FINDING a job can be a taxing and time-consuming occupation.

But the owner of Crewe-based KPI Recruiting, a new sponsor for Nub News, says his staff can help people make the ordeal a lot easier in a jobs market that has seen a huge surge in demand as restrictions are eased.

With the effects of Brexit thrown into the equation, the market has never been so buoyant says Ryan Jardine, who founded KPI 13 years ago after cutting his teeth in the recruitment industry, initially as an apprentice in Crewe.

KPI, which stands for Key Players In, offers a one-stop shop for firms seeking to recruit staff as well as workers looking for new opportunities in the care industry and sectors such as food production, warehousing and packing and lorry driving.

There is a labour shortage in many of these industries.

Take HGV drivers who are in particular demand. KPI reports the pay rates of lorry drivers has risen to £14/16 per hour, and in some locations to as high as £22 per hour, over the last six months.

A shortage of qualified drivers and industry changes have driven the higher rewards.

"It's a challenging industry in terms of the work they do and the changes, such as IR35. Many lorry drivers are also in their late 50s, so many of them are retiring," says Ryan.

"But that's not untypical. There is generally high demand for workers across all industries at the moment.

"The opportunities are there, in fact there are more jobs around than I've seen in the last 20 years."

KPI is one of the fastest-growing recruitment businesses in the UK, but it doesn't cut corners. Its pledge is to match up employers with suitable workers with the right skill sets, but it also aims to take the hard work out of recruiting for its clients, while providing them with flexible employment solutions.

Brexit has impacted on the market for foreign workers and the changes to the government's traffic light system for foreign travel has seen many non-UK workers depart for home.

But across its key sectors KPI has established itself as a trusted, industry-leading provider of recruitment services.

Ryan sums up what KPI Recruiting can do for employers.

"You use an agency for the peaks and troughs in business, for example local sustainable products like food. There's also the effect of trying before you buy with taking on temporary workers and seeing how they do in the roles," he explains.

"But it's not just temporary workers we find work for permanent staff too. We're on all the job boards and we can get more people for roles than firms would get if they advertised.

"The market is so tight that many employers haven't got the time to sift through CVs. With us they're getting the ideal candidate, someone who matches up with the job spec and can do the job.

"We aim to partner with companies looking for workers so they get the right people."

With their demonstrable industry experience KPI staff are experts at advising workers too on potential roles, and even career changes.

"We sell the jobs to the workers and encourage them to take opportunities if the jobs are better than the ones they've got," adds Ryan. "We want to help people who live locally find local jobs."

KPI's specialist teams, which cover different sectors, only deal with vacancies within a 10-mile radius of their offices.

"When people come to us the job is going to be somewhere very close to where they live. If someone is looking at a different job because they feel they're not getting what they want out of their current role then now is the time to be looking," advises Ryan.

"There are so many opportunities at the minute and not enough people to fill them.

"If job seekers are looking for choice then we deal with more businesses than any recruitment agency in this area. They can find the flexibility in roles and they will get honest advice from us about the best opportunities available."

From humble beginnings on Nantwich Road in Crewe, KPI's annual turnover has soared from £350,000 in its first year of operations to around £32 million today.

It employs over 50 staff across Crewe, its Basford-based headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, as well as offices in Glasgow, Peterborough, Telford, Wigan, Oldham and Warrington.

"When I left school I had visions of working in London, but I started as an apprentice with a recruitment agency called Echo Employment (now Adecco). Later I worked with a manager I met in that job for 10 years before setting up on my own in Crewe with my late partner, Liz," recalls Ryan

"The first couple of years was a challenge. I borrowed money from a couple of friends and we both took a second job. But we picked up one or two contracts and that kept us going and we had nice landlords too.

"It was a good lesson in building up relationships in business."

KPI Recruiting has strong community links. It sponsors Cheshire League side Crewe FC, including the club's recent junior summer tournament, and Whitchurch Alport FC.

It has also donated to the FairShare food charity and has been involved in fundraising for Crewe Alex Academy keeper Ashton Hulme.

"We want to be part of the community," says Ryan.

That is why we are delighted that KPI Recruiting has agreed to sponsor the jobs sections at Crewe Nub News.

Every week we will feature a Job of the Week specially selected by KPI.

This is what the firm says:

Established in 2008, KPI Recruiting Ltd is a trusted, industry leading provider of temporary and permanent recruitment services to some of the largest brands in the world.

We are a local agency who are here to help you on your journey to find a new job. The size of the KPI organisation enables us to tap into the changing demands of seasonality trends, peaks, troughs, and new projects in any geographical area in the UK.

With partnerships across food production, logistics, manufacturing, automotive and public sectors, we provide clients with bespoke volume staffing solutions.

Looking for work and spending endless hours needlessly scrolling through search engines to see what's out there.

We are here right on your doorstep and our experienced friendly team can help you to find your next role. Whether you are looking for temporary work or something more permanent, we will take the time to understand your needs and match your skills to a job you'll love.

Get in touch with the KPI team today and see what we can do for you. You can pop into our offices on Nantwich Road in Crewe or maybe give us a call on 01270 589943.

KPI Recruiting can be found online here.

They are on Twitter here and Facebook here.