Blog Featured - Harvey Lawrence

21/01/2019

Blue Monday Motivation

Blue Monday, the third Monday in January, is infamous for being the most depressing day of the year. But just because this day has been dubbed the most miserable, should we dwell on what is depressing us en masse… or rather, do something positive to kick those negative associations far over the horizon? Why so blue? The thinking behind Blue Monday is logical when you look at the facts, few people can honestly say they love Mondays, January is a long month, typically wintery and grey, with a longer than usual wait for pay day, the bright an twinkly hullabaloo of Christmas seems like a distant memory yet we’re all still paying off the credit cards bills as a result, and we’re all expected to just slot back into the usual work regime as normal, getting up in the dark and arriving home in the dark – meaning many people fall into a downward spiral by sheer dint of the fact that a perfect storm for feeling blue has well and truly landed! To top it off this year, we are all a bit overwhelmed with the many issues surrounding Brexit and are probably fed up of hearing about it all if we’re honest, and that’s before we have even considered where we are with our list of New Year’s Resolutions… feeling blue yet? If you are, don’t panic, you’re clearly not alone! It is true, January can be a challenging month as we get back into the day-to-day ‘swing’ and plan for the seemingly long year ahead. For the construction industry, many projects have reached completion and there is often the interim period of waiting for new projects to begin. If you’re feeling the lull this Blue Monday, we’ve got a few things up our sleeve to lift you up… A fresh start Assess your career – our day job is what consumes most hours in our day so it’s vital that you’re in your happy place when you go there. Pick up the phone or message us on social and book yourself in for a free career consultation with Harvey Lawrence, our skilled team of construction recruitment specialists are on-hand to ensure you never feel blue on a Monday ever again! If you’re feeling the pinch after Christmas, maybe you could be earning more, ask us how your salary benchmarks against others in your profession. Fancy a fresh challenge, seizing a new opportunity? If you’ve been in your current role for a little while and don’t feel like you’re making headway, get in touch. If you’ve spoken to us in the past and now have a few more years under your belt, we could have just the role for you… Brighten someone’s day Give Blue Monday a poke in the eye by doing something lovely for a colleague, friend, stranger (think Random Acts of Kindness). You’ll be surprised how even something as simple as grabbing an extra coffee from the machine for your work mate and seeing the smile on their face can cheer you up too. It’s all about the goals Set yourself some personal goals (goals are more serious and focussed than resolutions). Whether it’s getting back to the gym, improving your distances, or better utilising your time – make it specific and write it down, today! Four times a week in the gym, a half marathon in under 2 hours, 4 hours a week working for a local charity – make it count and make a commitment to something other than work. If you are an employer – don’t let your teams succumb to Blue Monday misery, instead schedule personal reviews to set objectives, personal targets and aspirations for the year ahead. Lift staff out of any malaise by helping them to visualise their goals and rewards. Revisit promotion goals and remind your team you’re right there to help them achieve. Plan some you-time We guarantee that this Blue Monday buster will have you feeling brighter in an instant! Schedule your annual holidays; choose a new destination you haven’t been to previously, and space them out so you have things to look forward to throughout the year. This way, the year will be punctuated with good things to look forward to and the time in between will seem to go faster. If you are an employer, encourage staff to plan their holidays for the year so that they don’t get overworked, jaded and demoralised. This also serves to assist with planning staff resources and will result in better individual output. Win-win! Be more social, really When was the last time you did something as a family or as a work group? Ensure you don’t feel isolated by bringing lots of people together for a group event or a get-together. Real life social events have the power to uplift mood rather than spending lots of time on social media which has been proven to cause the opposite. At work, if you’re the boss, organise group away-days which is a great opportunity to review business strategy or maybe organise a group teambuilding day. Build in half business and half fun to the agenda (and pick an inspiring venue or location too). CSR (corporate social responsibility) Most organisations are involved in some form of charitable activity. If your workplace isn’t, talk to your employer about getting something set up whereby you can be allowed a set amount of time off per month to do something good for a good cause. In the construction industry, this may be helping a local school learn the benefits of a career in the industry, donating surplus building supplies or time to fix run down areas etc. Flexible working In 2017, Construction News reported that over a period of 5 years in the construction industry, more than 1,400 people had taken their own lives, more than in any other profession. Unnerving statistics and something that both colleagues and employers are encouraged to look out for in the workplace (learn more at MHFA England). Blue Monday may seem like a trivial phenomenon when faced with stats like this, but it should serve as a reminder that we can all feel demoralised and downtrodden by the ‘treadmill’ of work. If flexible working is an option, then this is something to be considered in order to ease the pressure, increase motivation and add some variety to our work life balance. Keeping an open door and an open mind to people who may be suffering is the first step to getting people back on track. Join in the conversation with Harvey Lawrence over on our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn or contact us to speak confidentially about your next career move.

28/11/2018

Manchester – an exciting place to be…

It is very plain to see that Manchester is alive with tower cranes,many of which you will see are on city centre high-rise PRS and student accommodation sites. Perhaps people are looking at how long this “bubble” may continue and when we will return to the almost overnight slowdown in this sector that we saw in Manchester in 2008. Many will have an awareness of this but it seems that there is real visibility in this market for the medium term as Manchester continues to attract significant investment. It would seem that this surge in “accommodation” building has a few more years left yet and, the great city that Manchester is, will continue to be that vibrant and exciting place to be! Picture source: constructionnews.co.uk PRS There has been a whopping 400% increase in the construction of residential units in Manchester in the last 2 years with PRS (Private Rental Sector) accommodation dominating the way. Paul Beardmore Chief Executive of Manchester Place (Manchester City Council investment agency) says: “The work we have done on population growth in the city shows that the demand is absolutely there. All of our agents are giving us the same message: they can’t get their hands on new apartments quickly enough.” Investors from the Far East are “still very active in the city centre market”, he added. It is predicted that there will be a 220% increase in city centre completions by the end of March 2018. High-profile schemes include East Consortiums 756 unit development at Angel Meadow including a 41 storey skyscraper and Oxygen Tower with 357 units (Property Alliance Group) to name a few. Image by Falconer Chester Hall from Place North West Student Accommodation Student accommodation has changed drastically from the “cheap” and “grotty” looking accommodation into more luxury and high-spec flats and this continues to grow. Student accommodation, particularly PBSA (Purpose-Built Student Accommodation) is currently worth £46bn in the UK and will be worth £47bn by the end of this year. Investment in PBSA has doubled in the last 2 years and will only continue to grow. This is the largest emerging sector within property investment. High-profile student accommodation includes a 30 storey SimpsonHaugh-designed student accommodation tower at New Wakefield Street by Unite, a 37 storey Hodder-designed student accommodation tower – Liberty Heights – at 1 Great Marlborough Street, which was developed by Student Castle during the last recession. And last but not least, Vita 716 ultra-modern flats, part of the £750m Circle Square development. Picture source:constructionnews.co.uk Other projects in Manchester: £153m Angel Gardens 466 apartment private and rented scheme £200m Angel Meadow project with 750 apartments with retail and leisure space The NOMA/Angel Meadows project comprising of skyscraper apartments, offices and public space. This will include a 36-storey, 458 apartment development and a 13 storey block of offices Ancoats, in New Islington includes a 31 storey sky-scraper which will feature 345 new flats, 12 townhouses and its own allotments The Plaza which is a 10 storey development with 201 new apartments Deansgate/Spinningfields development including skyscrapers, offices, hotels, arts venues and green space £1.3bn vertical village towers £34m refurbishment of Hanover Building and Federation House Picture source: rightmove.co.uk Harvey Lawrence – Opportunities in Manchester The last two years has seen us leading recruitment drives for some of the key brands in these sectors. We were also leading recruitment in Manchester in the previous accommodation boom of 2005 – 2008. It is a market we understand and have a long-standing knowledge of. Our roots are in Manchester, it is where our business began and where we have always had a huge focus and contact base. We are proud to have recently recruited for senior roles such as: Project Directors for high-rise residential schemes in excess of £100m, Commercial Managers managing portfolios in excess of £150m and various quantity surveying, site and design management roles. Sarah Harvey, owner of Harvey Lawrence commented: “Having lived in Manchester for 20 years and having spent my entire construction recruitment career focusing on Manchester, it is an area that has always been at the top of our agenda and part of our overall business strategy. I am very proud that we have succeeded in maintaining some very strong relationships with key players in the region. Clients come to us as they have the confidence in our presence and in the way we do business. As a Director told me the other day, we listen to the brief and deliver. For me, if you are looking for a job or staff, this is what good recruitment is all about and it will continue to be at the heart of what we do.” There are some very significant and even iconic schemes that are happening in Manchester with even more in the pipeline. For those that want to advance their careers and be part of challenging schemes, there is definite opportunity and career advancement to be made. Working on projects in busy sectors with well – respected brands clearly is great for the development of a good CV and sustained and long-term advancement and earning potential. Like anything, being in the right place at the right time has a part to play and Manchester is definitely the place to be. Feature image sourced at rightmove.co.uk

Non-stop Manchester

Blue Monday Motivation

Manchester – an exciting place to be…