The company has witnessed the growth of the finance industry from its early years and has seen many changes in the ways that Islanders enter the world of work.
Established in March 1975, Top Personnel was one of a small number of agencies pioneering the provision of recruitment services in Jersey in the mid-1970s.
The Island’s finance industry was in its infancy in 1975, and international banks were well used to recruiting with the support of agencies.
Rachel Douglas, Top Personnel’s managing director, said: ‘For local Jersey firms this was their introduction to the recruitment agency concept. However, domestic businesses soon recognised the value of using an agency in recruiting – for example, lawyers, accountants and support staff. TP was widely employed by international and domestic clients.’
In those days, managers were largely male and most had a secretary or PA, meaning that there was quite a demand for this type of support, with shorthand skills essential. Equally vital were receptionists and telephonists with the ability to manage large switchboards – a sought-after skill before the advent of the small, phone-based switchboards of today.
Audio typists and ‘Girl Fridays’, as they were then known, were also much required, and there were always opportunities for school leavers in entry level positions with a range of professional service providers.
‘In the early days, candidates came with no CVs and agencies vetted candidates by interview, checking that they ticked all the boxes for the role and seemed a good match for the firm in terms of culture,’ said Ms Douglas.
‘Initially, candidates were presented without advance sight of a CV, with the recruitment consultant introducing the candidate to the client by phone. Advancements in technology – word processors, printers, fax machines, PCs and latterly email – and the developing compliance culture have significantly changed recruitment practices since then.’
With international banking business established, the early 1980s saw the fiduciary business take off in Jersey, with trust and investments services growing quickly. As advances in technology resulted in a decline in the demand for support staff, there was an increasing demand for people to specialise in client-facing and back-office roles in trust administration and investments, including trust administrators and accountants.
‘The increasing compliance culture has resulted in a rapid corresponding increase in demand for experienced fiduciary professionals to specialise in compliance,’ added Ms Douglas, ‘and latterly we are seeing diverse specialisms within this specialism – financial crime, AML, monitoring, advisory.’
Recruitment practice itself has developed in terms of regulation, compliance and good practice, with clients requiring stringent due diligence on candidates and the introduction in Jersey of employment and discrimination legislation. In 2008 Top Personnel was the first Jersey agency to undergo an REC audit, and passed with flying colours.
In 2013 Susie Storrie, one of TP’s founders and a seasoned and qualified recruitment practitioner herself, decided that after 38 years at the head of the business it was time to enjoy retirement. Ms Douglas, having been with the agency for more than 20 years, took the helm at this point and is now enjoying driving the business forward.
Recent developments include the refurbishment of TP’s Hill Street premises, and developments planned for this year include the implementation of an up-to-the-inute recruitment management system and a new website.
‘While recruitment practice has been transformed by technology, developments in professional standards, due diligence requirements and more, TP’s focus remains the same: matching employees to employers – whether within international finance sector businesses or small local commercial enterprises – for the long-term benefit of both,’ said Ms Douglas.
New ruling on charges for tenants
A RECENT decision of the UK Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) could influence Jersey’s Royal Court in interpreting the ‘reasonableness’ of service charge items.
Island landlords could see their administrative burden increase as they demonstrate that they have considered alternative approaches and sought tenants’ opinions, as well as assessing the financial impact on those tenants of proposed improvements before proceeding.
However, Katharine Marshall, of Ogier’s, said: ‘Whether the decision is perhaps of more relevance in a residential context than for commercial tenants, especially the requirement to consider tenant means, only time will tell.’
At first instance the Tribunal had upheld payment, but the Upper Tribunal ruled that a landlord must show, when arguing that a service charge relating to improvements – as distinct from repairs – is ‘reasonable’, that he has considered:
- The availability of an alternative and less expensive remedy.
- The views and financial means of the tenants who will be required to pay for the works.
Ms Marshall said: ‘Although only a Lands Tribunal decision, and set in the context of the protection offered by the English Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to tenants of “reasonable” service charges, this case might nevertheless influence Jersey’s Royal Court if a tenant challenged a charge.
Many Jersey leases use the word “reasonable” liberally in the context of fees and charges.’
New report to be made available on trust managers
THE Enhance Group and STEP have launched a new service development for the STEP Trustee Managed Portfolio Indices (TMPI).
Users of the indices will now be able to select and monitor a specific group of the subscribing investment managers through a quarterly report of performance and risk statistics, known as the TMPI Whitelist, enabling members to quickly manage and assess critical data for their selected managers.
TMPI are produced by Enhance, a provider of investment oversight services in the fiduciary sector with its headquarters in Jersey, and were launched in 2013 in order to provide trustees and private client practitioners with a benchmarking tool that demonstrates the level of investment performance achieved within defined risk categories.
Since their launch, the indices have been downloaded more than 20,000 times in 100 countries worldwide.
