Small businesses could benefit from part-time staff, it has been suggestedBritish firms could benefit from looking beyond established avenues of recruitment and taking on a greater number of part-time staff, according to one entrepreneur.

Dave Miller, co-founder of environmental social enterprise Bikeworks, revealed that his organisation has been hiring parents with young children and has discovered that such employees have displayed considerable commitment to the company.

"By looking beyond the traditional grad pool and giving others a chance we found some outstanding and committed people who really care about our business," he explained. "Predicting future growth is not an exact science."

Mr Miller suggested that small businesses in particular could reap the rewards of diversifying their workforce, with the after-effects of the global economic downturn still having an impact on the way smaller enterprises operate.

Bosses looking for advice on how to implement the recent Equality Act and bring in a wider variety of new talent may wish to attend the Workplace Equality & Diversity Forum 2010 at London's Canary Wharf in October.

Posted by Ross George