6th November 2019 | Graham Smith
Curo win at Contracting Awards 2019
Microsoft recruitment partner, Curo, has been awarded Highly Commended status in the Contracting Awards 2019. The company submitted evidence of their partnership with Microsoft contractors, including a dramatic recruitment campaign that launched a Microsoft Surface Book 2 into space. The award was in the category ‘Best Contractor Recruitment Agency – IT’.
Curo boasts the most elite IT talent base in the UK and specialises in supplying IT contractors with niche skill sets to Microsoft, its partners and end-users. The award recognises the companies efforts to live by their values of integrity, care and respect when engaging with contractors. Curo supplied evidence that included contractor testimonials, prompt payment and a Curo Partner scheme that rewards selected freelancers.
20th March 2019 | Graham Smith
Curo shortlisted for Recruiter Awards
Microsoft recruitment partner, Curo Talent, has been shortlisted in the Recruiter Awards 2019. The company submitted a dramatic recruitment campaign, in which a Microsoft Surface Book 2 was launched into space. The campaign has been shortlisted in the category ‘Most Effective Recruitment Marketing Campaign’, and a winner will be announced at the Recruiter Awards ceremony on May 9, 2019.
Curo Talent boasts the most elite IT talent base in the UK and specialises in supplying IT contractors with niche skill sets to Microsoft, its partners and end users. The video campaign, entitled ‘How far will Curo go for Microsoft contractors?’, centred on launching the latest Microsoft Surface Book into space to capture video images of the Earth and the edge of the horizon.
16th March 2019 | Graham Smith
Can Britain’s tech start-ups thrive with the IR35 tax reforms?
Every hour, one new technology start-up is established in the UK. These businesses will no doubt play a huge role in boosting Britain’s digital sector, but with IR35 reforms set for April 2020, will this change deny them access to the talent they need? Graham Smith, Head of Marketing at leading Microsoft recruitment partner, Curo Talent gives his take on the matter.
Tech start-ups don’t repeat technologies that already exist; they are the entrepreneurs that develop new ways of doing things that disrupt the market, improve efficiency and make our lives more enjoyable. To do this, they need the very best IT talent and contractors often provide the expertise.
20th September 2018 | Graham Smith
Fighting for the space race after Brexit breakup
Dividing up video games, fighting over who keeps the Netflix account and arranging joint custody of the dog. Breakups require delicate negotiation. Magnify to Brexit level and you can understand why negotiating who gets to be involved in space contracts is causing trouble. Here, Mark Sewell, CIO of leading Microsoft recruitment partner, Curo Talent explains why it’s vital for the UK to keep up with the space race post-Brexit.
At the start of May 2018, The Financial Times ran an opinion piece exploring why Europe is better off with the UK continuing its role in large-scale projects such as the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system. This article follows twelve months of controversy about how Brexit would impact Britain’s ability to bid for space contracts.
11th September 2018 | Graham Smith
Curo shortlisted for Recruitment Marketing award
Microsoft recruitment partner, Curo Talent, has been shortlisted in the Recruitment Marketing Awards 2018. The company submitted a dramatic video in which a Microsoft Surface Book 2 was launched into space. The campaign has been shortlisted in the ‘video under £10,000’ category, and a winner will be announced at the Recruitment Marketing Awards ceremony on November 1, 2018.
Curo Talent boasts the most elite IT talent base in the UK and specialises in supplying IT contractors with niche skill sets to Microsoft, its partners and end users. The video campaign, entitled ‘How far will Curo go for Microsoft contractors?’, centred on launching the latest Microsoft Surface Book into space to capture video images of the Earth and the edge of the horizon.
10th September 2018 | Graham Smith
Talk to elite Microsoft talent at the ExCel
Britain is experiencing a critical shortage of workers with specialist IT skills. At Future Decoded 2018, Curo Talent and its team of expert IT consultants will be available to advise business owners facing challenges associated with the IT skills gap. The experts will be on the Curo Talent stand, number 47 from 31 October until 1 November at the ExCel London.
Now in its fourth year, Future Decoded is Microsoft’s annual conference on disruptive technology for business. Last year’s event welcomed over 12,000 guests and 68 specialist Microsoft exhibitors to the two-day conference. This year, Microsoft promises to deliver an even wider array of companies and experts to the event.
17th July 2018 | Graham Smith
Annie Andrews joins Curo Talent as Head of Technology
Microsoft recruitment partner Curo Talent has appointed Annie Andrews as Head of Technology. In a move that is believed to be a first for a UK recruitment organisation, Curo Talent will be bolstered by Annie’s technology experience and her ability to identify future technologies for Microsoft consultants.
Annie will also be a source of expertise for clients to discuss their talent needs and skills gap. She started her career in Microsoft training and consultancy, covering both programming and systems engineering. From here, she was a technical lead with many other technologies during her later positions at Lloyds Banking Group, where she held the role of Chief Subject Matter Expert.
28th February 2018 | Graham Smith
Could AI bridge the IT skills gap?
Artificial intelligence (AI) has not always had favourable representation in pop culture. In Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), homicidal supercomputer Hal demonstrated how AI could surpass the intelligence of a human — and for humans, the results weren’t so great.
In reality, AI threatens our jobs more than our lives. Since the introduction of robots to automotive production lines in the 1960s, the threat that automation poses to manual jobs has been widely understood. However, the machine economy now comprises of much more than mechanical muscle. Advances in artificial intelligence and automated software are now threatening more functional and intelligence-driven roles, including those in IT.
22nd February 2018 | Graham Smith
How remote working can improve your IT talent pool
In his Autumn 2017 budget, Chancellor Phillip Hammond announced the Government would invest £84 million on training new teachers to improve children’s IT skills. However, skills are not the only problem. Here, Graham Smith, Head of Marketing at Curo Talent, explains how remote working could close the IT skills gap.
Something that isn’t talked about nearly enough is the fact that the IT sector, which, by nature, should enable remote working, hasn’t moved away from the inflexible office environment. Therefore, unless IT students are already living in areas like London, Birmingham, Bristol or Edinburgh, they are usually forced to relocate to find a position where they can put their skills to use. It’s time for a change.
30th January 2018 | Graham Smith
Curo shortlisted for two Online Recruitment Awards
The UK Microsoft recruitment partner, Curo Talent, has been shortlisted for two Onrec Awards. The categories are ‘Creative Online Marketing’ and ‘Innovative Use of Social Media’.
The awards ceremony is in London on March 1, 2018, and the two nominations recognise the company’s space launch campaign that took place in November 2017. This event saw the team launch a Microsoft Surface Book 2 to the edge of space, just days after Microsoft’s official release.
30th November 2017 | Graham Smith
Microsoft Surface Book 2 survives journey into Space
Despite minus 60C temperatures and 212 miles per hour speeds, the robust device survived a fall from 34,000m back to Earth and is in full working order.
On Wednesday November 22, 2017, leading Microsoft talent partner Curo Talent soared to new heights by launching a Surface Book 2 into space. Taking off from a specially selected site near Swindon under particularly difficult weather conditions, the Surface Book 2 travelled over 21 miles into the stratosphere before hurtling back down to earth.
26th January 2017 | Graham Smith
Only 4% of IT leaders are making Brexit a priority
Research into the IT market for 2017 shows that Article 50 is the least of the sectors’ worries. Curo Talent has released the IT Forecast 2017, an independent report into the trends and challenges facing the UK technology market in the year ahead.
The IT freelance agency approached business leaders to discover their key challenges, objectives, and focuses for 2017, and asked them a series of questions including where they plan to invest their budget and their greatest concerns for the market.
It was revealed that while 15% of leaders named improving their current IT offerings as their main commercial objective this year, just 4% agreed their central objective for 2017 would be preparation for Brexit.
