Training and development key to making the HOT 100

Around 70 recruiters from the UK’s most profitable staffing companies came together in London earlier this month to celebrate their success in achieving a place on Recruiter’s HOT 100 2012, sponsored by Microdec.
December 2012 | By Colin Cottell

Around 70 recruiters from the UK’s most profitable staffing companies came together in London earlier this month to celebrate their success in achieving a place on Recruiter’s HOT 100 2012, sponsored by Microdec.

The HOT 100, compiled by Agile Intelligence, ranks recruiters according to gross profit per employee, which is regarded as the definitive measure of productivity within the industry.

At the event, supported by law firm Charles Russell, Sue Dodd, director of Agile Intelligence and author of the HOT 100 report, told the audience: “You are the most productive recruiters in the UK, and that spells success.” She added that their achievement was “even more a cause for celebration in these tumultuous economic times”. 

After an introduction by DeeDee Doke, editor of Recruiter, who facilitated the event, guest speaker Charles Walker, Conservative MP for Broxbourne, a former director of recruitment agency Blue Arrow, praised the recruiters in the room. “You are clearly the cream,” he said.

Fellow guest speaker Robert Walton MBE, an entrepreneur in the hospitality sector, linked training to filling recruitment needs, and said hospitality and recruitment shared a common thread: “Service is the next thing in this country for all sectors of the economy.”

Afterwards, as recruiters mingled and networked, some of the HOT 100 representatives reflected on their achievement. 

Anton Round, sales director of Staffgroup, parent company of 21st-ranked Eurostaff Group, told Recruiter that the firm’s success in driving productivity as measured by gross profitability per employee was its agility “against a challenging backdrop”.

“We analyse the markets and listen to our clients, candidates and own teams, and incorporate the intelligence gathered into our flexible approach to build and grow teams. These teams then hit the ground running and start generating revenues quicker than most would expect.” 

He added that “bringing on board our first ever head of learning and development will prove invaluable”, leading to even higher revenues in the future.

Darren Ryemill, chief executive at IT recruiter Opus Recruitment Solutions (ranked 71), attributed the firm’s success both to the quality of its people and being in a fast-growing sector. He explained that since the firm opened for business in 2008, the company had always invested in training. 

“Even when we had only six people, we had a full-time training officer,” he said. This investment had led to “a natural return”, he said, adding: “If you invest in people they pay you back.” 

Simon Bartington, a senior consultant at engineering and technical recruiter CBSbutler (ranked 34), also pointed to investment in training. 

The firm’s three-month training programme “was linked to real job roles, real candidates and real clients”, he said. Another driver of the firm’s success was its share ownership scheme, with “wealth contributors” being eligible to have shares in the firm, said Bartington.

Ben Cowan, a director at banking and financial services recruiter Astbury Marsden (ranked 94), said a key factor was the company’s encouragement of entrepreneurialism. “It’s about allowing people to be business people in themselves, using their own business instincts and acumen and giving them the opportunity to play their part.” 

He said one example was two consultants who saw an opportunity to set up and run a new oil & gas desk, even though it was outside the firm’s core sectors and countries.  

Steve Carter, a board member at banking, finance, accountancy and professional recruiter Morgan McKinley (ranked 39), said the company “has a very strong leadership team focused on sourcing and nurturing the best talent that fits with our commitment to be an innovative global market leader in professional recruitment”.

“All of us are delighted to have this recognition from Recruiter for the quality of our business,” he added.

Boorman: Facebook passwords at interview fears a ‘storm in a teacup’

In the wake of concerns about employers asking job applicants for Facebook passwords at interview, social media guru and founder of #Tru events, Bill Boorman, tells Recruiter that such cases are still rare.

27 March 2012

headline 1

In March last year a major extension of the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) code of conduct came into force.

27 March 2012

Finnish cloud firm Hammerkit opens office and creates jobs in Liverpool_2

Finnish cloud firm Hammerkit opens office and creates jobs in Liverpool
20 January 2012

Independent help with bright ideas_2

With expansion a top priority, e2v needed to standardise its recruitment processes and turned to RPO experts Independent

25 January 2012
Top