now a model for other places.

“The city’s strong and vibrant voluntary and community sector is another winning factor, with reported 51% of adults in the city volunteering at least once a year, contributing 4.5m volunteer hours.”

Speaking about Brighton and Hove’s Gold award, chef, food writer and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall said: “The word ‘crisis’ has been bandied around a lot in the last year – and not without good reason.

“Health crisis, a looming economic crisis and a climate and biodiversity crisis. They are all linked of course, and the solutions are linked too.

“We need to move to a food and farming system that is good for people and good for the planet. One that values a huge variety of whole foods – mainly plants – above the endless industrial processing of a small number of industrially farmed crops: wheat, maize, rice and soya, for example, and meat farmed on such a scale that it devours a third of the world’s cereal crops.

“Such a transition requires urgent and radical action at both a national and local level, by governments, by businesses, and by communities. As the first UK city to achieve the Sustainable Food Places Gold Award, Brighton and Hove have raised the bar.

“They have hugely improved access to affordable good food and nurtured a food system that promotes people’s health and livelihoods while protecting the local and global environment.

“Their work across the city, led by the Brighton and Hove Partnership, is a massive achievement and a model of effective collaboration that I hope every place in the UK will adopt. I salute them and congratulate them on this well-deserved award.”

The Sustainable Food Places programme is led by the Soil Association, Food Matters and Sustain – the alliance for better food and farming. It is funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and the National Lottery Community Fund.

More than 50 areas across the UK are involved with the Sustainable Food Places Network and more are joining every year.

Written by
David Foad
and published by Public Sector Catering – publicsectorcatering.co.uk

Gordon Ramsay seeks food and drink entrepreneurs for new show

Chef Gordon Ramsay has called for food and drink entrepreneurs to sign up to his new Apprentice-style BBC One show to compete for his investment.

The new eight-part competition series, called Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food Stars, will put 12 competitors through their paces as they pitch to take their product, food truck, app or business idea to the next level.

Interested parties are encouraged to email foodstars@studioramsay.com.

Applicants must be aged 18 by 1 May 2020 and have the right to live and work in the UK.

 

Smart Table innovation can revolutionise hospitality industry

New technology developed by Edinburgh-based start-up ePOS Hybrid is set to transform the hospitality industry by allowing diners to play games, call a waiter and design their own pizza from the comfort of their seats.

By transforming tables into touchscreen infotainment hubs, the Smart Table technology gives consumers full control of their experience.

It will also help decrease the demand on waiting staff during busy periods, allowing restaurants, bars and clubs to provide a more efficient service.

Bhas Kalangi, who founded ePOS Hybrid in 2016, said: “This could revolutionise the dining experience in bars and restaurants.

“Our technology is allowing hospitality businesses of all sizes and types to improve their customer experience, making them far more memorable than traditional meals or coffees out.

“Developing technology which allows hospitality businesses to work more efficiently is at the core of what we do.”

The plug and play connection ensures the Smart Touch Table is ready for immediate use, and can connect to the complete range of ePOS devices. The seamless glass surface wipes clean in seconds, ready for the next customer.

Mr Kalangi added: “It’s a really exciting time for the industry as there are so many market opportunities and trends we can work with to develop the best ePOS system for restaurants and bars.”

By Paul Kiddie, News Reporter

from the Daily Business Group – Click here to see original story

Cyrus Todiwala OBE announces Zest Quest Asia Gala Dinner Menu 2020

 

Cyrus Todiwala OBE unveils Zest Quest Asia Gala Dinner Menu 2020

The menu, heavily inspired by Goan-Portuguese culinary traditions, will highlight ingredients and produce donated by suppliers loyal to the Zest Quest Asia cause.

The student competition was founded in 2013 by Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala in collaboration with the Master Chefs of Great Britain to help cultivate talent, knowledge and understanding of Asian cuisines.

Six colleges have been chosen to compete in the final cook-off, to be held earlier in the day: Loughborough College, New City College, Sheffield College, University of West London, University College Birmingham and North Hertfordshire College.

Before the dinner, a sumptuous drinks reception hosted by current Zest Quest Asia champions, University of West London, will feature canapes with flavours drawn from their recent prize-winning trip to the Philippines.

Cyrus Todiwala told us: “I’ve prepared a menu that I hope attendees of our 7th Zest Quest Asia Gala Dinner & Awards Night will find both nourishing and captivating. It is an intricate combination of East meets West, using some very fine quality, seasonal ingredients. In the end, the evening is a celebration and I hope my menu will be judged worthy of all the effort and commitment put in by the colleges and students, as well as the suppliers and sponsors who have thrown their weight behind Zest Quest Asia. I owe it to them, just as the finalists owe it to themselves to do their best to win this competition.”

Zest Quest Asia Gala Dinner & Awards Night Menu

FIRST COURSE

  • ESTILO DE BOMBAIYYA CREMEU A GALINHA EN PASTELARIA – Bombay style creamed chicken in puff pastry
  • SMOKED DUCK AND HAGGIS SAMOSA WITH RICE
  • KEDGREE CROQUETTE – Croquette of Arbroath Smoked Haddock blended with rice

SECOND COURSE

  • PARSEE LAMB BIRYANI PATTICE – Parsee style Lamb biryani patty filled with the lamb
  • QUEIJO COUVE ARROZ E COGUMELO COM FOLHA DE BANANA – Banana leaf filled with cauliflower, rice cheese & mushrooms with mixed nuts and sultanas
  • TURKEY CHAAZAAN – Shredded turkey tossed with glass noodles seasoned with garlic, soy, red chilli oil, coriander and soy

MAIN COURSE

  • FEIJOADA COM ARROZ – Hot Portuguese choriso with kidney beans blended with Goan style pork stew and rice
  • TART OF WINTER VEGETABLE MEDLEY
  • CURRY DE COCO VERDE CLARO – Quenelle of Light green coconut curry

Pre-Dessert Sorbet

SOUR CHERRY

DESSERT

Dessert by Chef Jerome Dreux

“We encourage all who are in our industry that share our vision to nurture and cultivate young talent to support this event.”

Schedule of the night: (Dress code: smart casual)

18:45 – Drinks Reception

19:30 – Dinner

11:00 – Carriages

Tickets are £90 per person or £850 for a table of 10.

Book your tickets here.

If you wish to book accommodation for the event, please click here to receive the agreed rates starting from £80 bed and breakfast.

Santa’s on his way!

It’s nearly time! You can track Santa’s Progress by clicking here

Happy Christmas from everyone at Hamilton Mayday!

Factory Friday – The big get away!

 

For many the 20th December otherwise known as factory Friday was a traffic nightmare, especially around the Gatwick area.

The M23 and the train line between Gatwick and Brighton were both closed today due to flooding.

Hundreds of people were late for their flights at Gatwick Airport on what is traditionally one of the busiest traveling days of the year.

For further information on flood warnings Click Here

And for traffic updates Click Here

Hamilton Mayday are currently recruiting for staff at Gatwick.  take a look at our vacancy page.

 

Compass CEO Richard Cousins dies in plane crash

Compass group chief executive Richard Cousins has died in a seaplane accident near Sydney, Australia.

The catering giant confirmed that 58 year old Cousins had died alongside four members of his family in the tragic accident.

He was with his two sons, fiance and her daughter returning from a restaurant in Jerusalem Bay on New Year’s Eve when the sight-seeing seaplane went down in the Hawkesbury River, near the suburb of Cowan.

The crash killed all six occupants of the seaplane, including the pilot.

Compass Group chairman Paul Walsh said: “We are deeply shocked and saddened by this terrible news. The thoughts of everyone at Compass are with Richard’s family and friends, and we extend our deepest sympathies to them.

“It has been a great privilege to know Richard personally and to work with him for the last few years. Richard was known and respected for his great humanity and a no-nonsense style that transformed Compass into one of Britain’s leading companies.”

Cousins was appointed group chief executive of Compass in 2006, following six years as CEO of building materials company BPB. He was due to step down as chief executive in March and retire from the group in September.

It was announced in September 2017 that Dominic Blakemore, chief operating office Europe, would be appointed deputy chief executive of Compass in preparation to replace Cousins in March.