Fresh Drops, Puppy Stops and a Positive Shift in the Market.

Welcome Message from Matt

Welcome to this month’s Brellis Recruitment newsletter and it’s a fun one to round off the year. Alongside a busy spell of new vacancies and some encouraging signs in the market, we’ve launched brand-new Brellis merchandise and welcomed a fluffy new member of the team. Plenty to share, plenty to look forward to.

Here’s what you’ll find inside this month’s update:

This Month’s Contents

1. New Brellis Merchandise Drop — two brand-new branded items launching for Christmas, plus the link to register for early drop-offs.

2. Meet Mr Blue — our newest team member, a Lhasa Apso with bags of personality and already causing a stir in the office.

3. Market Trends & Placement Update — a look at October and November, the rise in job adverts, and why early 2026 is looking promising.

4. When Saying “No” Is the Right Call — the lessons behind stepping away from a client this month.

5. A Complaint We Didn’t Mind Receiving — the unusual bit of “negative feedback” that actually made our week.

Plenty to dive into — let’s get started.

1. New Brellis Merchandise Drop

We’ve launched not one but two new pieces of Brellis merchandise this month adding to our already popular lineup of Memobooks, pens, umbrellas, water bottles, memo blocks and reusable bags.

First up is the Brellis Item Finder. It works much like that very well-known fruit-branded tracker. Attach it to your keys, bag, luggage, anything you can’t afford to lose. If it goes missing, open the app, find its location, and when you’re close, it’ll beep until you track it down. Ideal for anyone like me who manages to misplace absolutely everything.

The second new addition came from a brilliant suggestion by long-standing client Vicky Powell: locker-token keyrings. No more scrambling for a pound at the gym or when grabbing a trolley. Between the Item Finder and the token, you’re pretty much covered against key-related chaos.

These will be going out as part of our Christmas drop-offs and if you don’t want to miss out on either, just click the link below and I’ll make sure you’re one of the first to receive them:  https://bit.ly/48BGySx

2. Meet Mr Blue

We’ve also got a very cute new addition to the Brellis team.

Meet Mr Blue, a Lhasa Apso with bundles of personality and already making himself at home. Historically, Lhasa Apsos were used in Tibetan monasteries as loyal watchdogs, so if you hear a sudden bark in the office, don’t panic, he’s not calling candidates, he’s just doing his job.

We’re expecting a few “paws” in productivity while he settles in, the occasional fight for who gets the next cuddle, and at least one moment where he tries to onboard himself by sitting on the keyboard.

Paperwork might be a stretch, but we’re confident he’ll ace the meet-and-greet stage of his induction.

3. Market Trends and Placement Update

October shaped up to be a solid month. It didn’t reach the heights of September’s 12 placements, but it was still a very workable month. A few of October’s results came from temp-to-perm conversions — smaller fees, yes, but always a good sign that our temps are proving themselves and being taken on permanently. We also had four new temps start, which gives the business that reliable bit of recurring income.

We also worked across a broad mix of sectors, from large international manufacturers to established UK employers and specialist industry suppliers. Activity levels were steady and spread across a wide range of roles.

November dipped slightly with six placements but still touched a nice mix of industries including energy, food production, wellbeing products, automotive supply and care services.

One of the most encouraging signs has been the rise in job adverts going live. The bar chart shown above shows the number of adverts posted each month, and you can clearly see activity lifting again. In recruitment, that’s usually the earliest indicator that confidence is returning and hiring plans are restarting.

A lot of businesses seemed to pause decisions while waiting for the budget, but since then things have picked up noticeably. All of us are now much busier with new roles coming in, putting us in a good position heading into early 2026.

4. When Saying “No” Is the Right Call

Last month, I did something I’ve rarely done in my career, I walked away from a client.

It wasn’t a rash decision. It was more like that feeling when you’re halfway through a TV series that started brilliantly, then slowly lost the plot. You keep watching because you’ve already invested the time, hoping it’ll turn around. But sometimes you just have to press stop.

It began well: a great conversation with the owner, a clear brief, and an agreement that I’d have ownership of the process. Then things started to drift.

The first vacancy wasn’t exclusive after all. Another role was pulled after work had started. One even went through multiple interviews before the salary was dropped. Feedback got slower. Then silence. And then an “urgent” call asking for help again, which resulted in two strong candidates sent, interviews completed… and then three weeks of nothing.

That’s when it clicked: I wasn’t a recruitment partner anymore. I was volunteering.

When you run a small business, every hour matters. Time spent chasing maybes is time taken away from clients who genuinely value the work we do.

So I pressed stop. No drama. No hard feelings. Just clarity. A tough lesson, but the right one.

5. A Complaint We Didn’t Mind Receiving

We had an interesting call from a client recently. It opened with, “We’d like to raise a complaint…” Never the phrase you hope to hear.

But this “complaint” took an unexpected turn.

Their issue was that our shortlist was too strong, so strong that their decision-making meeting turned into a full internal debate. Three candidates went in, and they struggled to choose between them. In the end, one edged it, but they admitted that if they’d had two vacancies, they would have hired another without hesitation.

We’ll happily take that kind of complaint.

Huge credit to all three candidates for making such a strong impression, and a special mention to Hannah, whose late addition to the shortlist turned out to be a brilliant call.

If only all complaints arrived like that, we’d probably frame them.

Wrapping up!

Thanks for reading this month’s update. It’s been great to see the market picking up pace again, and with more roles coming in and client confidence returning, we’re optimistic about heading into 2026 with real momentum.

If you’d like some of the new Brellis merchandise, don’t forget to register using the link — the first batch always goes quickly. And if you want to chat about hiring, roles or what we’re seeing in the market, you know where we are.

Until next month,
Matt & The Brellis Team 🐘🐘🐘🐘