Temp agency in 'middleman' fury
ANGRY bosses at an Islington recruitment agency have slammed Islington Council for employing an international firm to supply staff during the recession.
The Hire Standard, in Cowcross Street, Clerkenwell, is one of several Islington companies that supply temporary staff to work for Islington Council.
But since 2004, the council
has paid £5million to procurement firm Comensura - which has offices in Luton, Sydney and North Carolina - to save the council money by acting as the middleman.
Simon Pearce, director of The Hire Standard, said: "We've supplied staff to Islington Council for seven years but it has employed Comensura as a middleman. It's having a bad effect. We used to have 90 staff on our books with them - now it's down to 12."
Mr Pearce says The Hire Standard now makes a loss on supplying staff to the town hall - despite a promise by Islington Council to use local businesses as much as possible to help them through the recession. He said: "They've slashed our margins and rates to the point where we're making a loss."
Co-director Lee Pidgeon, who claimed his company's contract had been suspended because he had spoken to the Gazette, added: "They sit in the middle and cream all the profit off. I couldn't give a monkeys about losing the contract other than for those 12 people who have been working at the council for years."
Councillor John Gilbert, Islington Council's executive member for finance and human resources, said The Hire Standard had been treated "no differently from other agencies who supplied staff to us over the years".
He added: "The council is doing all it can to help employers and residents in the credit crunch. We save money by having a more streamlined contract for agency temps - while still paying competitive rates to the individuals who work for us."
A council spokesman denied that Comensura had suspended The Hire Standard from its books.
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