Overseas Candidates

Welcome to London

Hi, I'm Cara Deane. I'm now in my sixth year as part of the Gordon Yates team of temps recruiters. Apart from running my own team of temps and portfolio of clients, I also act as first contact for candidates newly arrived in or planning to come to London.

I can help you with:

• Pre-registration via email and online contact, including online skills testing, so you can get working as soon as you arrive.
• Introductions to visa, accommodation and a wide range of other support networks - tell me what you need, I'll tell you who to talk to.
• After you arrive, introductions to others just like you - here to make the most of life in London on a working visa.

Please email me with any questions at all: cara.deane@gordonyates.co.uk

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Accommodation

When you first arrive, there are lots of hostels. These offer safe, clean accommodation and are ideal for the shorter term. There is a list of the top ten hostels on the Visit London website at www.visitlondon.co.uk - accommodation can cost as little as £20 for two nights.

Once you are established however, renting a shared house or flat is the best way forward. It's more sociable as well as being a more cost-effective option.

A single room costs around £60 - 80 a week, a double room closer to £100. Heating and lighting bills are extra, and sometimes other household expenses.

Accommodation in the centre of London can be very expensive.

Most Londoners live outside the centre, where rents are much cheaper but it is still easy to get around by tube, national rail and bus. (See "Getting around London")

Some useful sites for accommodation:

• www.loot.com
• www.tntgrapevine.com
• www.londonlodging.co.uk
• www.gumtree.com

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Getting around London

London buses and tubes work on a zone system. The centre of London is Zone 1. Zone 2 surrounds the central zone. Zone 3 surrounds zone 2 and so on.

Ticket pricing is based on how many different zones you need to cross.

Visit the Transport for London website - www.tfl.gov.uk

A wide range of tickets is available, whether for single journeys, returns or (more typically) to cover travel for a month, or three months, or twelve months.

Check out London's Oyster Card system - it provides an easy way to pay for bus, tube and even some rail travel. Quick and secure - you can buy or top up your weekly/monthly ticket on line.

For tube travel, always allow extra time for your journey - as a guide, each station takes about 3 minutes but always budget an extra 5 minutes per journey and allow time for delays. These happen on a regular basis but the tube is still the quickest way to get around.

If you're feeling affluent, you can travel by taxi. London's black cabs are every bit as iconic as London's red buses, and are licensed to ensure their safety and the driver's knowledge of London.

Check out all the details, including advice about the dangers of using unlicensed mini-cabs, at
www.touruk.co.uk/london_transport/transport_taxi.htm

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