ARM has been working with the University of Southampton Science Park, on a fantastic competition to help launch the careers of four lucky entrepreneurs.

The Catalyst competition invited entries from people (or early stage companies) with a high tech science or technology based business idea, who could also demonstrate entrepreneurial flair and commercial aptitude.

The entries have been short listed

The competition entries were shortlisted to 8 and each person was asked to pitch their idea to a panel of seasoned experts, which included Mike Gawthorne, CEO of ARM. Mike said:

“Listening to the finalists’ pitches made for a really interesting day. It was great to hear their ideas for inspirational science and technology businesses, and I was excited by the level of innovation that was shown. We are looking forward to announcing the winners shortly."

Great prizes on offer

The five judges will make their final decision on the four competition winners shortly. Each of the winners will receive:

• Support from an expert business coach
• 6 months free occupancy of the Catalyst Centre
• Up to 2 desks and storage in a shared air-conditioned office
• Free internet connection
• Up to £1,000 towards agreed business expenses
• Weekly business workshops conducted by experienced professionals (during the first 3 months )
• Opportunities to meet successful entrepreneurs

As the competition winners will be resident in the Innovation Centre at Southampton Science Park, they will benefit from being part of the Park’s entrepreneurial community.

Get involved in 2014

Interested in applying for the 2014 competition? Keep an eye on this blog or follow ARM on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook for upcoming information.

The 3 Countries Cycle Ride took our team – Mike Gawthorne, Martin Grady and Paul Martin – through 3 countries over 4 days, to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. Read the story of their journey.

The day before the event

Our logistical challenge began with what to pack for 4 days’ cycling in unpredictable conditions - so packing for all eventualities seemed sensible. Each of us then made our way to Stratford with our respective bike and bags, via car, train and taxi. That evening, we met at the hotel and treated ourselves to a hearty meal, a couple of cheeky drinks and a sensible early night to ensure we were refreshed for the morning.

Day 1: London to Harwich

Following a rather dubious breakfast and after a thorough briefing from Skyline (the event organiser), we set off from a grey and rather chilly Stratford. We cycled in drizzly conditions through picturesque Essex villages (totally unexpected from people without detailed knowledge of rural Essex), covering 91 undulating miles before we arrived at Harwich port.

Unfortunately, our eagerness to get the first day out of the way, meant that we found ourselves outside the port rather earlier than expected, with only a pub for warmth and comfort. So, we treated ourselves to a few well-earned beers whilst we waited for the rest of the field to join us. We then boarded the ferry and travelled overnight to Holland.

Day 2: Hook of Holland to Amsterdam

Arriving in very grey and cold Holland, we cycled a windy 62-mile route past sand dunes and seaside towns on our way to sunny Amsterdam. Unfortunately, this was the day that Paul crashed unceremoniously into Mike, leaving both bikes a little worse for wear, and Paul with a poorly elbow and very bruised pride. We paid a brief visit to the square in Amsterdam (to say we’d actually seen some of it), had dinner and a couple of quiet drinks, and retired to our beds before an early alarm call.

Day 3: Amsterdam to Turnhout

The alarm woke us at 5:45am for our 7am start. Unfortunately, our bikes don’t arrive at the hotel until 9:30am. This meant that we were 90 minutes late starting our longest day in the saddle - Martin’s first 100+ mile day and the longest ever single-day mileage any of us had completed.

The morning began with beautiful conditions, but after getting lost a few times, we arrived at our 31-mile water stop with 35 miles on the clock! Undeterred, we ploughed on past the beautiful Dutch scenery, following the canals on the most glorious cycle paths we had ever encountered, made even more pleasant by the courteous Dutch drivers.

We finally arrived in the gothic city of Turnhout, our mileometers registering 115 miles for the day. A gorgeous independent hotel met us and the newly assembled ‘Tim Pie’ (8 cyclists aged from their early 20s to late 50s - Tim Pie being Welsh for Team Pie as we were now hallucinating about pie, chips and mushy peas for some reason) was enjoying the camaraderie and social element as much as the cycling.

Day 4: Turnhout to Brussels

Our last day in the saddle, thank heavens, as the miles were now taking their toll on our poor bodies. We travelled past quiet Belgian villages, making our way into Brussels, where the whole group assembled in a beautiful park 3 miles from the city centre. Then all 92 riders (incredibly, all started and finished without being swept up by the trailing “love bus”) crawled the final 3 miles into Brussels city centre, wearing bright orange t-shirts, to be met by friends and family for the customary photo shoot in the square. Final day mileage: 72.

Celebration time

We checked into our hotel and had 40 minutes to get changed for the celebration dinner - a deadline we clearly weren’t going to miss. Once the closing speeches were over, we ventured into town, to an Irish Bar that had been recommended to us. To begin with, we thought we were in the wrong bar but, with each passing minute, more and more of our team mates appeared and the evening and early morning came and went so quickly. One particular member of Tim Pie returned to the hotel at 9:30am to grab two hours’ sleep before checking out! We then reconvened at the Eurostar terminal and continued to socialise all the way back to London.

All in all, this was a tremendous and uplifting experience, and we are already talking about what our 2014 challenge might be – maybe The Celtic Challenge from North Wales to Ireland and back? We’ll see.

Thanks to everyone who has helped to support The British Heath Foundation – a truly amazing charity. Your donations are much appreciated and will help to save lives. There is still time to donate, so please visit the Virgin Money charity page and give us what you can.

For now,

Paul, Mike and Martin

“This was an extremely fulfilling trip, which really did challenge physically. However, it was a great experience, which enabled us to raise a large amount of money for a fantastic cause – a massive thank you to everyone that supported us. The memories of the trip will last forever (so will the saddle sore) but as will the compelling and humbling stories of some of the people we met whilst on the trip. All in all, 92 cyclists raised more than £200K for charity and that makes all the pain worth it!”

Mike Gawthorne – CEO Serocor Group

“Having completed, with Mike, the excellent and very emotional London 2 Paris Challenge in June 2012, I wanted to continue to challenge myself into 2013. As it turned out, it was hard to compare the two events, but after less training, it turned out that the mind was in great shape and dragged the less fit body around for 4 days. An excellent amount of money made for a very personal charity topped it off for me, and even though I vowed to take 2014 off it looks like we are already planning next year’s. Maybe I’ll take 2015 off instead.”

Paul Martin, Business Development Director, Optamor

“Having spent nearly 6 months training for this event through a very bleak winter, this was an amazing experience. The whole trip was full of camaraderie and development of friendships that can only be made by sharing experiences like this. There were some tough times mentally and physically, but this was made very worthwhile when we found out how much money had been raised as well as listening to some of the stories about why people put themselves through this kind of pain. I would highly recommend this challenge to anybody who has the time and inclination to train to cycle the 340 miles. Roll on the next challenge!”

Martin Grady – Managing Director, Hawker Chase Executive

Today is day three of the 3 Countries Cycle Ride, which is taking our team - Mike Gawthorne, Martin Grady and Paul Martin - through 3 countries over 4 days, to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

Today the team will cycle 115 miles from Amsterdam, heading south through the beautiful Dutch countryside and across the Belgian border to the gothic city of Turnhout.

The event began on Wednesday, with the team completing the 90 mile journey from London to Harwich, before crossing the channel by ferry to the Hook of Holland. Thursday saw the team cycle to Amsterdam and Saturday is the final push from Turnhout to Brussels. That’s a total journey of 340 miles in the saddle for each team member.

We still need your donations

The team is on target to raise £5,000 for the British Heart Foundation and currently has almost £3,600 in donations. There's still time to donate, so visit the team’s Virgin Money charity page and donate what you can towards this excellent charity.

Mike Gawthorne, Martin Grady and Paul Martin are currently taking part in the 3 Countries bike ride to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. The cycle route is taking them through 3 countries over 4 days, with each of them cycling the full 340 miles.

The event began yesterday and the team set off from London, soon leaving the buzz of the city behind them. Their route took them through the beautiful Essex countryside and up the east coast to Harwich. After clocking up 90 miles in the saddle, the team caught the overnight ferry to Holland (and took a well earned rest).

Today is day 2 of the race, so by the time you read this they team will have left the Hook of Holland and be en route to Amsterdam – riding past canals and through historic towns and cities on the way.

The event ends in Brussels, which must seem pretty far away right now. Good luck guys!

On target to raise £5,000

The team has a target of £5,000 to reach and currently have almost £3,500 in support. You can visit their Virgin Money charity page to sponsor them.

Do you have a great business idea?

ARM is working with the University of Southampton Science Park on a fantastic competition to help launch the career of one lucky entrepreneur.

We are seeking people (or early stage companies) that have:

• A high tech science or technology based business proposition
• Entrepreneurial flair
• A degree of commercial awareness

Does this sound like you? If so, keep reading to learn what you can win and how to enter.

What you can win

A few lucky entrepreneurs will receive:

• Support from an expert business coach
• 6 months free occupancy of the Catalyst Centre
• Up to 2 desks and storage in a shared air-conditioned office
• Free internet connection
• Up to £1,000 towards agreed business expenses

The closing date for applications is the 31st May 2013

The competition process

Simply complete an entry form describing your business proposition and successful entrants will be asked to pitch their ideas to a panel of seasoned experts, which includes Mike Gawthorne, ARM’s CEO.

For further details on the competition terms and conditions, visit the competition website.

Serocor is a human capital management group that comprises talent management firms ARM UK, ARM International, Optamor and Hawker Chase Executive.

Serocor provides the best of all worlds for entrepreneurs wishing to establish themselves within the world of human capital management: the autonomy to run their own businesses, the support of a highly experienced and proven Board of mentors and the back office support of a large yet agile business. The Board wishes to attract new talent to the group, whether as Managing Directors launching new brands in the talent management space or to work within the group’s existing companies.

“Our vision is to create a high-growth specialist technology and engineering recruitment group, one which will include complementary human capital management companies and that operates both in the UK and internationally – a business that is respected by its peer group, appreciated by its clients, supported by its people and successful for its shareholders. It will be based and built on pride, professionalism and a management equity philosophy,”

says Mike Gawthorne, CEO of the Group.  Paul Huntingdon, who founded ARM in 1996, added,

“We believe our mentoring peer group and expert back office support in Legal and Compliance, Marketing, Finance and HR offers a rare blended solution that enables specialists in the broad sphere of HMC to do what they do best, allowing for a purer focus on the success of their business,”

citing the experience of a Board that includes current APSCO Chairman and Empresaria founder Miles Hunt.  Founder Paul Huntingdon adds,

“The appetite here is to collaborate and work with our entrepreneurs and not just view them as a monthly revenue stream. There are no egos, just a group of like-minded people looking to share their knowledge and wealth.”

You can read Recruitment International’s article about The Serocor Group here.

Leading ARM is Les Duncan another leading recruiter who has chosen to join in with the potential of the new business. Les built QA Myriad into a £60 million plus IT recruiter before selling the business to Hays with whom he has been up until the end of 2012. He has major plans for the ARM brand.

“We have some tremendous offerings in the technical IT and Engineering recruitment spaces. We are expanding both in the UK and internationally and have complementary human capital solutions within Serocor - all in all a hugely exciting series of offerings from a well respected company with ambitious growth plans!

Our businesses are all focused on growth and our people are all ambitious to do the best for our clients and candidates whilst enjoying being part of a high energy, no-nonsense sector-leading recruiter.

This growth will not only come for the UK where we have already started with openings in Aberdeen and Coventry but across complimentary countries. Within the next 12-24 months we are targeting Germany, The Middle East, SE Asia, North America, Australia and also South America.  We have a blue print that replicates our successful UK business and this will form the basis of our expansion programme.

We are going from strength to strength based on a reputation for really understanding what our clients are talking about, and for our proven capacity to build meaningful long term partnerships - this is demonstrated by the fact that many clients are turning away from traditional large generalist recruiters who generally don't possess real technical market insight, and are instead asking us to deal with more of their technical recruiting needs.

This pleasingly illustrates the real benefits that our clients perceive they gain by working with our hugely experienced team of technical recruitment professionals.”

ARM international is led by Lynda Ennis, another highly experienced recruiter who found the temptation to join ARM just too much. Originally joining to set up a project at the company she enjoyed the openness and the working atmosphere so much that a fulltime role was soon agreed. 

Swayed by the opportunity she has already built ARM International to a stand-alone business with 25 people working in the niche Ecommerce arena in technology.  She said,

“It’s a great place to be at the moment, we have a really inclusive feel to the business, everyone gets on with their jobs and that’s been appreciated by our clients. We are already looking at establishing offices overseas and we have some exciting projects that we are working on, for me this opportunity is more than just a job it’s about leaving a legacy.”

ARM exhibited at the Security Cleared Expo event in Bristol on 16th April - an event that brought together security cleared job seekers with the employers seeking to recruit them.

This annual event is one of the largest gatherings of security cleared professionals in Europe and provided our team with an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of ARM’s services for job hunters and employers across industries including Defence, Aerospace, Security and IT.

If you are a security cleared professional (or an employer seeking security cleared staff), you can contact ARM’s Defence team at defence@arm.co.uk.

ARM’s Designing Tomorrow eCommerce competition for year 7-11 school pupils has been a great success, attracting over 400 competition entries from more than 100 UK schools.

The entries were judged by a panel of industry experts and the resulting four finalists, plus their parents and teachers, attended the prestigious awards ceremony on 4th April at Aston Martin’s Global HQ in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

At the awards ceremony, guests heard speeches from both ARM and Aston Martin, before watching a short filmabout the competition. Next, each of the finalists discussed their competition entry and crossed their fingers as the winner was about to be announced.

And the winner is...

The judges were deeply impressed by the originality of the finalists’ competition entries and their inventiveness in meeting the brief. After much deliberation, first place was awarded to:

Katarzyna Pazik, of Aylesbury High School.

In addition to her award, Katarzyna’s prizes included:

• An iPad, pre-loaded with a design software package
• Free skills training for her class mates, provided by The Method
• A letter of commendation from the panel of experts

Competition winner, Katarzyna Pazik and Mike Gawthorne, CEO of Serocor Group

Katarzyna also has the opportunity to join ARM for a work placement, after which we will help her to produce a CV, plus provide a reference letter and an example of her first piece of work for her portfolio.

The Designing Tomorrow winning entry

Runners up

Our congratulations also go to the competition’s three runners-up for their fantastic entries:

• Rohan Montgomery, Doctor Challoner’s Grammar School
• Charles Page, Doctor Challoner’s Grammar School
• Tom Stuart, Sutton Grammar School for Boys

Each runner-up received an iPod Touch, pre-loaded with a design software package, plus a framed copy of their competition entry.

Runner-up Rohan Montgomery's design

Runner-up Charles Page's design

Runner-up Tom Stuart's design

Judges’ comments

"The quality of the four selected was very impressive and just goes to show how a competition of this sort can untap the real talent we have in the next generation of designers."

Mike Gawthorne, CEO, Serocor Group

“The standard of the entries was really impressive, it was a fantastic competition and I learnt a lot from the judging day."

Leighton King, Marketing Manager Aston Martin

"The entries varied from charming to witty to downright ingenious – I think the future of the design industry in this country is in safe hands."

Lynda Ennis, Managing Director, ARM International

“What a fun and inspirational day... It was very special to see the young designers present their work and get the recognition they deserved.”

Hugo Burge, CEO, Momondo Group

"I was genuinely impressed by the standard of work in the finalist entries and have a renewed sense of optimism that this generation is making the most of the possibilities of digital space."

Amber Burton, Lecturer in digital media & advertising, Bournemouth University

Thank you

The team at ARM would like to thank all of the pupils who took part in the competition and the teachers who championed Designing Tomorrow within their schools.

The standard of the entries was very high and we hope that this competition has inspired a new generation of budding designers to enter the industry after completing their studies.

Look out for news of our 2014 competition later this year – follow us at @ARMofficial for updates.

7th March 2013, Group FMG Headquarters, London:

A group of professionals from an array of industries including automotive, travel, marketing and recruitment convened to assess entries to ARM’s Designing Tomorrow competition.

The competition opened on 14th January 2013 and closed on February 25th. In that time, 112 schools submitted a total of over 400 entries to the competition.

On the final judging day, the panel went through a number of breakout sessions in which they eliminated some entries and highlighted others, eventually convening to debate an outright winner and three runners-up.

It is a credit to the candidates’ differing and inventive responses to the brief that at this final stage the debate became quite heated, although we got there in the end!

The judges were particularly impressed with the inventiveness of the four finalists’ responses to the brief, each of the preferred entries showing a great deal of creativity, originality, intelligence or wit.

Thank you to our judging panel who so willingly gave up their time and put considerable energy into championing their particular favourite competition entries: Leighton King (Aston Martin), Julia Hutchison (Group FMG), Hugo Burge (Momondo Group), Amber Burton (Bournemouth University), Marcos Guerrero (Thomas Cook), Kevin Hannagan (Harley Davidson), Mike Gawthorne (The Serocor Group), Lynda Ennis (ARM International) and Christian Staunton (ARM).

We look forward to meeting our finalists at the prize-giving ceremony on April 4th at Aston Martin’s Global Headquarters in Gaydon.

We would like to sincerely thank all of the year 7 – 11 pupils who took part in Designing Tomorrow, and the teachers who championed this competition within their schools, year groups and classes. The inventiveness of the entries overall was extremely impressive and we are confident that the future of the UK design industry is in safe hands.

"It was inspiring and fun to explore the passion and diversity of entries that the competition generated. It was a privilege to judge the entries and I wouldn't congratulate the students who participated. It was extremely hard to choose a winner, but I hope all entrants enjoyed the competition and learnt something about design and interpreting a brief – a very useful life experience; for me too."

Hugo Burge, CEO, Momondo Group

“The variety of ideas and range of creativity shown by the entrants was really impressive to see.”

Kevin Hannagan, Digital Communications Manager EMEA, Harley-Davidson Motorcycles

"I was surprised and extremely pleased at the quality of the entries we had, this meant that the judging panel was a difficult day as so many of the entries met and exceed the initial design brief. The quality of the final 4 selected was very impressive and just goes to show how a competition of this sort can untap the real talent we have in the next generation of designers, they just need to be given the opportunity to show case their work and build a credible portfolio. Well done to everyone that entered."

Mike Gawthorne, CEO, Serocor

"It is a pleasure to see work from talented teenagers, when most of the time our youngsters get a rough deal about not working hard enough, or not getting the right grades. This is a very real demonstration of how they can create interesting concepts, given the right opportunity. I was genuinely impressed by the standards of work in the finalist entries and have a renewed sense of optimism that this generation is making the most of the possibilities of digital space."

Amber Burton, Lecturer in digital media & advertising, Bournemouth University

"What a session – I don’t think we expected to have such a difficult decision to make, and it is to the credit of the students who entered this competition that we had to debate long and hard over the final few entries. I am really impressed by how some of the students interpreted and responded to the competition brief, displaying sophistication and a clear demonstration that they had thought very carefully about it. The entries varied from charming to witty to downright ingenious – I think the future of the design industry in this country is in safe hands."

Lynda Ennis, Managing Director, ARM International

Press Release - 18th March 2013

One of the UK’s leading specialist recruiters, Advanced Resource Managers, (ARM) has announced the opening of a new office in Aberdeen to base part of its growing Oil and Gas division.

Located at ARM’s head office for the last six years, the launch of the Aberdeen office will increase the Oil and Gas team from 10 to 14 initially. The move is part of a major expansion programme by ARM which will see further UK offices opening in Coventry and London with international offices in the pipeline.

80% of award winning ARM’s Oil and Gas market is to be found in Aberdeen, the subsea sector being a specific area of coverage and expertise, so the move was a natural and logical choice as part of the company’s next stage of growth.

David James, ARM’s Head of Maritime and Natural resources, a manager with more than 12 years experience in Oil and Gas recruitment, will oversee the development of the new office. Grace Dalgity, who has a fifteen year track record in the industry and is based in Aberdeen, will head up the local team, initially of four consultants.

Matthew Scott, ARM’s Oil and Gas Manager, with eight years experience in the field, believes having a team in Aberdeen enables ARM to be closer to clients and candidates:

“This is a really exciting opportunity. ARM originally built its Oil and Gas division in the subsea sector so this move brings us closer to the market and to where our clients are based. Additionally, through its wide service portfolio ARM has access to transferrable and related skills from other technology and engineering sectors which will enable the team to address the current oil and gas skills gap. For example we have successfully placed candidates from the automotive, defence and aeronautical sectors into oil and gas positions. The move also means we can more readily tap into the passive as well as the active candidate markets.”

Adding further comment, Les Duncan, Managing Director of ARM UK said of the move:

“Two of ARM’s key target growth sectors are Oil and Gas and Power and Energy added to which Aberdeen’s status as one of the eight ‘super cities’ leading the UK’s economy made it a priority location and frankly an obvious choice when weighing up where next to expand ARM’s operations. We can draw on the city’s current reputation as oil capital of Europe but also looking to the future, capitalise on the concerted effort to develop new energy sources and technology transfer from oil to renewable. Other teams from ARM’s Power and Energy divisions may well follow in time.”