November was a great month for us, mainly from the work that had been done before in October which made November a record month on both contract and permanent placements.
We made some senior placements in with our clients in November which was very rewarding and picked up a couple new clients that I am looking forward to working alongside. November is always a funny month in recruitment as it gets closer to the Christmas break where things are pushed back and you get the “we will look at it in January” comments start coming. The problem with that is when you look at starting the process in January you are more than likely not going to have someone start within the business until late Feb / early March, given the process time and notice periods. That is without counter offers and starting again etc.
M&E Sector
Everything seems very positive in our sector. From conversations I have been having, all of the companies that I have been working with seem to be in a secure position with a good order book which is still likely to increase, whilst still keeping the margins in place, and therefore, looking at some sustainable growth for 2026. It seems that end clients and Principle Contracts are now getting the go ahead so in turn the M&E Contractors are too.
Recruitment Charges
One thing that has really hit since opening Enhanced M&E are the background charges that come. I am lucky that we don’t have massive overheads at this stage so we can offer very competitive rates, but there are large costs such as insurances (lots of these), job board subscriptions, advert postings, CRMs, and Factoring charges which I think a lot of people don’t automatically understand. I have been involved in the commercial aspects of a recruitment business previously but due to the size difference, things were done slightly differently. We are coming to the renewal stages of some of these contracts and hoping to negotiate a better % charge for things. For example; the factoring, as our turnover is much higher than we anticipated it should be at this stage we are in talks of a new % which will be a great help.
Conclusion
All in all, a positive month for Enhanced M&E and it seems to be for a lot of the M&E contractors I have been speaking to. Big packages have been won by a few of my clients which is great news and we have set a plan to make sure they have the right staff in place when they are needed.
Contractor book continues to increase. I am focusing on long term contract placements, paying the candidates well and keeping our margins low (and transparent) to keep everyone happy for the duration and longer. Although we could make more money on each placement, the goal here is to build the numbers on the contractor side in the long term rather than a quick money grab.
Continued to build relationships with likeminded clients. I think this has really helped in being able to describe the role and business to a potential candidate as I have been giving the time to learn about the business, the culture and the goal. This has made it so much easier to make sure that I am able to be accurate when speaking to candidates about a role and more importantly make the suggestion for where I think they would fit in and succeed.
Take a look at our current vacancies and contact me on 07728551660 / sam@enhanced-me.co.uk for more details
Management
Managing Director (Elec) – Hampshire – £110,000
TSM – London – Office Fit Out – £90k
TSM – London – F/O & Heritage – £90k
Snr Mechanical PM – E London – Resi – £90k
Electrical PM – London – D&B Fit out – £70k-£90k
Mech Contracts Manager – Essex – Resi – £85k
Mech Contracts Manager – Kent / London – £85k
Mechanical PM – Slough – Data – £75k-£85k
Mechanical PM – London – £70k-£80k
M&E PM – SW London – Resi – £350 pd
Electrical PM – Manchester – £65k
Electrical Manager – NW London – Resi £300pd
Air Con PM – London – £65k
Estimating
Senior Elec Estimator – Berkshire – £80,000
Mech Estimator – Essex – £45k-£80k
Mech Estimator – London – £60k-£80k
Elec Estimator – Cambridge – £50k-£80k
Mech Estimator – Cambridge – £50k-£80k
Electrical Estimator – N.Kent – £60k-£80k
Commercial
Elec Quantity Surveyor – Canary Wharf – £50k-£75k
Snr M&E Quantity Surveyor – Essex – £70k-£85k
Snr M&E Quantity Surveyor – W London – £65k-£85k
Mechanical Commercial Manager – Kent – £60,000-£70,000
Design
M&E Design Manager (H.O) – Essex – £70k-£80k
M&E CAD Coordinator – Victoria – £40-£60k (or contract)
Mech Des Engineer – London – £50k-£75k
M&E BIM Coordinator – London – £50k-£65k
M&E CAD Coordinator – Canary Wharf – £50k-£65k