The global ransomware attack on thousands of private and public sector organisations across dozens of countries on Friday 12 May has been called the ‘largest ransomware attack observed in history’, causing hundreds of NHS operations to be cancelled, patients turned away from A&E at hospitals across the UK, and the safety of patients’ personal information to be put under threat. As the NHS gradually gets on top of the disruption, questions are being raised as to who, or what, is responsible and what could have prevented this. There are s... Continue reading

Getting your CV in front of a recruiting manager is half the battle when looking for the next step in your career.  To get the best results, spend time looking through the job advert or agency brief, and really try to understand what it is the employer is looking for and then tailor your CV to meet their needs.  For every skill they have highlighted, make sure you address it within your CV or application form. Make it all about you and tell them what skills you have and why you’re right for their role! Recruiting managers HATE to see ... Continue reading

The theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week (running all this week and ending on Sunday) has been ‘Thriving, not surviving’, and there has been a spate of publicity given to mental health and wellbeing in recent weeks, with everyone from Prince Harry to Lady Gaga sharing their feelings and experiences – it’s the new ‘coming out’. There has been the inevitable backlash against this too, with certain commentators suggesting we’re all over-sharing, and should ‘man up’. With statistics that show 144 people died at work... Continue reading

During Mental Health Awareness Week this week it’s a good time to take stock of how employers can develop the most effective framework to foster good mental health at work. The CIPD 2016 Absence management survey, in partnership with Simplyhealth, found that two in five (41%) employers had identified an increase in reported mental health problems over the past 12 months, so it goes without saying that many more employers need to do more on this front. Mental ill health (such as clinical depression and anxiety) was the third most common cause ... Continue reading

The Environmental Permitting Regulations are the very sort of grimace-inducing Eurocracy that Nigel Farage would be shaking his tiny fists at during his allotted two minutes in Strasbourg. Of course, he may have his simultaneous translation headphones set to Hungarian – and who is to say that that wouldn’t have helped? Because they really are properly hard work for the lay person (which is virtually everyone outside of the Environment Agency and probably one or two inside it as well, if they were honest). As a small business, approachi... Continue reading