Entrepreneurial spirit alive and well in Slough
March 2, 2010 at 11:57 am | Posted in Goldteam News | Leave a commentTags: award, chamber of commerce, compliance, entrpreneur, ethics, Goldteam, recruitment agencies, slough, vulnerable workers
Posted by Karen Furminger
I was very proud to see our Managing Director Naveed Ahmed win the Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Slough Chamber Gala dinner last week. One of the reasons I joined Goldteam was because of the ethical approach to business Naveed has.
This was underlined by the regional audit partner of Haines Watts who said that this award recognised Goldteam’s commitment to providing employment to local people. Goldteam deals with a low skilled candidate group but have been able provide ongoing temporary work to 700 people from the local economy. By providing this low skilled group with free training in the areas of hygiene and health and safety, we have been able to ensure continuous assignments for what is usually an underprivileged section of our local economy as well as ensuring that they have the necessary skills to be able to secure work. This is a win/win situation providing local employment and obviously at the same time facilitating Goldteam’s growth
The award also recognised Naveed’s vision to grow the business to £100m turnover by 2016 whilst achieving an unrivalled reputation for compliance, ethics and innovation. “I want to do this in order to set a benchmark for our industry as a company that not only cares about making money – but which also cares about how that money is made – a quality I find sadly lacking in our industry today”, he said.
Hear Hear Naveed – and very well done!
Should GLA legislation be extended?
February 15, 2010 at 2:45 pm | Posted in Goldteam News | Leave a commentTags: compliance, ethics, food industry, gangmaster, GLA, hospitality, recruitment, recruitment agencies, vulnerable workers
While it’s great to see news of crackdowns on illegal operatives working as herb pickers in Norfolk – and the ongoing investigation into suspected unlicensed gangmaster activity – I believe there should be an extension of legislation into other industries. We operate in the food production, hospitality and healthcare sectors, and are licensed by the Gangmaster Licensing Authority because food production is a regulated area. Unfortunately even just using the word gangmaster has a negative connotation these days. Those recruiters who choose to operate ethically and in full compliance with the law often get tarred with the same brush as ruthless criminals who set out to exploit vulnerable and often illegal workers. Vulnerable workers and unscrupulous operators are not confined to the food manufacturing sector. I would argue that industries such as hospitality and construction should also be regulated – particularly with the 2012 Olympics coming up. The recent crackdown is obviously good news – but there is a danger that ‘rogue traders’ will just move into to other unregulated areas – that’s bad for vulnerable workers, bad for recruitment and bad for Britain! What’s your view?
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