Recruiter January 2013 by Redactive Media Group

January 2013

www.recruiter.co.uk

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR RECRUITMENT AND RESOURCING PROFESSIONALS

Oliver James Associates The ﬁnancial services recruiter is top p of our FAST 50 chart, which lists the fastest-growing g gp privately y owned stafﬁng companies in the UK MATTHEW JEFFERY Will 2013 turn out to be the Year of the Executioner? See what our Blogger with Bite has to say

INCORPORATING 01_Recruit_jan13_Cover orange.indd 1

SEE THE 2013 RANKINGS INSIDE!

THE CHALLENGE

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Vertex Solutions set up an assessment day to find test development engineers for Imagination Technologies

Resourcing lessons of London 2012 from Paul Modley, the former head of recruitment at LOCOG

Recruitment Matters 08/01/2013 16:27

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Contents 40

And what an amazing start to 2013 with the publication of our latest FAST 50 league table of the 50 fastest-growing, privately-owned UK recruitment companies! Produced in association with mergers & acquisitions advisers Boxington Corporate Finance and supported by law ﬁrm Charles Russell, this edition of the FAST 50 reveals brilliant news: those driven, ambitious recruiters on the list achieved 39% average growth, even in a less than co-operative, shall we say, economic environment. Read all about the topranked company, Oliver James Associates from p28 and our overview analysis from p32. You’ll also want to see our breakout analyses of individual industry sector performance online at recruiter.co.uk As we enter 2013, temporary labour procurer de Poel has stirred an already bubbling pot of debate around recruitment-focused membership organisations by launching its own vision of such an operation... Penna’s Julie Towers shares the current resourcing landscape as experienced by her operation… and we get in-house insight from Geronimo Inns, ITV and Paul Modley, former head of recruitment for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Incidentally, Paul will elaborate on the themes in his article at our Smart Resourcing 2013 knowledge-sharing event on 28 February (www. smartresourcing2013.com). We hope to see you there!

NEWS 5

The “exceptional” performance of recruiters in the FAST 50 rankings 6

Scan here to get your own copy of Recruiter

Technology ‘squeeze’ As technology hands power to clients and candidates, are external service providers being eased out?

FEATURES 28 COVER STORY Meet the founders and directors of Oliver James Associates, leader of Recruiter’s FAST 50 list 32 Recruiter FAST 50 2013 The fastest-growing recruitment ﬁrms in the UK which are defying all business expectations

ITV grad scheme, series 2 Feedback is key as the scheme gets its second intake

8 Tech & tools 10 Predictions for 2013 Professionals in the industry reveal what they expect will happen in the sector in the year ahead

ANALYSIS 12 News Analysis Is it time for a single trade body for the industry? 14 Sector Analysis Accountancy 17 Global Spotlight on India 12

DeeDee Doke, Editor

FAST 50 ﬁrms buffer the storms, emerging stronger

REGULARS 18 21 21 24

Soapbox Soundbites Letters/Web chat Trends Recruitment lessons from London 2012

26 The Challenge Vertex Solutions and Imagination Technologies 38 Movers & Shakers Industry moves 42 Bloggers with Bite

WHO’S HIRING? 39 Ruth Moran 48 ICS 41 Leveridge Partnership

EDITORIAL Editor: DeeDee Doke T: +44 (0)20 7880 7601 deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk Senior reporter: Colin Cottell T: +44 (0)20 7880 7603 colin.cottell@recruiter.co.uk Reporter: Sam Burne James T: +44 (0)20 7880 7606 sam.burnejames@recruiter.co.uk Contributing writer: Sue Weekes Production editor: Vanessa Townsend T: +44 (0)20 7880 7602 vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk Art editor: Adrian Taylor ADVERTISING Advertising director: Andy Daniel T: +44 (0)20 7880 7607 andy.daniel@recruiter.co.uk Display senior sales executive: Tom Culley T: +44 (0)20 7880 6205 tom.culley@recruiter.co.uk Recruitment sales executive: David Rix T: +44 (0)20 7880 7608 david.rix@ redactive.co.uk Fax +44 (0)20 7880 7553 PRODUCTION Deputy production manager: Kieran Tobin T: +44 (0)20 7880 6240 kieran.tobin@redactive.co.uk PUBLISHING Publishing director: Anne Sadler T: +44 (0)20 7880 6213 anne.sadler@redactive.co.uk RECRUITER AWARDS Events: Anja Rodford T: +44 (0)20 7880 7555 anja.rodford@redactive.co.uk CIRCULATION and SUBSCRIPTIONS To receive a regular copy of Recruiter, the leading magazine for recruitment and resourcing professionals, telephone +44 (0)20 8950 9117 or email recruiter@alliance-media.co.uk • To purchase reprints or multiple copies of the magazine, contact Andy Daniel T: +44 (0)20 7880 7607

Total average net circulation between 1 July 2011 & 30 June 2012 – 17,838. Recruiter is also sent to all REC members R d ti M Redactive Media di Group 17-18 Britton Street London EC1M 5TP

CONTRIBUTIONS Contributions are invited, but when not accepted will be returned only if accompanied by a fully stamped and addressed envelope. Articles should be emailed. No responsibility can be taken for drawings, photographs or literary contributions during delivery, transmission or in the editor’s hands. © 2013 Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. This publication (and any part thereof) may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in print or electronic format (including but not limited to any online service, any database or any part of the internet) or in any other format in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of Redactive Media Group. Redactive Media Group accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein. The publishers cannot accept liability for any loss arising from the late appearance or non-publication of any advertisement for any reason whatsoever. ISSN 1475-7478

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RECRUITER

JANUARY 2013

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Topics include: how to influence key stakeholders, leadership skills, workforce analytics, lessons learnt from the 2012 Olympic Games, global talent acquisition

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MOST VIEWED ARTICLES ONLINE

1. Further details on

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2. Faulkner to chair

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endorsements can go both ways

4. Fastest-growing

recruiters revealed in January’s Recruiter

5. Former Swift

managers in Nigeria charged with conspiracy to corrupt

RECRUITER

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News Analysis

CREDIT: DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS/FLICKR

SPEAKING WITH ONE VOICE: TIME FOR A LEAD ASSOCIATION?

Lord Heseltine’s report into what he calls a proliferation of trade bodies raises questions for the recruitment industry — especially as another membership body launched this month. Colin Cottell reports

t was a case of New Year, new recruitment industry membership body, as the second week in January saw temporary agency labour procurer de Poel launch Tempo. The new organisation joins the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC), the Association of Professional Stafﬁng Companies (APSCo), the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC) and the Institute of Recruiters (IOR), whose roles to varying degrees, include representing the voice of the industry to government, as well as others* (see box, right) who clearly fall outside the trade body bracket. The line between membership body and trade association can be blurred, but with Tempo chairman Keith Faulkner CBE telling Recruiter its brief includes “active engagement with, for instance, ministers and ofﬁcials”, had the former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine been looking on, his reaction would surely have been along the lines of ‘not another one’. In his report ‘No Stone Unturned in Pursuit of Growth’ published in October, Heseltine criticises the way trade body representation works in the UK, arguing that in general it is “fragmented, duplicative and often poorly resourced”. “The result is a proliferation of bodies of variable quality,” he says. With an estimated 3,500 trade bodies in the UK, Heseltine calls for the introduction of a lead association for each industry sector, nominated by government, through which it would channel all its engagements with the sector. Heseltine may have his big idea for trade associations, but getting agreement on it from existing industry bodies is another matter all together. On the basis of views expressed to Recruiter, Heseltine’s proposal is likely to face stiff opposition. APSCo chief executive Ann Swain says the trade body “cautiously supports” the concept of lead associations. And she contends that APSCo is “well placed, with the resource and existing government relationship to take on such a responsibility”. However,

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Key facts

from ‘No Stone Unturned in Pursuit of Growth’ The Trade Association Forum estimates there could be as many as 3,500 trade associations in the UK A condition of nomination for a lead trade association must be that it takes on responsibility for ensuring that the views of the entire sector are represented A second condition is that all trade associations in a particular sector work in a more strategic way, either through mergers, or new umbrella bodies Where there continues to be large numbers of trade associations government needs to enter into dialogue to see if so many are needed * Recruiter also contacted TEAM (The Employment Agents Movement), the Recruitment Society and the Independent Recruiting Group (IRG). All three told Recruiter they weren’t trade associations

Swain warns of the danger that a lead association could lead to “homogenisation” unless all sectors of the industry are “involved in the debate”. Kevin Green, chief executive of the REC, welcomes Heseltine’s idea to overcome “the proliferation of fragmented and duplicated trade associations by providing a co-ordinated voice for the industry”. Green promises the REC “will work closely with the government and other trade associations in the buildup to establishing lead associations”. However, Adrian Marlowe, chairman of ARC, warns that Heseltine is overlooking one key factor, “that any lead association will have a primary duty towards its members and not the other trade associations with which it is competing”. Marlow adds: “The resulting conflict of interest could be highly damaging to the interests of the sector.” He points out that having several independent trade associations allows for important campaigns that would not necessarily be supported by one large trade body. Azmat Mohammed, director general of the IOR, contends that Heseltine has come up with a solution “for a problem that doesn’t exist”. He argues that the concept is flawed, promotes stagnation and is designed to suit government rather than the industry itself. Tempo’s Faulkner, who served as REC chairman in the early Noughties, tells Recruiter: “I would think we would recognise that the main trade bodies is where the voice of the industry lies.” However, he argues more doesn’t necessarily mean duplication, where bodies focus on particular areas, in Tempo’s case “learning, development and excellence”. While trade bodies will undoubtedly have a say, it should be borne in mind that the government has yet to accept Heseltine’s recommendations. A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills tells Recruiter: “We will look to respond to the report in the coming months.” Should BIS seek the views of recruitment industry bodies with a brief to make representation to government about the need for a lead trade association they will find little agreement. While the larger trade bodies are more supportive — perhaps unsurprising given they have most to gain — the smaller and less established ones are fearful that it could lead to the marginalisation of their distinct voices. Unless the major trade bodies can agree on who should have lead status, and until safeguards are introduced to ensure that a plurality of views within the sector continues to be represented, the current arrangements look like continuing for some time yet.

“We would recognise that the main trade bodies is where the voice of the industry lies”

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Accountancy

Sector Analysis

Accountancy

Stakeholder Comment

PERSUADING THOSE IN JOBS TO MAKE A MOVE IS A MAJOR HURDLE FACING RECRUITERS IN THE SECTOR THIS YEAR, BUT THE MANY CHANGES IN TAX LEGISLATION IS BALANCING THIS PROBLEM

This year is looking brighter, particularly in some areas, for accountancy recruiters and accountants themselves so employers cannot be complacent about hanging on to and attracting the best talent. Death and taxes are life’s only certainties. The former part not so much, but the latter is good for accountants, and accountancy recruiters. “From a recruitment perspective as a firm we are still very actively in the market,” says Peter Wareham, head of experienced hire recruitment for accountancy firm PwC. “In the tax practice we’ve had a very busy year in the recruitment sense and that’s going to continue… there have been regulatory changes that will carry on delivering some very interesting work.” Wareham also lists fields, many open to nonqualified accountants, in risk and regulatory change, and cyber crime and fraud, as definite opportunities for PwC moving into 2013, going on to single out Aberdeen as thriving thanks to oil & gas growth. Demand for skills in Solvency II, an EU financial regulation for the insurance market, is “not as marked” as it was two or three years ago, Wareham adds. Greg Parkinson, founder of Elevation Recruitment, says the Yorkshire region where he is based has seen “a distinct increase in the recruitment of commercial finance roles over the last few months”. Alongside this, application volumes have been rising across the profession,

“Whether we’re taking on a new graduate or anyone else across the business, the most important thing is attitude… Everybody needs to be very good at team building and communicating with their peers — giving feedback. It’s the same as the majority of fields; in terms of CPD [continuing professional development] you need to be on the ball because there’s so many things changing, so from a technical perspective you’re always going to need to update people.”

and he feels recruitment in this specialism “has changed considerably since the recession and has become a “buyer’s marketplace”. But Sue Palmer, associate director, finance & accounting at recruiter Barclay Meade, warns against firms assuming this goes that far. Lots of candidates are involved in several job application processes simultaneously. “Some clients assume that if they make an offer, well of course that will be accepted, but that’s not the case,” she says. Placing accountants in industry and commerce, Palmer is also concerned that while accountancy recruitment “is competitive for all parties who are involved”, some client firms’ recruitment processes simply aren’t “sharp enough”, specifically inflexible portal-driven processes that will not “lend itself to the competitiveness of the market”. Cautiously optimistic moving into 2013, Palmer adds that bar these concerns “there has at least been a market… a market that’s been moving”, a highlight being “a definite rise in roles in health sector-related products, R&D [research & development] and services to the health sector”. The market may be moving, but Sarah McKinty, owner of Belfast-based recruiter McKinty Associates, claims “accountants are even more risk averse now” than pre-recession, so she is spending a lot of time “working really hard to even get people to look at good opportunities”. She counters this with being pleased to predict that going forward there will be opportunities for her to make placements within insolvency — not, she adds, that this is the most joyous of specialisms to see booming. Specialisms aside, Wareham at PwC and our other in-house recruiter (see Stakeholder Comment, right) agree that technical skillset is often a secondary concern. Says Wareham: “The real focus is for what we would call more broadly just consulting skills.” Finding “that really healthy blend” is the hardest part.

Greg Parkinson Founder, Elevation Recruitment “The clear threat for workers in the sector is going to be the competition to secure jobs. As the economy starts to recover there is likely to be an influx of ambitious accountancy professionals looking to move up the ladder after sitting tight in their current roles through the downturn.”

Peter Wareham Head of experienced hire recruitment, PwC “We are certainly very busy regionally, recruitment wise, at the moment; we’ve seen a good deal of activity in Scotland this year. The Scottish market has always been a market where we’ve had to be far more innovative in how we attract talent, because the local market can’t always support that… Meanwhile the supply of talent in the Midlands and the North, in broad brush strokes, is very good.”

SAM BURNE JAMES sam.burnejames@recruiter.co.uk

AVERAGE SALARIES

REED JOB INDEX ACCOUNTANCY

■ Jobs (000s)* ■ Applicants/job* ■ New CVs (000s)**

Finance director: £85,457 (▼£397 since 2012) Financial controller: £57,496 (▲£891) Internal auditor: £54,621 (▲£389) Management accountant : £40,399 (▼£732) All qualiﬁed accountancy roles: £49,606 (▼£902)

150 145 140 135

Q3 2012

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20.1

15.6

33.2

20.8

17.1

32.9

18.7

16.9

27.0

20.8

19.9

130 125 120

Jan Apr 2011

Jul

Oct

Jan

Apr

Jul

Oct

Dec 2012

REED.CO.UK

JOBS AND APPLICANTS

27.6

*TOTALJOBS BAROMETER **NEW CVS ON CV-LIBRARY

IN THE TAX PRACTICE WE’VE HAD A BUSY YEAR IN THE RECRUITMENT SENSE AND THAT’S GOING TO CONTINUE … REGULATORY CHANGES WILL DELIVER INTERESTING WORK

Jane Walker-Smith HR director, MHA MacIntyre Hudson

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10/01/2013 08:33

. / ) % %+ ) ) ' )/n% )% ' ') +)< . n- ) / ) ) ')%n ) %/n% ')n n) 7 !n '' %n) n % n '+!! %) ) % + +) ) !% ''< ( )+ ) - % )R n + ) n )3 n-n n n' % +! -n +n ) % +' ) / n) / ')< Jonas Anderson RDF Group Recruitment consultancies of all kinds choose Itris Recruitment Software because it adds value to their business. It delivers total functionality and a high level of integration with third party applications, without the need for additional modules or conďŹ guration. Inspired by recruiters, Itris can easily be conďŹ gured by you with no specialist training needed. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s built on the highly scalable SQL Server platform so it can grow as your business grows. Our total system support will help you maintain a competitive advantage and ensure itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always working for you. And best of all, upgrades to new versions are included as standard. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the total package, and probably the most cost-effective investment you can make for your recruitment business today. 0845 680 0660 www.itris.co.uk

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Market Indicators

Global Spotlight on India THE COUNTRY IS CERTAINLY A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK FOR EMPLOYERS AND RECRUITERS ALIKE, BUT IT IS TOO LARGE A MARKET TO BE WRITTEN OFF BY EITHER

key indicators

Yes, low wages make earning decent margin tough, and complaints that contracts and meetings are all too easily broken are widespread. But with a population of 1.24bn — that’s over a sixth of the global total — India cannot be ignored. Marie Moynihan, vice president for global talent acquisition at computing giant Dell, tells Recruiter that globally, the company is trying to bring agency use “as close to zero as possible”. “There are some countries where we believe it’s going to be very challenging and I would say India is one of them… the talent pool [candidates] has a preference to have an agency represent them,” she says. Another difference is lesser emphasis on social media. “It would be a much smaller percentage than in the US and in Europe,” Moynihan explains. As is the case globally, employee referral remains Dell’s largest hiring source in India, he adds. Moynihan cautions that “it would tend to be the local agencies rather than the big names” that Dell works with in the country, and confirms that margins can be very low, typically around 8% for their volume recruitment. But Robert Jan van de Kraats, an executive board member at recruitment group Randstad, who has India in his portfolio of countries, says the market, where they focus on “white collar volume recruitment, individual specialist recruitment and professional project-based staffing”, is “very important” to the group. “Generic staffing is in an early stage of development, where currently it appears to be more a payrolling activity,” he adds. The staffing industry’s growth is

MANPOWER EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK SURVEY FOR INDIA 60

■ Firms increasing headcount% ■ Firms decreasing headcount%

India boasted 17m LinkedIn members as of October 2012 — just one in 73 of the whole population, compared to over one in five in the US and one in six in the UK. The country is due to overtake China as the world’s most populated within 15 years. Jobseekers in India are more likely to use overseas or international job sites (60%), search engines (53%) or national job sites (45%) than the global workforce as a whole (52%, 40% and 35% respectively), according to Intelligence Group research. Just over half of the Indian labour force is employed within agriculture. Currency: Indian Rupee (INR): INR 100 = £1.13 ($1.82)

demonstrated by the fact that the Indian Staffing Federation only launched in summer 2011. Moynihan’s expectations that “India will go down the same road” as the West eventually — is shared by Oliver Turnbull, founder of digital recruiter Incite People, which established an Indian office in 2010. “I think in the next 12-18 months you’ll see a huge drive in recruitment agency demand — and I think eventually you’ll see a huge drive for internal recruitment,” he says. Incite People “won’t work for anything less than £2,000 in fees” in India, and Turnbull agrees with Moynihan’s view that the prestige of being represented by an agency aids business. “To be represented by a British company is a huge, huge thing [for candidates]… those things do really count,” he continues. Incite People also offers a service called buildmyteam.co.uk, which handles not just recruitment but broader aspects of creating an Indian operation, including legalities, payroll and facilities. Especially in the four major tech cities — Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai — facilities expenses are substantial. “What you find sometimes is that the actual office space is more expensive than the labour that sits at the desk… it’s comparable to the centre of London.” Setting up is tough too. Turnbull describes a “huge checks and balances process… it’s a really long slog, something you’ve really got to commit to and really keep a shrewd eye on, otherwise you can spend a lot of time and not get anywhere”. With that shrewd eye, the possibilities are tremendous. SPONSORED BY

SAM BURNE JAMES sam.burnejames@recruiter.co.uk

INDIA VERSUS THE OTHER BRICS ■ Brazil ■ Russia ■ China ■ India 15 12

YEARLY GDP GROWTH

3 0

-3

-6 0

Q4 Q1 Q2 2010 2011

Q1 Q2 2012

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-9

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (2012 DATA PREDICTED)

“Impossible!” “No way, you can’t do it”. These were the reactions of two successful UK IT recruiters upon hearing an upcoming Global Spotlight on India would investigate how agencies can make money in this daunting, behemoth of a market.

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JANUARY 2013

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Opinion

Soapbox

Trading rights for shares

SOAP

DESPITE OPPOSITION IN RESPONSE TO ITS CONSULTATION, THE GOVERNMENT HAS CONFIRMED IT WILL PROCEED WITH ITS PROPOSALS TO CREATE ‘EMPLOYEE SHAREHOLDERS’ From April, recruitment agencies and inhouse recruiters can offer new joiners (and existing employees) shares worth between £2,000 and £50,000, which will be exempt from any capital gains tax on sale. In return, employees will give up their rights to unfair dismissal protection, redundancy payments and to request flexible working or time off for training. Employee shareholders wishing to return from maternity leave early must now give 16 weeks’ notice, rather than eight. The controversial proposals are part of the government’s mission to cut red tape and employment rights, but are somewhat hamstrung because many UK employment rights are derived from EU law, which means they cannot be removed. The government’s timetable is ambitious, and questions will need to be resolved before April, including: • How will shares convert into actual cash value for departing employee shareholders? • Will the rules differ depending upon the reason for the departure and length of service? • Will shares be subject to an employment qualifying period?

• Will the employee shareholder have any control over the business? While this scheme may work in a listed company where shares are bought and sold quite easily, it is harder to see how this might operate in private recruitment companies. Many in-house corporate recruiters or recruitment agencies will be put off by the expected complexity of the new rules, unless they already routinely offer share schemes to employees. Long-standing employees are unlikely to want to relinquish valuable unfair dismissal and redundancy pay rights to take a gamble on the value of their employer’s shares. However, employers may ﬁnd it easier to impose such contracts on jobseekers, particularly in the current market. Although the plan will reduce the employment law burden on recruitment agencies and in-house recruiters, a High Court minority shareholder dispute is more complicated and costly than an unfair dismissal claim in the Employment Tribunal, and disgruntled ex-employees who cannot

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claim unfair dismissal may instead pursue other, more costly, claims such as discrimination. The increased ﬂexibility for employers may well create a less engaged and more transient workforce rather than the other way round. Will the scheme bring beneﬁts to recruitment? The employee shareholder business model — whereby all employees receive a meaningful stake in the business, creating a more engaged workforce — is well worth exploring in the recruitment sector, as it is in other sectors, but this plan appears to be a hasty shortcut to cutting employment rights. Unfair dismissal and redundancy rights now apply only after two years’ service, giving employers ample opportunity to decide whether the hire is working out, without having to award any shares. With the exception of entrepreneurial recruitment startups, it is unclear how diluting employment rights will encourage employers to recruit and stimulate economic growth. JENNIFER MILLINS is an associate in the employment

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Opinion

Web chat

Soundbites

“What are your New Year resolutions for yourself personally or for your business?” Nick Vaughan Director, Hamlyn Williams

Faulkner to chair Tempo JANUARY 2013 •Yet7another money making scheme for de Poel to sell at board level

which will have zero beneﬁt for agencies and clients! How long before de Poel make membership mandatory to all agencies that have already been beaten down by them on margins, whilst clients claim ethical status so long as they can point the ﬁnger at de Poel when someone high enough up the food chain actually takes notice of the additional cost and time of using de Poel’s so called niche software which pretty much every agency has now? Wake UP people. De Poel are nothing more than overblown promises and the ability for customers to distance themselves from blame as the legislation being forced onto the industry actually encourages people to cut corners! Jason Stephenson

Tempo: agencies pay, hirers won’t JANUARY 2013 •I’ve8seen over recent months that both ARC [Association of

Recruitment Companies] and the REC [Recruitment & Employment Confederation] have had concerns over the upcoming launch of Tempo by de Poel — for very valid reasons. We (The Independent Recruiting Group) have simply just sat back to wait and see what happens nearer the official launch... As I’ve said before about the existing professional bodies - we all have an equal right to operate. As long as you continue to provide excellent value to your members in return for the membership fees you charge (whatever the cost may be), then you will have a strong future. Members will vote with their feet. With Tempo added to the offering, there is now an even better choice for agencies should they wish to align themselves with a professional body, or consider an alternative to the one they are already members of. Tempo have something different to offer its members, compared to the other professional bodies out there (ours included). Whether those benefits are worth the money they are charging for membership is open for debate. Either way, I wish Keith and his team at Tempo the very best of luck for the future! Sean O’Donoghue, founder of the IRG So now we have ARC, REC and APSCo [Association of Professional Staffing Companies] and Tempo? We are a profession of about 100,000 in the UK and our voice is not heard effectively enough as it is. Will another professional body just disunite this industry further? Stefan Ciecierski Will Tempo campaign to remove unfair to agencies ‘pay when paid’ contracts? Tom Atkinson • For further commentary on the future of industry trade bodies and associations, see News Analysis, p12

WWW.RECRUITER.CO.UK

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Going through the New Year resolutions, Hamlyn Williams have put together some clear goals that we are looking to achieve. We will be looking to maintain our headcount growth of 200% for the year and will be continuing to invest in our staff training, and have put together a clear career progression strategy that has detailed promotion competencies, so that there is transparency across the company for promotion criteria. One of the greatest milestones is that we will have an international ofﬁce by Q4 2013, which will be diversifying our business across corporate governance from a geographical point of view. Greg Parkinson Joint managing director, Elevation Recruitment

My main professional resolution is to build on the huge success we’ve achieved in 2012. We’ve already got some exciting projects for January, including the opening of our new ofﬁces in Leeds, appointing several new recruits and the launch of a dedicated HR network in Shefﬁeld. So I’m hoping that by this time next year we’ll be toasting another successful 12 months. My personal resolutions include spending more time with my wife and sixmonth-old son, Seth, and making more time to relax with friends — and a few games of golf too!” Rob Searle Sales director, CareerStructure.com

Like many businesses, our focus for 2013 will be looking at ways we can deliver growth in a tough climate. The nature of recruitment means that our business is impacted by the strength of our customers, which is not necessarily something we can control. Advising our clients on which industries, roles and skills are in demand, and where to source candidates that can fulﬁl these roles, is (at a very basic level) how we can support our clients in making recruitment decisions that will help them grow their businesses. Going hand in hand with this is a focus on supporting and encouraging our staff, so that they’re motivated and engaged to deliver this customer service.

IF YOU HAVE A LETTER OR WOULD LIKE TO BE A CONTRIBUTOR TO SOUNDBITES, EMAIL... VANESSA.TOWNSEND@RECRUITER.CO.UK

RECRUITER

JANUARY 2013

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3 4

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Recruitment Matters Issue 11 January 2013

Trade Association of the Year

What’s inside 2 The Intelligence

Two new REC reports outline the changing face of recruitment and Recruitment Index Benchmarking’s Chris Ansell discusses margin pressures

3 REC Talk

Exciting year: There were many memorable events during 2012, including the Business Brains On Tour roadshow in the autumn. This year is set to be even busier and REC members are urged to make the most of their membership. See centre pages.

Now members take new compliance test The REC’s determination to raise the bar for standards of professionalism within the industry moves another step forward this month as existing members begin taking the online compliance test introduced last summer. Members must pass the test every two years to retain their membership and have three attempts in six months to succeed. Recruiters wishing to join the REC for the ﬁrst time have been sitting the test since July, with 115 passing and 13 failing, as RM went to press. Angie Nicholls, head of consultancy and compliance delivery, helped design the test and she supports recruiters worried about the multiple choice questions. “There is guidance available to assist with the legal and technical elements and a

training test which members can take ﬁrst to see how the exam is laid out and which areas they need to work on before they begin the real one,” she says. She adds that the areas recruiters tend to fail most on relate to health and safety and elements of the REC’s Code of Professional Practice covering business ethics. “It is natural to be nervous before taking this test but the questions relate to every day work in a recruitment business. There are no tricks and we are there to help members.” One member that has already passed the test is SixTwoFive which serves the technology, media and digital industries. “You have a 24-hour window to complete the test and can pause whenever you like. The advice and support makes the whole process straightforward,” says managing director David Preston (left). “You can repeat the practice exam as many times as you like and the results explain where you went wrong and direct you to further reading.”

Tom Hadley grades the Coalition’s performance so far and Kevin Green says the industry is proving its resilience in difﬁcult times

4-5

Membership news

Are you making the most of your REC membership?

6Business Matters

Meet the REC’s Legal Helpline team and discover why many members are outsourcing their back ofﬁce processes

Institute of 7 Recruitment Professionals RM meets two of the IRP 2012 Award Winners, Christopher Clark and Jeff Brooks

and 8 Facilities training Why not hold your London meetings at the REC’s new ofﬁces?

www.rec.uk.com RM p1_JAN-A.indd 23

08/01/2013 12:22

REC Research

the intelligence Fig 1: Annual Change in NDR

Recruitment’s changing times Roger Tweedy reveals how two new reports from the Industry Research Unit will keep recruiters ahead of the game in 2013 Recruiters are naturally curious about what the future might hold and the prospects for temporary and permanent staffing. Some of the answers can be found in two new documents now available free to members. The ‘Back to the Future’ Working Paper reviews how the industry has evolved in the last decade. It tracks the rise of employer branding and the migration of recruitment advertising online as employers turned away from traditional print media towards commercial job boards in the search for active talent. The recession changed many of the dynamics of the UK labour market as employers unexpectedly hoarded skilled workers, social media opened up new channels to passive talent and job boards responded with professional networking apps such as BeKnown. Identifying trends The Paper uses robust analysis of past trends to build a new understanding of the future and how these trends are likely to play out. It identifies eight critical trends the REC believes will shape recruitment up to 2020 and beyond. One of the starkest findings was that the number of recruitment businesses fell by 11% in 2011. Weak economic growth, margin pressure, technological advancement and new channels to market have driven this period of consolidation which is likely to continue. The other important document members should get their hands on is ‘Recruitment 2022 – The Effect of Social Media and Technology

2 Recruitment Matters January 2013

RM_02_JAN-A.indd Sec1:24

(net disposable revenue)

20%

on Future Recruitment’. It was commissioned by the REC’s Technology Sector Group and examines key strands from ‘Back to the Future’ in more depth. The report is based on detailed interviews with more than 30 leading industry experts and practitioners.

15% 10% 5% 0% -5% -10% Nov 10

Jan 11

Mar

May

Jul

Sep

• You can follow Roger on Twitter @Tweedy_REC

Number of UK recruitment businesses by turnover Turnover size band (£000s)

2009 2010 2011

250-499

2,480 2,445 2,255

500-999

2,175 2,125 1,850

1,000-4,999

2,955 2,810 2,405

5,000

1,025 1,015

Total

8,635 8,395 7,435

925

Jan 12

Mar

Jul

Sep

Fig 2: Annual NDR Growth 50%

––– Upper quartile ––– Median ––– Lower quartile

40%

Role of technology Jeff Brooks, chairman, REC Technology Sector Group, says key aspects of this research are the continuing move towards freelance/ contract careers and the growth in part-time working. He also feels that technology will continue to reﬁne the attraction and selection process, with automated screening and testing becoming routine. Technology will enable recruitment to be acknowledged as the most important HR process. The Working Paper will be shared with the HR community and anyone intrigued to know how technology is re-shaping the recruitment industry and employment, from crowd-sourcing to the gathering of data on your company’s output across social media. Both reports are available from the REC’s online research bookshop: http://www.rec.uk.com/research/ bookshop.

Nov

30% 20% 10% 0% -10% -20% -30% Nov 10

Jan 11

Mar

May

Jul

Sep

Nov

Jan 12

Mar

Jul

Sep

Margin squeeze puts pressure on NDR In previous editions of Recruitment Matters I have commented on how recruiters are seeing downward pressure on net disposable revenue. Figure 1 reveals that throughout 2012 median NDR has been lower than at the same time a year ago. So why are recruiters seeing a declining NDR ? I have commented for some time that annual revenue growth for recruiters has been very low. Indeed it has averaged less than 1% for the last 8 months. Recruiters have seen a significant fall in NDR margin in 2012, declining from 25.6% at the end of 2011 to 22.5% in October. It is the combination of flat revenues and declining profitability of those margins that is leading to a fall in NDR. However, some recruiters are still doing well. Figure 2 shows NDR growth for the lower quartile, median and upper quartile recruiter. The best performing 25% of recruiters are growing NDR at nearly 15% from last year – a very creditable performance in the current economic climate. • Chris Ansell is chief financial officer at Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB). The RIB Index provides bespoke confidential reports on industry trends. See www.ribindex. com; info@ribindex.com: 020 8544 9807. The RIB is a strategic partner of the REC.

www.rec.uk.com 08/01/2013 12:23

Leading the Industry

2013 – A campaigning odyssey This year presents more external challenges for the industry and the government must do more to deliver on jobs and growth, says director of policy and professional services Tom Hadley

The View

Our policy priorities for 2013 include: • An effective review of the Conduct Regulations. The aim is to streamline current requirements – especially those covering business to business arrangements – while ensuring effective enforcement. • To protect our flexible labour market. For example, by ensuring that IR35 taxation rules for contractors are clear and workable, and by taking forward the recommendations of our Flexible Work Commission. • Delivering greater clarity on tax rules, especially with regards to travel and subsistence schemes and VAT charges in specific sectors. There must be a level playing field for all recruitment businesses. • To promote sustainable procurement policy. We want a balance between cost control priorities and the quality and safety of supply. • Accelerating progress on youth employment. This must involve embedding employability within the curriculum and developing an effective career guidance network. Harnessing the expertise of recruitment will ensure schemes such as the Youth Contract and apprenticeships make a real impact. • Driving the skills agenda. We need action on skills and immigration policy to address the lack of suitable candidates in key sectors which is a barrier to growth. In many areas the government has recognised the need for tangible action. Projects such as reviewing the Conduct Regulations, simplifying CRB checks and creating fiscal incentives for employers to take on young people can improve our labour market. However, our overall assessment is that government has talked a good game but has not delivered in enough key areas. Over the rest of this parliament we will be working closely with key departments to drive progress.

Given the fragile economy, the UK’s jobs market performed incredibly well last year. While temp billings were down in the first quarter, permanent hiring remained strong. After a period of stability in the summer – with the Olympics having less of an impact than forecast – the recruitment market picked up with a level of demand not seen for two years. Employer confidence is back. We have record employment and although there are stubborn levels of unemployment that will be hard to shift, the signs are the total number of people in work will rise throughout 2013. The recruitment industry has proved its resilience. The market grew by 4.3% (to £25.7bn) in 2011/12, driven by continuing demand for flexible staffing and growth in interim, contractor and temporary workers. Margins are still under pressure, candidates are harder to find and social media means corporates are doing more recruitment themselves. Yet recruiters who stay ahead of the game will still grow. There is a bright future for those recruiters that respond to this changing landscape, understand the needs of their clients and the aspirations of their candidates. ‘An inch wide and a mile deep’ is the mantra I repeat to small and medium-sized recruiters as the model that will allow them to differentiate themselves. Last year was a good one for the REC which was recognised as the UK’s best Trade Association and we held the best ever Ciett global recruitment conference. We are not going to rest on our laurels. We will up our game with renewed energy to provide you with even more information, support and guidance than ever before. We will also fight on your behalf to ensure the regulatory and economic environment you operate in is as conducive as possible. Please look at your membership handbook to ensure you are taking full advantage of everything the REC has to offer in 2013. All our research is now free, more content is available via webinars and social media, and this year we are completely overhauling our website. And watch out for our Apprenticeships in recruitment, new kinds of events in your area and make sure you have taken your online compliance test. This is going to be an exciting year for the UK recruitment industry.

• Follow Tom Hadley on twitter @HadleysComment

• Get live updates via twitter @kevingreenrec

Our recent report on the government’s progress in the first half of this parliament gave the coalition five out of 10. As well as looking back, our ‘Creating Opportunities and Jobs’ report identifies practical measures to make a real difference during the rest of this parliament. This forward-looking manifesto will inform our work with government and opposition parties in 2013.

www.rec.uk.com RM_03_JAN-A.indd 25

Recruitment Matters January 2013 3

08/01/2013 12:23

Membership news

Making the most of your membership The REC has a comprehensive range of services and benefits to help recruiters develop their talent and grow their businesses, but some members are missing out

Research proves its value The REC’s research analysing the health of the jobs market as well as the recruitment industry is one of the most valuable tools available to members. Head of the REC’s Industry Research Unit, Roger Tweedy, says the research supports recruiters with their business planning and preparation for tender documents where specific sector and market knowledge is essential. “Our research is also used to give members access to best practice. They can see what the top consultants and managers in the industry are doing and can benchmark their own performance,” says Tweedy. “We work with leading market research firms, academics and think-tanks, as well as stakeholder partners such the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and CIPD.” The research is powerful collateral when talking to existing and potential clients and is used to challenge perceptions about recruitment and particular industry sectors. From this year all research is free for members and the most popular surveys include JobsOutlook based on a monthly survey of employers. It shows what impact the economy is having on short-term hiring intentions for permanent and temporary workers. Other popular research projects include the Working Papers. New publications include ‘Back to the Future’ which provides insight into how the UK recruitment market will develop over the next 10 years. “Members are losing a competitive advantage by not accessing this free research resource to retain and gain clients,” says Tweedy. HR services company Randstad’s market intelligence manager Andy Pashley says the REC’s quantitative research is particularly helpful to gauge the size of particular markets. “It complements and supplements the research we do internally so it is a powerful partnership,” he says. “The Working Papers help our senior managers to get a feel for what is happening in the industry to assist our strategy planning. All members need to be outward looking and see what is happening in the wider employment market.”

4 Recruitment Matters January 2013

RM_4-5_JAN-A.indd 26

he REC’s director of member services, Anita Holbrow (below), says that for many agencies membership is bought as an insurance policy for when they need help with a particular area of their business such as AWR or pensions auto-enrolment. Her mission for 2013 is to ensure all agencies make more use of their subscription and use some of the many services outlined on these pages. “We want them to look at what is on offer every day to help them expand their business,” she says. Corporate membership assists agencies to become business compliant, while involvement in the Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP) recognises the work of individuals within agencies and minimises risks to clients. “There is also the REC’s Recruitment Business Academy which has all the tools an agency needs to provide the best possible service to clients and candidates,” says Holbrow. The Recruitment Business Academy is a suite of tailored services including mentor support, training and qualiﬁcations. “One

www.rec.uk.com 08/01/2013 12:23

IRP is an HR tool

Sector success

Corporate members are seeing the benefit of involving their staff in the many initiatives run by the Institute of Recruitment Practioners (IRP). The IRP has become a core component of many members’ HR strategy, allowing recruiters to differentiate themselves, retain talent, celebrate their staff’s achievements and keep them motivated. Corporate members now receive up to three complimentary memberships. The IRP Advocacy Programme is a way for REC corporate members to demonstrate professionalism through promoting the benefits of IRP membership to clients, candidates and staff. Some Advocates believe so strongly in IRP they invest in membership for their staff. “IRP involvement helps members to generate new business because they have access to the logo and client tool kit, it improves their consultants’ careers and the company’s professionalism and there are tangible benefits including discounts at about 500 retailers and brands,” says IRP head Richard Charnock (right). The benefits are currently being reviewed and the IRP website will be revamped soon to make it easier to navigate. “This is a very exciting year for the IRP as recruitment is recognised as a professional industry and we see the first Advanced and Higher Level Apprenticeships,” says Charnock.

The REC has 18 Sector Groups ensuring members stay at the forefront of their profession by making them aware of what is happening in their specific market. The groups provide an opportunity to network with others in a particular industry and to share ideas and concerns. Sheron Cummins (left) is managing director of Advance Drivers, and a member of the Drivers Sector Group which works with The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. “REC membership gives you credibility and a code of conduct that everyone can work to as clients demand more for their money,” says Cummins. “We use the REC’s legal helpline for advice on areas such as the Working Time Directive, AWR and pensions.” She says the sector group meetings allow companies of the same size to discuss how they are interpreting different regulations and debate hot industry issues such as Driver’s Negligence Insurance and the cost of fuel. “If you share concerns you can often find a common solution.” Charlotte Rafferty (left), managing director at Solo Plus, has been a member of the Education Sector Group for more than 10 years. “It is important to listen to the opinion of others in your sector and to keep up-to-date with what is going on in your industry. The new Academies Programme is a big change for education agencies and we need to be able to plan for our business,” she says. “In 2013 I can see a lot of debate at our sector meetings around teacher training.”

member came to us because they wanted to move into a different industry sector and we were able to offer the relevant training they needed.” During 2013 the REC is putting even more resources into contacting members to explain the full portfolio of membership services. There will be additional visits

and presentations in the regions by account managers with business planning workshops and events relating to the REC’s valued research. “Our message to members is come and talk to us about your business needs and let us guide you. You might be surprised by how the REC can help.”

Take your partners Many third-party companies see the advantages of working with members and the REC Business Partner Services programme provides agencies with exclusive special offers, introductory deals and discounts. The REC has partnerships in key business areas including insurance, design and print, facilities and outsourced services, finance and accounting, IT, software, tax and office space. Members can also access market insight from the partners. “All the affiliations we have in place are based on member need and can save recruiters thousands of pounds a year,” says head of brand partnerships Chris Howard (pictured above). In November flexible workplace provider Regus joined the partner programme. REC members now have access to more than 1,300 business centres around the world and 160 in the UK through the Regus Gold Businessworld Card. “Virtual offices provide recruiters with a prestigious business address and access to office and meeting room space,” says Regus’s UK communications manager Henry Collinge. “Regus staff answer the phone in the recruiter’s name and in the local language, connect calls anywhere in the world, take and relay messages per a customer’s requirements, handle incoming and outgoing faxes confidentially, and forward and collect mail.”

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Recruitment Matters January 2013 5

08/01/2013 12:24

Legal Update

Legal Helpline provides members with peace of mind The REC’s Legal Helpline is part of the REC’s legal team and receives about 60 calls a day from members looking for advice on different legislation affecting the recruitment industry. The number of calls varies throughout the year, with peaks whenever signiﬁcant law changes are announced, such as pension auto-enrolment or the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR). “The most common queries tend to be about temporary workers and holiday, charging transfer and introduction fees to clients, statutory payments such as sick pay and maternity pay and general issues around limited company contractors and umbrella companies,” says Caroline North, one of four legal advisors on the Helpline. “Pensions auto-enrolment will be a big area for us this year and the government is consulting on various pieces of employment legislation as part of its Red Tape Challenge.” Legal advisor Emily Janson says when details of AWR were ﬁrst released the legal team were receiving up to 100 calls a day. “This has been a popular topic for months but there are many different areas within the recruitment, employment and commercial areas of law that we support members with.” Zoe Rogers-Wright has been a legal

Here to help (clockwise from top left): Caroline North, Chris Cuckney, Emily Janson and Zoe Rogers-Wright advisor on the Helpline for two and a half years and says she is busiest in the middle of the week. “We can be on the phone for anything from 10 minutes to 40 minutes depending on the query,” she says. “This is certainly a part of recruiters’ corporate membership that they really value.” Chris Cuckney has been a legal advisor for a year and he has learned a lot about

the recruitment industry during his first 12 months. He said: “Members often call us when they are in distress or facing difficult HR issues. Often members that call want us to confirm what they already think is correct regarding a piece of employment law – we give them peace of mind. “However we also give advice to members that is often hard for them to hear, particularly when we have to offer correction and guidance on their interpretation of the law or their actions.”

Business development Back office boost Many recruiters outsource different back office processes to make the temp side of their business more efficient. Since May 2000 REC business partner New Millennia Group has helped recruiters manage their cashflow by funding the entire transaction process relating to temporary workers. It pays workers, invoices clients and pays agency margins every week. Business development manager Paul O’Rourke (pictured) says in recent years more consultants have taken the leap into running their own business. “Much of our work is with start-up temp agencies and we emphasise to them the importance of having credit insurance

6 Recruitment Matters January 2013

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and signed terms and conditions so they are working in a compliant and commercially-viable way,” he says. New Millennia Group also helps recruiters reduce their overheads, especially in their ﬁrst three years of trading. However, O’Rourke says temporary agencies face some big challenges in 2013, including RTI (Real Time Information) being implemented by HMRC. “Recruiters must have payroll software which meets the requirements of RTI so submissions of the individuals they are paying are sent in real time to HMRC when a payment is made,” he says. “Pension reform is also adding pressure to agencies working on tight margins.”

www.rec.uk.com 08/01/2013 12:24

Inspiration

Behind the scenes at the Institute of Recruitment Professionals

Celebrating success In the first of a series of interviews with the 2012 IRP Awards winners, we meet Recruiter of the Year and Permanent Consultant of the Year Christopher Clark, and Jeff Brooks, who picked up the Lifetime Achievement honour Christopher Clark from agency Redlaw has been in recruitment for four years and an IRP member since 2010. He specialises in Private Practice Legal Recruitment. What’s the best thing about being an IRP award winner? Feeling proud of the recognition I Christopher Clark received for all the hard work I’ve put in. Top tip to anyone hoping to get on next year’s shortlist? Do the best job you can for candidates and clients – and remember to ask for recommendations when you have to. Has winning boosted your business? Yes, we received calls from clients that we’ve never dealt with asking us to work with them exclusively – it couldn’t get better than that. What makes recruitment one of the best industries to work in? It is completely meritocratic. If you work hard consistently you will do well. That’s the beauty of it.

“We received calls from clients asking us to work for them exclusively” What reputation does the industry have and does it need to change? The industry is still seen as being slightly unprofessional, without a thought to long-term careers. The REC/IRP is helping to change this. What do your colleagues not know about you? I used to race 100cc go-karts in the British University Karting Championships Which one person do you believe has made the biggest positive impact on the recruitment industry? James Caan on Dragon’s Den. His input has resulted in good publicity for the industry.

To keep up to date with everything the Institute of Recruitment Professionals is doing, please visit www.rec-irp.uk.com

www.rec.uk.com RM_07_JAN-A.indd 29

Jeff Brooks from Primesourcing Ltd has 28 years’ experience in recruitment, is heavily involved in the REC and has been an IRP member since 2004. His specialism is IT. How surprised were you to be honoured? Jeff Brooks I had an inkling but I didn’t dwell on it – it was nice to think I might receive an award. What are the biggest changes you have seen in the industry? The internet was a game changer – the speed of communication and therefore recruitment increased dramatically but we lost something of the personal touch. What qualities do you need to be recognised in this way? You need staying power and an ability to adapt to new technologies and ways of working. You also need to develop relationships and networks. What does being a member of the REC/IRP mean to you? Sharing ideas and tips with your peers helps you grow as a recruiter and a rounded business person. What makes recruitment one of the best industries to work in? It is pretty uncomplicated – you find a role, understand it properly and find suitable candidates; it’s all about communication and relationships and is immensely satisfying. What do you think are the biggest challenges facing recruiters? You must provide a personal service within the social media ‘noise’, find great candidates from hundreds available and build enduring relationships rather than CV posting. What reputation does the industry have and does it need to change? There will always be those that think they can make a fast buck, but the agencies that think they can cut corners will be quickly be found out. If you had not been a recruiter what would you have been? I wanted to be an actor and I should have given that a go.

Recruitment Matters January 2013 7

08/01/2013 12:25

Facilities and training

Meeting in London? Look no further Members can now take advantage of the excellent room facilities at the REC’s new premises in London for meetings, conferences and training courses. The fully-equipped rooms in Stamford Street are a 10-minute walk from Waterloo or Blackfriars stations and supported by the REC’s experienced facilities team, with refreshments available. “We now have eight meeting rooms rather than three in a central London location and are pleased to offer them to our members for hire,” says facilities manager Lucy Clarke. “There are rooms to suit any size of meeting, from a two-person interview in the Business Lounge to an impressive boardroom space for a company meeting.” The rooms: • The Business Lounge can accommodate four people • The AV Room has room for up to six people with laptop and screen • The Eileen Simpson Room can hold eight people in a formal table layout with laptop

• The Training Room can accommodate 12 people in an ‘E’ shape layout with laptop and screens • Boardroom 1 can seat up to 24 people in boardroom style and up to 50 in theatre style with laptop and screen • Boardroom 2 can hold 12 people boardroom style and 20 theatre style with laptop and screen • Boardrooms 1 and 2, when combined, have a capacity of 36 (boardroom) and 80 (theatre) with laptop and screen Tea, coffee and lunch can be provided and there is free wireless internet access. The rooms can be hired MondayFriday from 9am-5.30pm. Room charges start from a day rate of £170 (or £136 for

an REC corporate member) for the business lounge, to up to £1,100 (£880) for the combined boardroom space. Half-day rates are also available.

For more information contact the facilities team: facilities@ rec.uk.com or visit www. rec.uk.com/aboutrec/ recroombooking.

Training boost Get your company on the right track in 2013 with the REC’s training programme to boost sales, qualifications and improve staff motivation and retention. Profitable Candidate Management (London 5 March and 19 June) This session reveals the tips and techniques for getting the best out of your existing database to improve candidate attraction and referral rates. There is also advice on using social media, writing better adverts and building stronger relationships. Creative Marketing on a Shoestring (London 11 April, 20 June and 10 September) Recruiters can follow cost-effective marketing campaign strategies to ensure they get the most from their marketing budget. This course also covers the importance of the company brand, and how and when to use social media to build an online presence. Fundamentals of Finance for Recruitment Managers (London 23 April and 8 October) Budgeting and forecasting are complex areas, especially for new managers and senior consultants recently given budgetary responsibilities. This course demystifies financial measures, terminology and ratios.

Visit www.rec.uk.com/training to download the 2013 training calendar with a full listing of all courses, dates and prices, or call 020 7009 2100.

Recruitment Matters The official magazine of The Recruitment and Employment Confederation Dorset House, 1st Floor, 27-45 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NT Tel: 020 7009 2100 www.rec.uk.com

8 Recruitment Matters January 2013

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Membership Department: Membership: 020 7009 2144, Customer Services: 020 7009 2148 Publishers: Redactive Publishing Ltd, 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP. Tel: 020 7880 6200. www.redactive.co.uk Publisher: Anne Sadler. anne.sadler@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6213 Consulting Editor: Liz Banks liz.banks@rec.uk.com Editorial: Editor: Steve Hemsley. steve.hemsley@redactive.co.uk. Production Editor: Vanessa Townsend Production: Deputy Production Manager: Kieran Tobin. kieran.tobin@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6240 Printing: Printed by Southernprint © 2013 Recruitment Matters. Although every effort is made to ensure accuracy, neither REC, Redactive Publishing Ltd nor the authors can accept liability for errors or omissions. Views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the REC or Redactive Publishing Ltd. No responsibility can be accepted for unsolicited manuscripts or transparencies. No reproduction in whole or part without written permission.

www.rec.uk.com 08/01/2013 12:26

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Insight

Recruitment lessons from London 2012 WHAT LEARNINGS CAN WE TAKE AWAY FROM THE LONDON 2012 RECRUITMENT PROGRAMME? Over four months have passed since the end of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It’s great to hear people still speaking about their experiences of the Games and how it inspired them to do things differently. But what can we as recruiters learn from what we achieved at LOCOG (London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games & Paralympic Games) in recruiting a paid workforce of around 8,500 employees over a relatively short period of time? Some of these key learnings can be applied to organisations across all sectors. At an early stage of the programme, when we established our resourcing strategy, we recognised that the Olympic brand was going to be a huge enabler in our recruitment programme. However, we still acknowledged that we had to carefully define our employer brand and value propositions so that potential hires knew what was expected of them and understood what it would be like to work on the Games. We also broke this down to the distinct phases of the project’s evolution, as the proposition for someone joining LOCOG five years out was going to be very different to someone’s journey being recruited for a Games role, three months out from the start of the Games themselves. We also made a strategic decision at the outset to partner with a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) provider, rather than building our own function. After a lengthy commercial tendering process, Adecco was appointed as our official recruitment services sponsor. While Adecco had a track record in working on previous Games, they had not delivered full RPO scope across such a wide spectrum of recruitment with other organising committees. It proved to be very challenging to get the deal to work for both organisations; the key success factor was in developing a true partnership approach, enabling us to work through the difficult issues, recognising Adecco’s two distinct roles as a key sponsor of the Games, as well as a critical delivery partner. We achieved this by having direct input and support from our chief executives and where necessary we pushed and challenged Adecco to create and develop new ways of working (often at their own cost). When London successfully won its bid to host the Games in 2005, we made key commitments

to young people and to diversity & inclusion. In recruitment we worked closely with the local communities to develop an employment and skills strategy to deliver maximum opportunities to local residents across the six host boroughs (Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Barking & Dagenham). We targeted those that were currently unemployed in these communities. Recognising that youth unemployment was a particular challenge for the host borough communities we set up an apprenticeship programme, with four cohorts recruited over our lifetime. This programme enabled us to put young people at the heart of everything that we did. The nature of our workforce growth profile meant that we had to recruit most of our paid workforce in the last six months. A forensic approach to workforce planning and detailed workforce budget analysis was a significant enabler to our recruitment planning. We began the volume recruitment campaigns (for our Games time roles) 12 months out from the start of the Games, so that we were able to confirm people into roles at an early stage. This also required us to develop a compelling communications and engagement plan to help us to retain and motivate those that we were employing in advance. For instance, we held four large-scale engagement events in February 2012 for all new recruits. We also sent out monthly engagement newsletters so that the new recruits knew what to expect month by month on the countdown to the Games. The focus here has been on recruitment for LOCOG direct employment; however, it is relevant to refer to the failure of G4S’s Games time recruitment plan. My personal assessment as to the major issue with their recruitment process was down to a fundamental breakdown in communications and engagement across their entire recruitment programme. The management information provided to us indicated that they sourced sufficient numbers at the start of the pipeline, but they failed to effectively manage them going through the various recruitment, training, screening and accreditation stages. Much of the post Games focus is being directed at venues, ongoing sport participation and economic legacy, but let’s not ignore what the recruitment sector can take away from the success of the Olympics recruitment programme.

Power Points Does your employer brand convey what it’s like to work for your organisation and what is expected of your new hires to be successful? Test this out with recent hires Wherever your organisation is based you should have a local employment proposition in your recruitment strategy, working in partnership with Jobcentre Plus and the local council’s job brokerage schemes Achieving diversity & inclusion in your recruitment plans doesn’t just happen — you need CEO support and clear, measurable plans across all strands of diversity Have a range of programmes to support youth. Apprenticeships are a great enabler; work with your local communities and public sector delivery partners

PAUL MODLEY IS FORMER HEAD OF RECRUITMENT AT LOCOG. HE WILL SPEAK AT RECRUITER’S SMART RESOURCING 2013 CONFERENCE, HEADLINE SPONSORED BY EPLOY, ON 28 FEBRUARY. VISIT WWW. SMARTRESOURCING2013.COM

Share your insight and blue-sky thinking. Contact the editor: deedee.doke@recruiter.co.uk

RECRUITER

JANUARY 2013

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11/01/2013 08:08

The Challenge

Vertex ﬁnds code breakers with Imagination Rajesh* ImaginationTechnologies

VERTEX SOLUTIONS ORGANISED AN ASSESSMENT DAY FOR IMAGINATION TECHNOLOGIES TO FIND THE ‘RARE ANIMAL’ THAT IS A TEST DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER

THE CHALLENGE In the hi-tech world of IT multimedia and communications technologies, the role of the test development engineer requires a unique — thus rare — combination of skills. Filling four of these positions was proving problematic to say the least for global software ﬁrm Imagination Technologies, which provides IT solutions for mobiles phones, tablets, networks and electronic companies. Rajesh*, software and QA [quality assurance] manager at Imagination, had been on the lookout for the roles for several months. “As we keep on growing, we’re always on the lookout for fresh engineering talent,” he told Recruiter. He explained that test development engineers needed to be better or at least equal to the person who wrote the code in the ﬁrst place and then be able to think outside the box to break the code. “They need to be ahead of the curve to test the code, to look at the product and ask ‘what if this happens?’’,” he said. He added that suitable candidates needed to be “devious enough” to think in this manner.

“Recruitment needs to evolve otherwise we’ll be taken out of the equation” MARK BEARD

North London recruitment consultancy Vertex Solutions was one of the agencies on Imagination’s preferred suppliers list (PSL), specialising in recruiting niche, high-end positions. Managing director Mark Beard told Recruiter that as part of the PSL, Vertex had been involved in looking for candidates for the roles. “What Rajesh wanted were design/development engineering skills in the test space — almost programmers but happy doing QA work. A rare animal,” he added. In the industry QA work is often seen, erroneously in Beard’s view, as a lesser career path. “We needed to get through to candidates who actually saw through this perception,” he said. “We would not be fulﬁlling our role as a partner if we had walked away from this difﬁcult assignment.” Imagination’s account manager Aaron Stevens and his team decided that the problem wasn’t being solved by the usual PSL path. Beard emphasised the scarcity of such candidates. The ability to write software and get into people’s codes takes a certain psychology, Beard added. Direct advertising wasn’t getting the importance of the role across. “We needed to change our approach,” Stevens explained.

THE SOLUTION Even when Vertex found suitable candidates, the long time-to-hire aspect meant that they were losing them to other companies. Vertex pitched the concept of an assessment day

Key Lessons Both Mark Beard and Imagination’s Rajesh said that the format of the assessment day made it a very long day. Rajesh said Imagination could have provided the test codes beforehand, and Beard agreed: “We could still have achieved the same results if it was condensed into a shorter day”

to Rajesh, who seemed to like the idea. Vertex had been working with Imagination for about 15 years and Rajesh had personally worked with the recruiter for ﬁve years, so he trusted Vertex to come up with a suitable qualiﬁed shortlist for the day. So Vertex used its executive search methodology to generate more than 30 candidates. This was then honed down to an ideal candidate shortlist of 10 through detailed technical screenings and software programming tests. Rajesh and two colleagues joined Stevens and his team at the assessment day, which began at 8am. Following presentations about the day by Stevens, and the future of Imagination Technologies and where it was heading given by Rajesh, the candidates sat down together with a number of technical assignments, devised by Imagination, which involved

Mark Beard Vertex Solutions

reviewing code and problem solving. Rajesh said the tests were designed to give the candidates a problem and see how they solved it. “We were looking for the process, not necessarily the right answer,” he explained. “We looked for the logical approach in the breakdown — did they ask the right questions or have the openness to start all over again?” As well as the tests, candidates were shown around Imagination’s ‘gadget room’, which “increased their enthusiasm” about their future work, Beard pointed out. Eight of the candidates went through to the afternoon, where they had a face-to-face interview and looked through everyone’s solutions to stimulate a lively discussion. At the end of a long day, by 7pm Rajesh had chosen four of the candidates. Two of the others were passed on to other hiring managers. Rajesh told Recruiter: “We’re trying to make a good hire — not just close a position. We try and put in place a career development plan for candidates when they’re offered a role and see how can we use a candidate elsewhere in the business.” The process was deemed such a success that Vertex is already offering an assessment day as a service to more of its clients. The recruitment landscape has shifted dramatically, Beard explained. Clients need different solutions, he said, concluding: “Recruitment needs to evolve otherwise we’ll be taken out of the equation.” * Imagination Technologies does not give the surname of employees as company policy

Would you like to be involved in The Challenge? Contact Vanessa Townsend at vanessa.townsend@recruiter.co.uk

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Profile

Oliver James Associates COLIN COTTELL MET THE DIRECTORS OF RECRUITER’S TOP-RANKED FAST 50 COMPANY With financial services enjoying a torrid time in recent years, you might not expect the top-ranked company in this year’s Recruiter FAST 50 — the 50 fastest-growing private staffing companies in the UK, produced in association with mergers & acquisitions advisers Boxington Corporate Finance — to be a specialist in this sector. Yet remarkably, that is where Oliver James Associates (OJA) finds itself following a stellar performance in 2011, which saw its revenue more then double to £36m. Meeting OJA’s three founding directors — Oliver Castle, Nick Godson and James Rogers — in a fashionable Manchester restaurant before Christmas, it’s easy to wonder how it is that a company operating in this hard-hit sector, and especially one that didn’t even appear in last year’s FAST 50, is now top of the pile. Within a few minutes it’s obvious that anyone looking for a magic formula for rapid growth is likely to be disappointed. If anything, the firm’s success is testament to those old-fashioned virtues of patience, long-term thinking and careful planning. Indeed, Castle notes: “It’s an irony that we are in the FAST 50 and that we have grown so rapidly because we are anything but gamblers….” As with many recruiters, OJA’s origins lie within the founders’ conviction that they could do things better. “I felt that insurance was a marketplace where you had some of the world’s largest firms but they constantly struggled to fill vacancies because no one was able to provide them with quality candidates,” says Castle, who previously worked as a senior consultant at accountancy recruiter FSS. Spotting the opportunity in the market, Castle jumped ship, joining up with Rogers and Godson to establish OJA in 2002. Originally focusing on supplying insurance firms with “high quality accountancy candidates”, Godson says OJA was able to take advantage of competitors’ “relative neglect” of their insurance clients in putting forward candidates with banking rather than insurance backgrounds. “It is a simple strategy and it worked,” says Castle. So much so indeed, that within two years the firm had begun to move into other areas of insurance, such as actuarial, risk and compliance. In recent years the firm has expanded into banking, hedge funds and asset management, and expanded internationally, establishing offices in Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Ireland. In 2011 it recorded revenues of £36.4m, more than double the £17.6m in 2010. In the same period average headcount increased from 45 to 74, and it has since risen to 93. This is set to grow further with the company “probably looking to treble it UK headcount”, according to Castle. OJA’s clients are a veritable Who’s Who of financial services including industry stalwarts, such as Swiss Re, Invesco, Aviva, HSBC and Goldman Sachs.

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Despite its expansion into other areas of financial services, insurance remains the bedrock of the business, accounting for 80-85% of revenue, while revenue from overseas operations amounted to just over £1m in 2011. While growth has gathered pace, the directors are keen to explain that far from being frenetic it has always been controlled, measured and planned. It is very much a step-by-step approach, explains Castle. “We have always concentrated on having super successful teams within a set discipline before trying to take on a new discipline,” he says. “We like to concentrate on one thing at a time, and not to get too greedy, really,” adds Rogers, explaining that having opened in Hong Kong in late 2011 the firm will only move into a further new geographical area once that office is profitable. It has also been integral to the firm’s success, notes Godson, that despite the downturn in financial services, it has continued to specialise in areas where skills are in high demand and candidates in short supply. “Everything that we recruit for is very awkward; if it was easy everyone would be able to do it,” he adds with some relish. He says the firm’s consultants have taken advantage of this by focusing on candidate generation, targeting only the top 10-20% of candidates. As the conversation continues, Castle points to the depth of specialist knowledge in OJA’s core market of insurance with 81 consultants working in this sector alone. By comparison, he says “a search firm might have one or two”. But perhaps what is most striking about OJA is its focus on the long term. This is apparent, for example, in the firm’s emphasis on building and sustaining longterm relationships with candidates and clients. “It is not like we have reinvented the wheel,” explains Godson. Be that as it may, but as Godson himself points out it is those relationships built up over, in many cases, five or six years that are now bearing fruit, with many consultants effectively managing the careers of financial services professionals. Similarly, many candidates who OJA placed earlier in their careers are now clients. This emphasis is also apparent in the directors’ recognition that becoming a fully-fledged vertical market specialist is not something that can be rushed, but can take one to two years. “It’s about not putting a timescale on consultants that they have six months to bring in this amount of money. We realise the need

SECRET OF SUCCESS “I want to be known as a company where people enjoy their work, not a hireand-ﬁre business. It is important they stay with us so they are developed into successful business people in their own right” James Rogers

CV OLIVER CASTLE 2002 — present Oliver James Associates, director and co-founder

1999-2002 FSS, senior consultant

1998-1999 David Chorley Associates, consultant

NICK GODSON 2002 — present OJA, director and co-founder Previously worked at Deloitte as a chartered accountant

JAMES ROGERS 2002 — present OJA, director and co-founder

2001-02 CRM — e-Business, head of contract

1997-2001 NICK GODSON’S PHILOSOPHY:

IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMAIN PROFITABLE AND TO MAINTAIN THE SAME QUALITY, AND IF YOU ACHIEVE THOSE TWO THINGS SUCCESS WILL FOLLOW

Progressive Recruitment, senior consultant and manager

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10/01/2013 12:37

PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD HANSON

Profile

The directors of Oliver James Associates, from left to right: Oliver Castle, James Rogers and Nick Godson

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Profile

to understand the market, our clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cultures and our candidates, and that takes time.â&#x20AC;? Similarly, Castle says there is recognition that it will take about 18 months from inception before they can expect to see a return from the Hong Kong ofďŹ ce, while in the saturated market of investment banking it will take â&#x20AC;&#x153;two to three years to break down the doorsâ&#x20AC;?. The approach also extends to whom the ďŹ rm hires. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We want to take on board those people who realise that you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be up and running and making money in three to six months.â&#x20AC;? If any further evidence of OJAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long-term approach is needed it comes from the ďŹ rmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response to the downturn in ďŹ nancial services, which began in 2007. Far from cutting back, the ďŹ rm has done â&#x20AC;&#x153;the polar oppositeâ&#x20AC;? says Castle, by moving into retail, and investment banking and asset management. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have always had a long-term vision, we are not interested in short-term goals, but are looking to be in the market for a considerable time,â&#x20AC;? he adds. The three directors have clearly been the driving force behind the company, with Castle and Rogers being next-door neighbours as children going back a long way, also spending years working together building strong bonds of trust. But that said all three are keen to highlight that it is the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consultants and not themselves that are integral to the ďŹ rmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success. For Godson, it all starts with selection. As he points out â&#x20AC;&#x153;from the outsetâ&#x20AC;? OJA has insisted on bringing on board only those that are â&#x20AC;&#x153;a cut above the rest of their peer groupâ&#x20AC;?, who have ďŹ rmly decided that recruitment

KEY FACTS 2002 Oliver James Associates founded 2011 Opens in Hong Kong FINANCIALS

2010 ÂŁ17.6m turnover, 45 staff, ÂŁ1.51m proďŹ t before tax 2011 ÂŁ36.4m turnover, 74 staff, ÂŁ2.61m proďŹ t before tax 2012* ÂŁ45m turnover * Projected

is their career. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is a very steady approach, not just putting a lot of bums on seats, or recruiting a lot of graduates and seeing who succeeds,â&#x20AC;? he adds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The important thing is that the directors donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sit in glass houses,â&#x20AC;? says Castle. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We make ourselves very available so the consultants can learn directly from us and from our experiences, and this also helps us gain their trust and loyalty,â&#x20AC;? adds Godson. Rogers stresses the importance of recognising that each consultant is different, each with their individual strengths and weaknesses. And he pinpoints how giving everyone in the company a voice has contributed to the ďŹ rmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We speak to everyone in the business; it is not about us making decisions, it is about everybody making decisions,â&#x20AC;? he says, citing how OJAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s move into Hong Kong was triggered by the desire of one consultant, Jonny Plews, to work in Asia. Castle agrees that the downturn in ďŹ nancial services has made things â&#x20AC;&#x153;remarkably toughâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No doubt about it everybody has been a little less successful than we would have expected,â&#x20AC;? he says. However, he adds: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thankfully we have very strong foundations based on staff that have been there for many years. This has created a huge amount of loyalty and trust, so we have been able to look at solutions rather than accept the problems in the market, and try to up our performance.â&#x20AC;? While loyalty, trust and working harder may not be the trendiest business buzz words around, OJAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s achievement in topping this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s FAST 50 despite tough conditions suggest that such old-fashioned virtues are still hard to beat.

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Recruiter FAST 50 2013

Defying all expectations

COMPILED BY

his year’s Recruiter FAST 50 rankings are testament to the recruitment sector’s unrivalled ability to defy the underlying economic conditions. While the UK and much of the world economy at best bumped along the bottom, these UK recruiters showed they had what it takes not only to grow, but more impressively still to do so at a faster rate than those companies in the Recruiter FAST 50 12 months ago.

While the traditional view is that the prosperity of the recruitment sector is linked to that of the wider economy and the economic cycle, these 50 recruiters successfully managed to challenge the validity of this relationship, growing their revenue by 39% on average, compared with 26% last year.

Outperforming the economy Recruiter’s FAST 50, produced in association with mergers & acquisitions advisers Boxington Corporate Finance, ranks the fastest-growing private recruitment businesses in the UK (see Methodology box, below). Tim Evans,

RECRUITERS APPEARING IN AT LEAST THREE CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF THE FAST 50 RANK

2011 RANKING

COMPANY

SECTOR

9 16 30 32 33 38 40

31 12 37 45 30 19 6

ID Medical Fircroft Engineering Services Henderson Scott Red Commerce Recruit 121 International Whitehall Resources Global Medics

Healthcare Oil & gas IT, Finance IT (SAP) IT (SAP) IT (SAP) Healthcare

Seven of this year’s FAST 50 show that strong growth need not be a flash in the plan, but can be sustained, by appearing in the FAST 50 rankings for at least three consecutive years, of which one, IT (SAP) recruiter Red Commerce, managed five consecutive years. Mark Kingston, senior executive at Boxington Corporate Finance, who helped compile the FAST 50, says: “These businesses have clearly invested in systems, methodology and most importantly people to sustain very impressive growth over a three-year period of challenging recruitment markets … it’s a fantastic performance.” Boxington’s managing director, says that given the economic backdrop, “the overriding theme for the FAST 50 is defying expectations”. He tells Recruiter: “What we see is an overall growth rate of 39%, which is up by about 50% on last year.” And reflecting on the overall performance of this year’s FAST 50, Evans continues: “It is a reminder that recruitment is a sector that performs

METHODOLOGY The Recruiter FAST 50 prepared by Boxington Corporate Finance lists the fastest-growing private recruitment businesses in the UK according to compound annual sales growth rate as measured over each entrant’s most recent three-year ﬁnancial reporting period.

CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION: The FAST 50 assesses temporary and/or permanent recruitment companies which are registered in the UK as private, independent and unquoted companies. This category includes private companies that are co-owned by Private Equity. All companies considered for inclusion must achieve a level of annual sales of £5m or above in each of their last three financial years. EXCLUSIONS: Companies that have filed abbreviated accounts at Companies House without disclosing audited sales are excluded from the FAST 50 due to the absence of independently validated sales. Unaudited management accounts are not accepted as proof of sales. Companies that serve the recruitment sector through the provision of IT, payroll, administrative or other services also do not quality. DATA COLLECTION METHODS: Qualifying companies are automatically identified through several research methods including the analysis of sector information from Companies House, financial databases, press coverage and other research. Entry submissions are not therefore required, although any firm which believes that it may not be automatically assessed in the 2014 FAST 50 is invited to contact Boxington Corporate Finance. Please email fast50@ boxington.co.uk

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better than most industry sectors, and certainly above the economy, which has been broadly ﬂat in the same period.” Indeed, he adds: “Of the ﬁve FAST 50 lists to date, this is one of the highest growth rates, and given the economic backdrop could be the most exceptional.”

Sustaining growth This year’s FAST 50 also illustrates the enduring strength of a number of established players to prosper even in the most trying circumstances for the UK and parts of the global economy. A total of seven recruiters have managed to sustain their growth over three consecutive years or more, indicating that fast growth need not necessarily be a one-off phenomenon (see box above). Pride of place must go to IT (SAP) recruiter Red Commerce, which appears in the list for the fifth consecutive year. “Combining growth and consistency — that is the Holy Grail,” adds Evans, who praises Red Commerce’s performance as “super exceptional”. Evans says that at 23, the number of recruiters remaining in the FAST 50 from the previous year “has probably never been higher”. In 2012, the figure was 18, in 2011 it was 17 and in 2010 it was 20. Evans says that the most prominent illustration of the sector’s ability to defy expectations is provided by the strong representation of financial services recruiters.

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Recruiter FAST 50 2013

CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS? THE ENTRANTS IN THIS YEAR’S FAST 50 HAVE PROVED TO THE REST OF THE UK’S INDUSTRIES THAT AMBITION, DRIVE AND LONG-TERM THINKING ARE KEY FACTORS IN OUTPERFORMING THE REST OF THE ECONOMY. COLIN COTTELL REPORTS

Despite financial services going through a torrid time in recent years, the number of financial services recruiters has risen from two to six, or 12% of the total. And most impressively, it is niche financial services recruiter, and new entrant to boot, Oliver James Associates that sits proudly at the top of this year’s rankings after more than doubling its revenue to £36.4m in 2011, from £17.6m in 2010 (for more on Oliver James Associates, see Profile, pp28-30). “What this means is that many more established players are finding themselves better positioned to drive growth,” says Evans, who contends by way of explanation that both the client and candidate are seeking “the reassurance factor by going with more established players”. Evans continues: “People are playing safe, I think, and some of the more established players have benefited from that.”

Tougher to enter The flip side, according to Evans, is that it “appears to be harder for new entrants to make it into the FAST 50”. This is surprising, he adds, pointing out that this is different to previous years. However, he suggests that it could be explained in part by the lower levels of capital available to fund new enterprises. While the number of new entrants compared with a year ago has fallen from 32 to 27, Evans notes that the same phenomenon of established players gaining ground may be at work. As he points out many who have entered the table this year are not in fact “brand new entrants at all”, but are also sizeable “established players” who dropped out of the FAST 50 in 2011, having also been in the rankings in years previous to that. Evans points to the financial services sector as evidence for this, referring to recruiters, “many of who we already know”, including Astbury Marsden, Goodman Masson and Sheffield Haworth. “These are not the biggest businesses in the world,” says Evans, but “relative to the FAST 50”, he adds, “they are the more established and sizeable entrants”. Among other recruiters to fall into this

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FINANCE: 12% OF FAST 50 2013 MEMBERS FAST 50 2013 Rank Company 1 5 7 19 28 35

Oliver James Associates Astbury Marsden McGregor Boyall Associates Leathwaite Goodman Masson Shefﬁeld Haworth

Five out of the six recruiters (the exception being Goodman Masson) have an international footprint, with an ofﬁce in either Hong Kong or Singapore or in both

HEALTHCARE: 6% OF FAST 50 2013 MEMBERS FAST 50 2013 Rank Company 4 9 40

Pathology Group ID Medical Global Medics

Representation of healthcare recruiters in the FAST 50 has fallen by half to three compared with six in last year’s FAST 50

INDUSTRIAL, LOGISTICS AND CONSTRUCTION: 16% OF FAST 50 2013 MEMBERS FAST 50 2013 Rank Company 3 10 13 17 34 36 44 45

Ship Shape Resources Transline Resource Group Linear Recruitment Templine Assist Recruitment OSR Recruitment Extrastaff The Best Connection

Sustained growth is difﬁcult to achieve in one of the more fragmented sub-sectors of recruitment

‘returner group’ are Pathology Group, the top-ranked recruiter in the 2011 FAST 50, and oil & gas recruiter Fircroft Engineering Services (ranked 30th two years ago). Evans suggests that there is also a link between the size of companies in the FAST 50 and their growth strategy, with medium-sized ﬁrms and the larger enterprises taking a different approach. While the former have been able to take marketshare by retrenching to “safer domestic markets” the latter, notably NES Global Talent and Air Energi, have focused on international expansion. “The medium-sized ﬁrms have come back, the

larger ones have pushed forward,” he says in summary. It is notable that over a number of years both NES Global Talent and Air Energi have proved attractive to private equity, with both attracting new private equity backers in late 2012.

Organic growth Another noticeable change from previous years is that growth has been organic rather than by acquisition. Evans says this is symptomatic of a weak M&A market. “This is probably a more representative table of pure growth as it is less distorted by the impact of acquisitions,” he says.

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Recruiter FAST 50 2013

COMPILED BY

RANK

2012 RANKING

COMPANY

SECTOR

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

1 8 38 13 26 31 4 15 12 21 48 34 35 22 2 37 45 30 19 6 41 50 17 -

Oliver James Associates Head Resourcing Ship Shape Resources Pathology Group Astbury Marsden Brightwork McGregor Boyall Associates Cornwallis Elt ID Medical Transline Resource Group Cititec Bright Purple Resourcing Linear Recruitment Fusion People Kin-Tec Fircroft Engineering Services Templine E-Resourcing Leathwaite Redrock Consulting Encore Personnel Petroplan Faststream Shilton Sharpe Quarry Timothy James Consulting People Source Amoria Bond Goodman Masson NES Global Talent Henderson Scott Tangent International Red Commerce Recruit 121 International Assist Recruitment Shefﬁeld Haworth OSR Recruitment Carlton Resource Solutions Whitehall Resources Green Park Interim & Executive Search Global Medics Air Energi IT Skillﬁnder Dutton International Extrastaff The Best Connection Bailey Employment Services Kinetic Resource Solutions Group Investigo First Recruitment Group

Finance IT, change Construction Healthcare Banking & finance Multi-sector Finance Technology, change, operations Healthcare Industrial, driving, supply chain IT IT, finance Construction Multi-sector Oil & gas, energy, pharma Oil & gas Logistics, industrial IT, telecoms Executive search finance IT, telecoms Multi-sector Oil & gas Shipping, oil & gas, mining, logistics Legal Multi-sector IT, engineering IT, banking, oil & gas Finance Technical, engineering IT, finance ICT, telecoms, construction & design, legal IT (SAP) IT (SAP) Industrial, commercial Finance Commercial, industrial, hospitality, agriculture Multi-sector IT (SAP) Multi-sector Healthcare Oil & gas IT Multi-sector Driving, industrial Industrial, logistics Multi-sector Engineering, manufacturing, technical IT, change IT, change, finance Multi-sector

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Recruiter FAST 50 2013

COMPOUND ANNUAL GROWTH RATE %

LATEST YEAR

REVENUE £000S

WEBSITE

134.32% 127.21% 68.53% 58.15% 54.66% 54.61% 52.09% 51.45% 48.82% 46.24% 45.53% 45.27% 45.18% 41.00% 40.26% 40.14% 38.00% 37.42% 35.38% 34.70% 33.75% 33.55% 32.36% 31.68% 31.65% 31.05% 30.83% 30.26% 30.18% 30.12% 30.03% 29.48% 28.80% 28.70% 28.27% 27.90% 27.54% 27.36% 26.67% 26.40% 25.35% 25.29% 24.28% 24.10% 23.61% 23.55% 22.52% 21.96% 21.29% 21.28%

2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2011 2011 2012 2011 2011 2012 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2011 2011 2012 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2012 2011 2011 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2011 2011 2012 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2011 2011 2011

36.46 46.42 30.40 36.01 26.35 26.26 49.19 19.21 41.16 54.35 60.92 39.30 19.48 76.99 42.47 551.16 31.85 10.11 16.66 19.96 24.98 87.90 20.25 12.17 17.32 8.59 14.15 29.26 517.75 14.84 37.64 78.14 28.39 15.48 16.97 12.39 17.10 19.29 21.64 17.73 209.44 11.41 28.25 14.81 169.33 9.95 29.74 134.82 42.43 75.93

www.ojassociates.com www.headresourcing.com www.shipshaperesources.com www.pathologygroup.co.uk www.astburymarsden.com www.brightworkltd.com www.mcgregor-boyall.com www.cornwalliselt.com www.id-medical.com www.resource-transline.co.uk www.cititec.com www.brightpurple.co.uk www.linearrecruitment.co.uk www.fusionpeople.com www.kin-tec.com www.fircroft.com www.templinerecruitment.co.uk www.e-resourcing.co.uk www.leathwaite.com www.redrockconsulting.co.uk www.encorepersonnel.co.uk www.petroplan.com www.faststream.com www.ssq.com www.timothyjamesconsulting.com www.peoplesource.co.uk www.amoriabond.com www.goodmanmasson.com www.nesglobaltalent.com www.hscott.co.uk www.tanint.com www.redcommerce.com www.recruit121.com www.assist-recruitment.co.uk www.sheffieldhaworth.com www.osr-recruitment.co.uk www.carltonrs.com www.whitehallresources.co.uk www.green-park.co.uk www.globalmedics.com www.airenergi.com www.it-skillfinder.co.uk www.duttoninternational.com www.extrastaff.com www.thebestconnection.co.uk www.baileyemploy.co.uk www.kinetic-plc.co.uk www.rsg-plc.com www.investigo.co.uk www.firstrecruitmentgroup.com

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Recruiter FAST 50 2013

COMPILED BY

IT: 24% OF FAST 50 2013 MEMBERS FAST 50 2013 Rank Company 2 8 11 18 20 26 32 33 38 42 48 49

Head Resourcing Cornwallis Elt Cititec E-Resourcing Redrock Consulting People Source Red Commerce Recruit 121 International Whitehall Resources IT Skillﬁnder Resource Solutions Group Investigo

What stands out is the number of recruiters that provide staff with expertise in enterprise resource planning software (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft) — widely used in large organisations

While there have been a number of signiﬁcant changes in this year’s FAST 50, some things have remained broadly in line with previous years. This is the certainly the case when considering the split between niche and multi-sector recruiters, Evans contends. As he explains: “Across the FAST 50 growth has been realised by sector specialists to drive sales or by the multisector players, and as in most years, we continue to see growth from both approaches.” Evans notes that niche players tend to have higher growth rates than those companies that operate across a number of sectors, but again he says this “is consistent with most years”.

Public sector drop MULTI-SECTOR: 26% OF FAST 50 2013 MEMBERS FAST 50 2013 Rank Company 6 12 14 21 25 27 30 31 37 39 43 46 50

Brightwork Bright Purple Resourcing Fusion People Encore Personnel Timothy James Consulting Amoria Bond Henderson Scott Tangent International Carlton Resource Solutions Green Park Interim & Executive Search Dutton International Bailey Employment Services First Recruitment Group

There are true multi-sector recruiters, such as Bailey Employment Services, that covers a wide range of sectors and others, such as Amoria Bond, that focus on a small number

OIL & GAS, TECHNICAL AND ENGINEERING: 14% OF FAST 50 2013 MEMBERS FAST 50 2013 Rank Company 15 16 22 23 29 41

Kin-Tec Fircroft Engineering Services Petroplan Faststream NES Global Talent Air Energi

Kinetic

Oil & gas, technical and engineering continues to be a strong sector for recruiters in this year’s FAST 50 list

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Another aspect of this year’s FAST 50 that is unlikely to come as a surprise is the negligible number of public sector recruiters (with the notable exception of healthcare recruiters). This does not necessarily mean that public sector recruiters are struggling, Evans suggests, but more likely that with consolidation having taken place in the sector “the larger players are not generating the 40% growth rates needed to get into the FAST 50”. Looking ahead to next year’s FAST 50, Evans says that unless the economy improves, he expects to see more of the same. “No one knows for certain what will happen, but while the world continues the way it is, these trends will continue.” If Evans is right, then another year of recruiters defying expectations could be on the cards.

About Boxington: Boxington is a sell-side M&A house specialising in the international Human Capital & Recruitment sector and advising private and private equity owners of business with operating profits of £2-20m. www.boxington.co.uk

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