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Stories about our latest news, team members among other exciting things happening with Hannelius Recruitment family. 

If you’ve just been made redundant, or are going through a redundancy process, you’re probably feeling a mixture of emotions. Shock, sadness, anger, confusion, relief, maybe even happiness. It is valid to feel any and all of these feelings in this moment.

This event can make you feel like you’re suddenly in freefall. I know that feeling all too well because, back in November 2023, I was blindsided by the news that my own role was made redundant.

I am writing this post to share my learnings and provide a space where apprentices in the same position can know that you’re not alone and that there are things you can do to regain control and steady yourself for your next steps.

Going through the redundancy process

Before officially making you redundant, your employer must demonstrate that your role no longer exists, and consult affected employees to avoid it being an unfair dismissal (UK only).

If you want answers, the redundancy process is your opportunity to get them. During this process, you should consider:

• Researching and understanding your rights (see links at the end of this post).
• Contacting ACAS or Citizens advice to speak to a professional for advice (UK only).
• Seeking legal advice (check if any of your insurance policies cover legal advice e.g., your contents insurance).
• Compiling questions for your employer and making sure they answer satisfactorily.

Looking for a new job

Regardless of what you believe the redundancy process outcome will be for you, it may be wise to start looking for a new job immediately.

Redundancy could be a blessing in disguise. You could use this as an opportunity to find a role that is a level or two up from your current one, has a significantly higher salary, or is in a more reputable company in your industry. Even if you don’t get made redundant at the end of the process, you may be offered a better opportunity elsewhere which you may consider taking.

I don’t think a day has gone by recently when I haven’t seen someone announce a redundancy or lay-off on LinkedIn.

If you are comfortable being open about it, posting about your redundancy on LinkedIn will alert your network that you’re available for a new role, and anyone who interacts with your post may indirectly alert their own network to your availability. Potentially, your post could be quite far-reaching!

If you don’t want to go public about your situation straight away, you could reach out to trusted people in your network to see if they have any leads on open roles.

As well as LinkedIn, you could search for roles on job sites relevant to your industry or check the careers page of companies you are interested in working for.

In the meantime…

Get organised

When you’ve officially been made redundant, or possibly even while you’re still in the process, your days will suddenly be wide open. It is important to structure your day, use the time wisely, and, most importantly, take care of yourself.

I went from working as normal one day, to never returning to my role again. I suddenly had all the time in the world. Some people said this sounded great and were a bit envious, but for me, it was a severe shock to my system. Up until that point, my days had been structured down to the minute. Then when I wasn’t working, I forgot to eat on some days because it hadn’t been scheduled in!

Have some fun!
Redundancy, applying for jobs, emotional processing… It's all very exhausting! Make sure you take some time to do whatever you feel like doing. Personally, I got all my Christmas shopping done in a week, watched the entire back catalogue of “Vicar of Dibley”, and did some sightseeing.

Of course, be sensible in terms of making sure you don’t overspend but do look after yourself as your number one priority.

Don’t let this affect your self-esteem
Some people lose confidence in themselves and their capabilities when in this situation, but it’s important to remember that being selected for redundancy is almost never about your talent or skills.

Redundancy is a reflection of your company’s business needs. It is not a reflection of your intrinsic value or worth.

This is tough for anyone at any level to deal with and is an unfortunately increasingly common scenario. If you’re going through something similar, or have done in the past, I’m truly sorry to hear that. If you feel able to, it would be great to hear your experiences, stories, and advice in the comments so future readers can find some comfort.

Useful links for advice and understanding your legal rights (UK only):

• https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights
• https://www.acas.org.uk/redundancy
• https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/redundancy/check-your-rights-if-youre-made-redundant/

Toni-Marie Bonser is a Level 4 Business Transformation apprentice at Multiverse based in London and is writing for the Apprentice Lens.

She has spent the last 10 years working in the market research industry in various project management roles. She has recently pivoted her career, and her most recent role was Tech Team Lead at a research technology company.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading, watching true crime documentaries, and sightseeing.

An interview with MRS Events & Awards Manager John Bizzell, and Katariina Hannelius, Founder of Hannelius Recruitment.

The much loved Oppies is coming up on Thursday 29^th September.
Find out more: www.mrs.org.uk/awards/oppies

Interview and intro by Betty Adamou, Associate Talent Director, Hannelius Recruitment

Cast your mind back many years ago, before the Oppies began.

It was a dry, desolate place in Market Research, where those doing the important operational work were *splutters* not recognized in the industry, if you can believe!

But lo! What started out as a small conversation (“shouldn’t we recognize the role of operations in the market research industry?”) became a full-on award ceremony with the Market Research Society, and one of the most loved and popular events in the market research calendar.

Since joining Hannelius Recruitment, I learned that our Founder, Katariina Hannelius, had an important role to play in those early days of planting the idea about the awards. The following interview with Katariina Hannelius and John Bizzell shares a bit about how the idea took off, highlights from past events, and a look to the future of the Oppies.

1.Tell the readers a bit about yourself

JOHN BIZZELL:

This October I will have been at MRS (Market Research Society) for sixteen years. That won’t be a surprise to a lot of people in the sector, who may not remember a time before my badgering emails about events, awards, and all the other MRS activities I’ve had a hand in, but my friends are constantly bemused that I haven’t changed jobs every couple of years like most of them. What can I say? I love it!
Our leadership team are supportive and I feel listened to, and my colleagues are some of my closest friends. Ultimately though, researchers tend to be people who are interested in other people and producing events for them feels rewarding and worthwhile.
As well as managing member events and our various awards schemes, in recent years I’ve also become heavily involved in our EDI initiatives – in particular starting MRSpride with Michael Brown. We launched before the pandemic, survived and thrived during it, and have just delivered our first half-day LGBTQ+ insight summit.
Working with the MRSpride team and looking at the content we’ve created is a true highlight of my career.

KATARIINA HANNELIUS:

Hi! I am Katariina and started recruiting in Market Research back in 2004 and for years focused purely on Operational, Sales, Programming, Project Management, Data Processing types of roles. This is when I got involved with Research Club and also enjoyed many of various MRS Field Conferences and got to know the Operations side of MR well. Since setting up Hannelius Recruitment I have also ventured in recruiting for Full Service Research roles.
I absolutely love working in the Market Research industry; it’s an industry full of good people, and they are always a joy to see at our various events throughout the year. I also love meeting new people, and of course putting candidates in the right role, where both the candidate and client are happy, is still incredibly rewarding, even to this day.

2. How did the Oppies get started?

JOHN BIZZELL:

My very first MRS event was the 2006 Awards Dinner. I think from that night until the Oppies launched in 2014 someone asked me why the field side of the sector wasn’t celebrated in the same way at every event we had. What changed in that time was Katariina.
MRS exists to protect and promote research, but we’re a non-profit organisation and we have to make sure the sector will financially support any new initiative we implement. When Katariina suggested we launch some awards for research operations, I said we could only do it if we could find the money to fund it. We started with just four categories and Katariina found me seven sponsors. We chose a bar in Shoreditch to host the first ceremony, who told us the maximum capacity was 200. I thought we might get half that. We ended up squeezing 204 people in there, you could barely move. I’m sure there were enough people outside not to convene any fire regs, but it was a definite eye opener that the ops side of the sector wanted to celebrate their work, wanted an event, and would support it.

“When Katariina suggested we launch some awards for research operations, I said we could only do it if we could find the money to fund it. Katariina found me seven sponsors. We chose a bar in Shoreditch to host the first ceremony, who told us the maximum capacity was 200. I thought we might get half that. We ended up squeezing 204 people in there, you could barely move.”

KATARIINA HANNELIUS:

A Few people in the industry had been saying at the normal MRS Award events that there was a gap regards the Operations side and it was wonderful to see how open MRS was into looking at this. We knew all needed to start small, and with passion and loads of love from the MR world things got into action pretty quickly. That was back in 2014. I loved working closely with MRS on making it all happen! And so pleased to see how the Oppies have grown over the years.

3.What have some of the Oppies highlights been over the years?

JOHN BIZZELL:

I’m not sure I can commit some of the true highlights to print! Let’s say this, the Oppies is a wild night out. I think it’s probably the best party MRS runs in terms of people genuinely celebrating each other’s successes and just having a bloody good time. Something I will share, because most people will never see it, is the real pride the judges take in their work. Year on year they remark on how the ingenuity and passion of the entrants is something the sector must shout about – quality, ethical, innovative operations are the heart of the research process. End of!

KATARIINA HANNELIUS:

Seen the “hidden” gems of people/companies/teams being celebrated for the wonderful work they do and feeling valued!

And of course, an upcoming highlight is presenting the Best Data Collection – Quantitative award! We are sponsoring this award, and the finalists are Cobalt Sky, Face Facts Research, Lifestream, Rep Data & Wunderman Thompson and Savanta, Fineline MR & Leeds Building Society. We wish them all the best of success!

“Hannelius Recruitment are sponsoring the Best Data Collection – Quantitative award! The finalists are Cobalt Sky, Face Facts Research, Lifestream, Rep Data & Wunderman Thompson and Savanta, Fineline MR & Leeds Building Society. We wish them all the best of success!”

4. How would you like to see the Oppies grow in the future?

JOHN BIZZELL:

The categories have expanded several times – we started with four and this year we’ll present ten. I’d definitely like to see more entries for some of those – particularly the Best Sustainable Operations Award, which should be something everyone is thinking about – but we’ll also be announcing another new category for 2023 at this year’s event. And of course I’d like to see more people coming along to see the winners recognised on stage – yes, it’s a great night out for ops teams, but clients and business leaders should be there too.

KATARIINA HANNELIUS:

To keep evolving with the times, as they have been.

John, if someone wants to submit a nomination for the Oppies in the future, how can they do that?

We’ll open for entries in March, so they can’t do much until then, but feel free to contact me and I’ll make sure you’re notified when things kick off.

And Katariina, how can people contact you if they want to connect during the Oppies?

Just come and say hello! I love to meet new people and always catch up with old friends from MR.

My colleagues Betty Adamou, Maria, and Rhys will be at the Oppies too, so get in touch with them as well! If you want to tell me you’ll be at the Oppies and want to make sure we get a chance to chat, send me a message on Linked In or email me at katariina@hanneliusrecruitment.com.

Thank you both John and Katariina for your time today!

We very much look forward to the MRS Operations Awards and see you there!

The Operations Awards will take place on Thursday 29^th September.
Find out more: www.mrs.org.uk/awards/oppies

You can follow tweets and photos by following #Oppies on social media, or why not follow @TweetMRS or John Bizzell himself at @John_Bizzell on Twitter?

Larissa joined the Hannelius family having previously worked in Market Research for over a decade and then consequently Recruitment. 

If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

Passionate, loyal, driven

What made you want to pursue a career in market research recruitment originally?

I was looking to step-out of my market research career and it was actually Katariina who suggested trying recruitment. It was the perfect fit for me as I already had the industry knowledge.

What’s your favourite part about your job?

Being able to find candidates the right role for them, seeing the joy it brings is the main reason I work in recruitment

What are you hoping for the future?

To accomplish my personal and professional goals and achieve success, whilst always having fun 😊

What are the five essential qualities of a work culture that makes you feel engaged?

Having the same/similar core values and beliefs

Having a commitment to excellence

Feeling employees are listened to and supported

Feeling appreciated

Getting job satisfaction

Share a quote or motto you live by.

It used to be “Try anything once, twice if you like it..!” and then I had children 😊 and nowadays I love the quote “Courage is not having the strength to go on, it’s going on when you don’t have the strength”

Regarding your work in market research, what gets you excited?

I used to organise and manage car clinics for major Automotive brands. I absolutely loved putting together these big events including booking the hotels, travel, organising the fieldwork, focus groups, ensuring it ran smoothly etc

THE FUN FIVE

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

Teleportation – I would love to go back to the 1920s and be a Flapper!

What would your perfect vacation entail?

Probably a villa somewhere in the middle of Tuscany where the kids and the adults can walk to the beach and live off BBQ food for 2 weeks.

What is something about you that people would probably not expect?

I absolutely love fishing

What is your “guilty” pleasure that not many know about?

Made in Chelsea and TOWIE

What do you cook better than anyone else?

Stuffed peppers – from my Dad’s Bulgarian recipe

Lucy joined the Hannelius team in 2022 with a wealth of Project Management knowledge, wanting to take her career in a slightly different direction but remaining in the industry she is so passionate about. 

If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

• Passionate
• Creative
• Positive

What made you want to pursue a career in market research recruitment originally?

When I finished my studies, I fell into the Market Research Industry by chance and haven’t looked back since! A close friend of mine had a job opening at her work, a recruitment agency, and luckily, I was offered a job! I then fell in-love with the industry but wanted to move to a role with more room for growth and development, I then became a Project Manager where I stayed for 2 years. Looking for further room for career development, I spoke to my now colleague Rhys about finding me a potential new role. We soon realised Hannelius had a job opening available and I had the right experience and now here I am. Thanks, Rhys (and the rest of the team of course!) 😊

What’s your favourite part about your job?

Developing great candidate and client relationships.

What are you hoping for the future?

To have a prosperous career and make many more fun-filled memories with loved ones.

What are the five essential qualities of a work culture that makes you feel engaged?

Support – from both your employer and colleagues

Opportunity for growth – Knowing what you have to do in order to reach that next step

Like-minded colleagues – driven individuals who want the team to succeed

Equality

Good Communication

Share a quote or motto you live by.

Everything happens for a reason.

Regarding your work in market research, what gets you excited?

No 2 days are ever the same in this industry, I love a fast-paced working environment!

THE FUN FIVE

1. If you could have a superpower, what would  to be?

To be able to fly – no more Ubers!

2. What would your perfect vacation entail?

Sun, sand, sight-seeing, cocktails, and good food. I’d go with my family, especially my siblings as we always have great fun together and I’d explore as much as possible.

3. What is something about you that people would probably not expect?

I have visited over 15 countries.

4. What is your “guilty” pleasure that not many know about?

Documentaries, especially true crime.

5. Who would you most like to swap places with for a day?

My younger self.

Maria joined the family early 2022, having previously worked in both recruitment and Market Research. She has a genuine desire to help people find a job where they can thrive and enjoys building relationships with new people.   

If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

Approachable

Passionate

Conscientious

What made you want to pursue a career in market research recruitment originally?

Having previously worked in Market Research and Recruitment and having a genuine desire to help people - I felt this was the right move

What’s your favourite part about your job?

It fulfills me to know that I do a job that can change people’s life for the better

What are you hoping for the future?

I want to have a sense of personal achievement and happiness in both work and family life

What are the five essential qualities of a work culture that makes you feel engaged?

A positive atmosphere and team harmony

Feeling appreciated and recognised

Flexibility which supports a good work life balance

Open and honest communication where people are feeling comfortable voicing their real opinions and ideas

Professionalism and a common goal of achieving high performance

How do you enjoy spending your free time?

Love spending time with my family, attending modern dance performances and finding new specialty coffee spots. In my ‘me’ time I enjoy practicing vinyasa yoga and making hats (millinery)

Share a quote or motto you live by.

Whatever you do, do it well. – Walt Disney

THE FUN FIVE 

1. If you could have a superpower, what could it be?

Getting my girls to sleep when it’s bedtime

2. What would your perfect vacation entail?

Being on an island near a beach, dining in tavernas and enjoying a film at an open air cinema with a glass of wine

3.  What is something about you that people would probably not expect?

I’ve been camping

4. What is your “guilty” pleasure that not many know about?

I love fries more than chocolate

5. Who would you most like to swap places with for a day?

Myself in 20 years

Rhys joined the Hannelius family at the start of 2022, having recruited in the Pharmaceutical and FMCG industries, as well as a wealth of sales and hospitality experience.

If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

Approachable

Sociable

Driven

Regarding your work as a recruiter, what gets you excited?

The fact I can have an impact on someone’s life, in helping them find their next step and start their next chapter.

What are the five essential qualities of a work culture that makes you feel engaged?

Support

Cohesion

Driven, with targets to hit and goals to aim for

Being able to have a say and to contribute

I mixture of structure and the opportunity to find your own feet / way of working

What are your hopes for the future?

To be in a position and part of a company, that’s growing and reputable, where I have a say in final decisions and have a team I look over and coach / mentor

Share a quote or motto you live by

“We all know that light travels faster than sound. That’s why certain people appear bright until you hear them speak”. Albert Einstein

THE FUN FIVE

What is something about you that people would probably not expect?

I am a capped rugby international who has modelled with David Beckham

Who is your biggest inspiration and why?

My grandma. Living in Bulgaria through the communist regime, she represented Sofia in basketball, rowing, Bulgaria in table tennis all whilst studying to be an engineer. She didn’t receive any income but did what she enjoyed and made the most of it. She later designed the current Metro system in Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia. She is still active, humble and one of the most caring people I’ve met.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

Tough! To speak every language or to have a wrist watch that stops, pauses and rewinds time (Bernard’s Watch)

Who would you most like to swap places with for a day?

My future self – so I can see what my life will be like

If you were a fictional character, who would you be?

Tintin – loads of adventures and all with my great canine companion, Snowy

Danielle Warne is our fierce and considerate finance and office manager and a mother of two girls, Jessie and Jasmine. She has been in the finance industry since 2001 and joined the Hannelius Recruitment team in 2014.

If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

Loyal

Trustworthy 

Outgoing

What’s your typical day like?

My day is usually very hectic in between doing school runs for my two girls, taking care of the house and working part-time. I have been fortunate enough to be given flexible work hours that have helped to fit in my daily routine. 

What’s your favourite part about your job?

I like a challenge working with Excel and Word documents for work and making sure everything is accurate and completed on time. I am very particular and want everything to be just right! 

How have you witnessed the finance industry has changed?

Everything is now remote in banking.  I used to have to write at least 30 cheques on a Friday. But now everything is done at the touch of a button.

What are you hoping for the future?

Happiness and good health for myself, my family and friends. 

What are the five essential qualities of a work culture that makes you feel engaged?

Good work friends 

Equality

Stability

Good work environment 

Flexibility 

Speaking of flexibility, how does flexible working help you as a working mum?

For instance, if one of my girls is ill one day and I can’t make it to work, then I can make it up on another day. It is also nice to be able to take and pick up my daughter from school every day.

How do you enjoy spending your free time?

Going out to eat with family and friends and spending time with my girls and watching them grow up. 

Share a quote or motto you live by.

Just don’t take life too seriously.

THE FUN FIVE 

1. If you could meet one person, alive or dead, who would it be?

Bruno Mars 

2. What accomplishment are you most proud of? 

My two girls 

3. What's the most courageous thing you've ever done?

Jumping off a cliff into water when I was young.

4. What is something about you that people would probably not expect?

To stand up in a large crowd and speak.

5. What is your “guilty” pleasure that not many know about?

Disney films