REC

As the largest trade association for the recruitment sector in the UK, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation is all about brilliant recruitment, and leads the way in defining better standards and practice.

“We are a corporate membership body with over 3,300 members, ranging from start-up recruitment businesses right through to large multinational businesses,” explains Neil McGill, the REC’s Head of Commercial.

“We provide a variety of tools, products and services to members, including helplines, model contracts and documents, training courses and qualifications, and a large events programme.

“We also do a lot of lobbying on behalf of our members to ensure that government decisions don’t adversely impact our members.”

“I actually joined the REC the day we partnered with Croner, back in September 2016.”

Through the REC and Croner partnership, members are able to access specialist advice and exclusive discounts on a range of services to aid their recruitment businesses. Over the years, we have devised effective campaigns and seminars to communicate these key benefits, and what they mean for members.

“The first year was very much us testing the waters to see what worked for our partnership,” Neil explains.

“We now arrange around 10 seminars every year with Croner where we can promote the benefits and services, as well as deliver key information on employment law and HR around the recruitment industry.

“The events are brilliant. Amanda Chadwick, one of the expert speakers, is a very effective presenter. Members react very positively, and I don’t think we’ve had a single bad review of a Croner event.”

“We also communicate with members via industry-specific mailings, to inform them of important updates and remind of what they can access.

“We buy Croner’s legal expenses insurance and offer it to certain members as a core part of their membership. That’s a unique offering that only our REC/Croner partnership provides, and so it’s a massive selling point. We can legitimately say that prospective members won’t be able to get that service with a competitor, plus they get reduced rates on other products and services.

“As all of our members renew at the same time each year, we always push the Croner elements of their membership. We do this because we know—based on feedback we’ve had—that it’s a great benefit, and one that they often take advantage of.

“The Croner offering has freed up some of our own resources too. We have our own legal helpline, but we will transfer calls regarding HR and health & safety to the Croner advice line, which means our helpline can focus more on other areas.”