[REACTION] ONS Unemployment figures

Reacting to this morning's unemployment figures, Alex Fenton, Group CEO of recruitment firm The Legends Agency, says rising employment costs are increasingly pushing businesses to create jobs overseas rather than in Britain. His comments come just a day after AO World revealed it had moved roles to South Africa as part of efforts to reduce costs. "AI is only part of the story. Rising employment costs mean many SMEs simply cannot afford to hire and train young workers in the way they once could. In many cases, businesses want to invest in young talent, but the numbers no longer stack up. "When that happens, money talks. Roles that could have gone to young people in Britain are increasingly being created elsewhere. Unless that changes, more businesses will continue to look overseas for workers, and young people in Britain will continue to pay the price." Alex also reacted to AO World's announcement yesterday: "The Government has made hiring in Britain eye-wateringly expensive, and then seems baffled when businesses start looking elsewhere. "Business leaders are being left with a choice: send jobs overseas to keep costs down, or keep everything in the UK and watch the numbers stop adding up. Unfortunately, money talks. "If ministers want jobs to stay in Britain, they need to stop piling costs onto the businesses trying to create them." I've included more info on Alex below. Do let me know if you have any questions. Best wishes Annagreta // [Title: A person smiling at the camera AI-generated content may be incorrect.]Alex Fenton, Group CEO at The Legends Agency Alex Fenton is a serial entrepreneur and fintech leader with a track record of founding, scaling, and exiting multiple successful businesses. At 25, he founded GapCap, a fintech lender that provided over $500 million in funding to UK SMEs and was named Alternative Lender of the Year in 2019. GapCap was acquired by Growth Lending, where Alex served as Chief Executive, and he later led the roll-up and successful exit of ThinkWorkForce. Alex currently serves as Group CEO of The Legends Agency, which helps global firms build teams in South Africa, and oversees Funding Bay and FBX Capital, an SME lending group providing debt financing solutions across the UK. He has facilitated over £1 billion in funding to UK businesses and continues to drive innovation in SME finance through technology-enabled brokerage and boutique debt advisory services.

Annagreta Isabella Amadio | Senior Account Executive | Higginson Strategy

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