Today, I'm excited to look at another of Access Group's products. 

This time, it's an automation platform called ELAY that was recently acquired by the Access Group based on its initial success in integrating well with Vincere and its customers.

 In this episode, I interviewed Mehdi Este, the founder and automation general manager, and Nick Beecroft, the head of new business for Access Recruitment. 

I've known Nick for a long time, but this is my first time meeting Mehdi. They are a really good duo. 

Mehdi tells us the back story of ELAY and explains how it automates processes within recruitment workflows, such as CRM automation, cold outreach emails, and chatbots.

Nick talks more from a client and industry perspective as to why you would want to put this into your operating system. Why automation, both in your CRM and on LinkedIn, will benefit a recruitment business of all sizes and scales

AI and automation are huge industry buzzwords right now.. I've talked about this frequently, and it can be overwhelming and scary. 

In this conversation, we aim to break it down into logical steps in a way that Recruitment leaders can understand 

Key Takeaways

• ELAY integrates with CRM systems and offers features such as CRM automation, cold outreach emails, and chatbots.
• AI and automation can help recruiters save time, improve efficiency, and nurture their database.
• ELAY can be used by recruitment agencies of all sizes, from one-man bands to large enterprises.

If you wish to learn more about AI and automation, then this episode is for you. Education and understanding are key to navigating the world of automation and AI in recruitment, and it's important to start with small steps and build from there.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the RAG podcast and ELAY

09:20 Automating Recruitment Workflows with ELAY

13:09 The Benefits of AI and Automation in Recruitment

25:33 Maximising LinkedIn with ELAY

27:25 Re-engaging with the Database and Remembering Ryan McCabe

28:23 Integration with Access Recruitment

29:17 Early Successes and Acquisition

36:20 Impact of Vincere’s Acquisition

37:15 Partnership and Synergy

40:06 Benefits of Integration

43:30 Future of Automation

48:34 Navigating Automation and AI

__________________________________________

Hoxo Message

Ready to find 25+ warm leads within seven days on LinkedIn?

As a recruiter, most of the working day is spent chasing people via cold outreach on LinkedIn.

This method is super time-consuming, and most people don’t reply because they simply don’t know or trust you.

But it can be different...

If you follow the process in this document, you will hack the LinkedIn Algorithm in just 15 minutes per day and drive warm leads whenever you want them.

A warm lead is a person who you can 100% guarantee knows who you are, and what you do and has shown interest in you and/or your services in the past 48 hours.

Over 5000 recruiters around the globe follow this process daily, and the results have been amazing!

You can have this, too!

Access the Hoxo 20:10:5 guide here: https://bit.ly/3PLjaJY

If you’d prefer to consume this information directly from our Co-Founder and CEO, Sean Anderson (the creator of 20:10:5), you can join our free training course now!

Get access to:

• 4 bite-sized training videos that can immediately help you boost your business on...

What really happened to Volcanic and why they are making huge progress under The Access Group.

On this week's show, I'm joined by Nick Thomson and Rachel Kirton from Access.

Nick is the GM of Access Recruitment, and Rachel Kirton is Senior Product Manager for Volcanic.

Volcanic is an iconic brand in our sector. 

Famous for SaaS recruitment websites, they were acquired by The Access Group in 2019.

Similar to the situation with Vincere, post acquisition, there’s been some noise in the market. 

It is no secret that the business has faced challenges, including team changes and the need to regain customer trust. 

On today’s show, I wanted to find out what actually happened and the future of Volcanic under the Access Group.

In the show we discuss:

• The reality of post-acquisition
• The vision to provide a complete end-to-end package of technology and services is crucial for recruitment websites
• New features including WhatApp and diversity and inclusion tracking and compliance
• Their strategy for creating good-looking, high-converting recruitment websites
• Inside the Recruitment Operating System (RecOS) which integrates various recruitment products and provides a seamless experience for customers. 

Nick and Rachel are incredibly open, candid and forthcoming in their opinions and what they're trying to achieve. 

So, if you're a Volcanic customer or you're thinking about upgrading your digital marketing and using their platform in the future, then this one's for you.

__________________________________________

Hoxo Message

Ready to find 25+ warm leads within seven days on LinkedIn?

As a recruiter, most of the working day is spent chasing people via cold outreach on LinkedIn.

This method is super time-consuming, and most people don’t reply because they simply don’t know or trust you.

But it can be different...

If you follow the process in this document, you will hack the LinkedIn Algorithm in just 15 minutes per day and drive warm leads whenever you want them.

A warm lead is a person who you can 100% guarantee knows who you are, and what you do and has shown interest in you and/or your services in the past 48 hours.

Over 5000 recruiters around the globe follow this process daily, and the results have been amazing!

You can have this, too!

Access the Hoxo 20:10:5 guide here: https://bit.ly/3PLjaJY

If you’d prefer to consume this information directly from our Co-Founder and CEO, Sean Anderson (the creator of 20:10:5), you can join our free training course now!

Get access to:

• 4 bite-sized training videos that can immediately help you boost your business on LinkedIn
• Exclusive access to Hoxo 20:10:5 warm leads tracking template

Free support from the Hoxo team to help you implement the process and get the results

This course is part of the hugely successful Personal Brand Bootcamp which has seen over 5000 recruiters graduate and drive millions of warm leads and £££ in revenue as a result!

Get free access to the course once you’ve downloaded our guide.

__________________________________________

Episode Sponsor: Vincere

Vincere’s portals are a quick-win solution for agencies in need of a no-code candidate and client portal. It’s your one-way ticket to attracting top-tier candidates and clients with everything they need in one place.

Easily set...

This week’s episode is a collaboration between RAG Podcast and Recruitment Mentors Podcast!

Hishem and I host two of the most well-known, highly-regarded podcasts in our sector. 

We started them at roughly the same time, and we even used to record them in the same Hoxo HQ studio!  

After sitting down together at the recent recruitment expo, we realised that we’ve released well over 500 recruitment episodes and interviewed/met 1000+ over this period

We thought it would be interesting to come together to discuss the five traits that we see in the most successful recruitment founders. 

You'll find that Hishem and I do agree on most areas, but we have slightly different views in certain areas too.

Hope you enjoy this special episode and do take notes!!

00:00 Introduction

09:03 Chapter 1: Creating a Business that Works for You

16:11 Chapter 2: The Power of Niche and Brand

33:30 Chapter 4: Building a Sales Culture

44:30 Getting Out of Your Own Way

56:44 Prioritising Personal Health and Well-being

__________________________________________

Episode sponsor: Untapped

Safe to say, last year was tricky for the recruitment sector globally. Many have had to operate through uncertain times, making tough calls and streamlining where possible.

However, accessing lower-cost resources internationally has proven to be the 2023 cheat code for business performance. But anyone who has tried it knows it’s not easy to get right. That’s where Untapped comes in. 

Untapped is one of the hottest companies in the market right now, helping agencies in the UK, US, Middle East and Australia transition to the new world, leverage elite remote individuals and even build whole offshore sourcing and recruiting teams. 

They source from the most exciting talent pools on the planet for recruitment staff and embed elite talent into your company to improve diversity, productivity and the cost of your teams. Your UK team will also love the help with some of the repetitive, time-consuming work that lands on their desk, improving their job satisfaction. 

They put around 3000 candidates per month through an intense 4-stage interview and online testing process to find the top 1% and secure these people roles in UK agencies doing research, marketing, finance, sourcing, end-to-end recruiting, coordination and account management. 

All candidates are benchmarked against UK competency frameworks and are tested for the highest level of communication and language skills.  

It’s a simple process: You pay a deposit to kick off the search, they provide a candidates shortlist in 14 days.  You can also put people through your own process and then hire perm or on a freelance basis, depending on your needs. They are totally transparent with salaries. Typically, your global talent will earn 30% more than their local benchmark, giving you high levels of motivation and work ethic, but you’ll still pay 70% less than a UK equivalent support. It’s a no-brainer to complement existing teams to handle surplus demand or to ease cost pressures. 

If you’re not using this time to rip up your business model and rebuild it with global resources, you are going to fall behind those that do. Due to demand and capacity restraints, they are operating a waiting list at the moment, so be quick to get in touch: www.tryuntapped.com

__________________________________________

Episode Sponsor: Hoxo 

Ready to find 25+ warm leads within 7 days on LinkedIn?

As a recruiter, most of the working day is spent chasing people via cold outreach on...

On today’s episode I was joined by Matthew Eames, the Founder and CEO of Eames Group, a global insurance and financial services recruitment agency with circa 140 people across UK, EU, Asia and now the USA

Matthew was a guest on The RAG in Feb 2019 and whilst the business was a similar size back then, things were very different. Most notably:

- Matt was not the CEO at the time and spent 50% of his time externally facing in business development and exec search

- The business operated 5 days a week in the office

- Matthew personally had a 3-hour daily commute

Now approaching the 20-year anniversary of the business, Matt is again the CEO and more excited about the growth journey than ever.

Whilst grand exit plans seem to be on the agenda for most owners in our industry, Matthew proves that you may enjoy the role too much to want to step away any time soon!

Vincere

If you're following Vincere on their LinkedIn page, you'll notice that they’ve been sharing stories from their customer community on a weekly basis.

If you're shopping for a CRM or wondering if there's something better out there. Check out Vincere. They have a library of customer stories from all sectors and recruitment types, perm, exec, contract and temp, available on Youtube: https://bit.ly/3wFYad3

District4

Do you feel like you’re not surrounded by peers and you’ve stopped learning? Imagine only working alongside other experienced recruiters who you can really collaborate with, while having the freedom to do work your way. If you’re thinking of a change, check out District4, where you can launch your own business and not be alone!

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo to see what they can do for you.

On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast I was joined by Jake, my little brother.

One of the most charismatic and successful guys I know (and annoyingly good-looking!)

We got into recruitment in Melbourne together in 2011.

Later in Sydney, Jake became a recruitment owner in his mid 20's, but in 2016 he sold his shares in TheDriveGroup.

He was building a great business but, for some reason, he wasn't happy.

He put this down to being 'home sick' and moved back to the UK.

In 2017 he launched One Life Social Media – a fast-growing 7-figure global digital marketing agency in the fitness industry.

With no experience in the industry, he built a business that operated in 20 countries with over 600 clients, helping them with customer acquisition and lead generation online.

He led a team of 20+ people too, all before the age of 30. 

Jake had all the extrinsic measures of success that society says we need to find fulfillment and happiness – wealth, status, validation from others, approval, a growing company, recognition, etc.

But something wasn't right.

Over the next 2 years, Jake’s life completely changed forever.

He suffered the most severe anxiety and depression I have ever witnessed. Due to this, the pandemic, and realising he simply wasn’t happy and needed to change, Jake closed down his second business. 

I have watched him focus on recovering and embark on a journey of reconnecting to his mind, body, soul, health, consciousness, relationships, and life.

I am so happy and proud to say that now he is a completely different person from two years ago.

He is happy, healthy and present.

Jake is now dedicating his life to helping other high performers who are suffering from the same issues of burnout, anxiety, and depression.

I am going to warn you that this is an extremely raw account directly from Jake.

He talks about the pain he suffered.

How he even had suicidal thoughts (this breaks my heart.)

But it’s all true and I feel like the future is bright.

If you would like to speak to Jake about his story or his coaching services then you can contact him directly on Linkedin here or via his website www.onelifemindsetcoaching.com

Recorded during Mental Health Awareness week. If this helps just one person in any way then I know Jake and I will be delighted!

Sponsor: 

Looking for a way to grow your recruitment business in 2022? Talent Ticker is here to help.

More than 300 recruitment agencies are using Talent Ticker to automate their recruiters’ most monotonous tasks, help them predict who will be hiring 3 months in advance, and provide simple tools to identify ideal passive and active candidates to pitch for open roles.

Learn more at get.talentticker.ai/hoxo and take advantage of their special offer for our listeners.

On this episode of The RAG Podcast I was joined by Joshua Rayner, the Founder & CEO of Rayner Personnel, a specialist in UK Property Recruitment.

I originally interviewed Josh in February of 2019 in my first Hoxo office in London.

At the time, Josh had a team of 13 who were all operating as franchisees. This involved buying into the business and scaling a branch of RP in their specific geographical area of the UK.

In the first year, this approach appeared to be working (listen to the first episode for more on that!).

But in late 2019, it was clear that he had the wrong model and the wrong people.

As the pandemic began, Josh made the bold decision to release all but one of the franchisees and start again.

He redesigned his business model whilst at home and went out on a mission to grow.

Since then, he has built a team of 20 self-employed licensees, making a small change to the old model with huge benefits for Josh and his people.

In 2021, he wrote a book about his journey as a serial recruitment agency owner - The Recruitment Rollercoaster is available via Amazon and is a current best seller! All the proceeds from sales go to Mind Charity.

A really interesting story with a unique approach to scaling a recruitment firm!

The RAG sponsors

Vincere:

Vincere have refreshed their homepage! They’ve redesigned their look and feel to incorporate the full universe of tools in their stable. Vincere’s platform has evolved so much over the past year that their website and branding needed to catch up. The new visuals are a clear reference to the solar system, with the Vincere CRM/ATS at the core and all their other modules working in harmony around it. Go check it out at https://www.vincere.io/ -

If you’d like to request a demo, follow this link https://www.vincere.io/rag - they’ve got an exclusive deal for RAG listeners!

District4:

Do you feel like you’re not surrounded by peers and you’ve stopped learning? Imagine only working alongside other experienced recruiters who you can really collaborate with, while having the freedom to do work your way. If you’re thinking of a change, check out District4, where you can launch your own business and not be alone!

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo to see what they can do for you.

On this week's episode, I was joined by Dan Taylor, MD of Morgan Hunt, a UK Public Sector specialist agency with 150 staff.

Dan started at Hays in 1996 and has worked his way through many positions in his 26-year career.

In 2018 he became MD of Morgan Hunt and has been on a journey to change the business for the better.

Dan shares his unique insights into leading a large recruitment agency on a daily basis and how he never actually considered starting his own agency.

His reason - he wanted to work at scale from day 1 and this is rarely possible with a start-up business.

A genuine, warm, and inspiring story from someone who shines positivity onto our sector.

On this episode of The RAG Podcast, I was joined by Emrah Baykal, the Founder & CEO of RO, a specialist energy-focused recruitment agency. The agency is based in London & Houston with 10 staff, and is part of the Tempting Ventures Group of over 80 recruiters.

Emrah is the first to admit that in the early days of his recruitment career, he loved a billers’ lunch or two.

In the first couple of years as owner of RO, he would find any excuse to take his team out for drinks (mainly because he fancied one!).

However, his attitude to all of this changed during the pandemic, as he began to exercise daily with a colleague.

Emrah began running and weightlifting and taking his nutrition more seriously. He began to develop better habits and in turn feel much healthier for it.

Since then, he has implemented some amazing ideas to ensure his own team follows suit and adopts a healthy lifestyle!

This was a great episode and one for any owner who is seriously thinking about changing their own lifestyle and the culture within their business!

The RAG sponsors

Vincere:

Vincere refreshed their homepage - galaxy/Nasa space vibes theme.

Vincere’s platform has evolved so much over the past year and their website, new modules, and branding needed to reflect that.

They've refreshed their visuals and the product diagram. What you see is a reference to the solar system. With Vincere CRM/ATS as the core and all the other modules working in harmony around it - just like nature intended.

Go check it out: https://www.vincere.io/

If you’d like to request a demo, follow this link https://www.vincere.io/rag - they’ve got an exclusive deal for RAG listeners.

District4:

Do you feel like you’re not surrounded by peers and you’ve stopped learning? Imagine only working alongside other experienced recruiters who you can really collaborate with while having the freedom to do it your way. If you’re thinking of a change, check out District4, where you can launch your own business and not be alone!

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo to see what they can do for you.

Launched in the middle of 2017, the business is almost 4.5 yrs old and has grown extremely well in that period.

In this episode Chris shares the story of why he decided to build a rec agency that gives 5% of operating profit to charity and the impact of having such a clear and powerful mission.

Across the industry, attracting internal talent is arguably the most difficult thing right now. Hiring strong recruiters will allow any agency to capitalise on the crazy opportunity in the market today

SR2 have been hugely successful in attracting experienced talent and believe their brand is the secret weapon!

The RAG sponsor

Looking for ways to stay ahead of your competition in 2022? Talent Ticker is here to help.

Through the end of this month, any Hoxo listeners who request a demo of Talent Ticker will receive a free, personalised list of leads to help them get a jump on the rest of the year. 

Talent Ticker is the world’s first recruitment intelligence platform, providing you with accurate contact information for passive candidates and matching them with companies looking to hire them.

What is unique to Talent Ticker is that they predict when a company will be hiring whilst giving you the projected hiring roles and contact info for the hiring managers.   

Any recruiter who uses this tool will be calling the right person, at the right time and for the right reason. Don't wait. Head over to get.talentticker.ai/hoxo/ and claim your free leads today.

On this episode of The RAG Podcast, I was joined by Ed Stevens, the Founder of 94 Group, a specialist group of recruitment agencies in London with 50 staff.

This isn’t the first time Ed has built up a successful recruitment business. He launched, grew, and sold his shares in Eximius Group over 8 years between 2008 and 2016.

Ed is honestly one of the most impressive recruitment owners I have ever met.

His approach to growing this business is crystal clear:

He is the ONLY shareholder and ONLY person with recruitment experience.

The result is a genuine opportunity for hyper-fast career growth and equity for his business and the people that work in it. 

If you have aspirations of growing a future or current recruitment company, you NEED to tune in to this one!

The RAG sponsors

Vincere:

If you're a recruiter looking to switch careers and move to Tech, this is your chance. Vincere is hiring for a variety of roles across all their offices. There are opportunities to join their Sales, Customer Success and Implementation teams. Learn more about Vincere on their LinkedIn or Instagram for behind-the-scenes updates. Their careers page is here: https://careers.vincere-digital.io/join-the-team

District4:

Do you feel like you’re not surrounded by peers and you’ve stopped learning? Imagine only working alongside other experienced recruiters who you can really collaborate with while having the freedom to do it your way. If you’re thinking of a change, check out District4 where you can launch your own business and not be alone!

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo  to see what they can do for you.

This week's episode was one that I wanted to have but was also really nervous about. It is without a doubt the most emotional and heartbreaking conversation I have ever recorded.

I was joined by Liam Thomas, the Founder of Highfield Professional Solutions & Data X Connect, a specialist recruitment agency headquartered on the South Coast of England with 45 staff.

Liam launched the business with his mate and business partner, Sam Hughes, 15 years ago when they were both 25 and fearless!

A classic recruitment founder story.

But in 2014, when the business was well-established and growing, Sam was diagnosed with Stage 4 Bowel Cancer. The diagnosis changed everything for them.

Over the next 7 years, Sam battled everything that came his way and the business continued to grow. Liam admits he was in denial and always believed his partner and friend would be back to work full time again one day.

In September 2021, Sam lost his life after an incredible fight.

In this episode Liam talks about it all: when they started the business, coping with the diagnosis,  and dealing with the reality of losing Sam.

There were tears shed during the recording and I hope it moves you as much as it moved me.

I am so proud of Liam for speaking about this and I am sure you will be too.

The RAG sponsors

District4

Do you feel like you’re not surrounded by peers and you’ve stopped learning? Imagine only working alongside other experienced recruiters who you can really collaborate with while having the freedom to do it your way. If you’re thinking of a change, check out District4 where you can launch your own business and not be alone!

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo for more info

Vincere

Vincere.io published a playbook, like a buyers guide, for those shopping around for a new system. Inside you will find:

- ROI-driven strategy to building out a comprehensive feature checklist

- How to assemble an effective CRM evaluation team

- Battle-tested compliance & security vendor scorecards

- Understanding inclusion versus integration

- Power plays & frameworks for vendor due diligence

Download here:  https://bit.ly/3C2G1s3

Go to www.vincere.io/rag  to book a demo - RAG listeners get an exclusive deal!

On today’s episode of The RAG Podcast I was joined by Adrian Carboni, the founder and CEO of Masento, a specialist technology recruitment agency in London.

Adrian launched Masento 5 years ago after a 15-year career with his previous employer! 

From being one of the top billers in the company to leading the most profitable division, Adrian was granted shares in the business that were projected to yield life-changing returns.

In this episode, Adrian talks at length about the reasons for walking away from the business and what he has learned from 5 years of leading a growing recruitment agency.

Honest, humble, and always adding humour, it's no surprise that Adrian and his team are onto something special!

The RAG sponsors

Vincere:

Nailing your CRM tech strategy Playbook

Vincere published a playbook, like a buyers guide, for those shopping around for a new system. 

Inside you will find:

• ROI-driven strategy to building out a comprehensive feature checklist
• How to assemble an effective CRM evaluation team
• Battle-tested compliance & security vendor scorecards
• Understanding inclusion versus integration
• Power plays & frameworks for vendor due diligence

Download here:  https://bit.ly/3C2G1s3

Go to www.vincere.io/rag to book a demo - RAG listeners get an exclusive deal!

District 4

Do you feel like you’re not surrounded by peers and you’ve stopped learning? Imagine only working alongside other experienced recruiters who you can really collaborate with while having the freedom to do it your way. If you’re thinking of a change check out District4 where you can launch your own business and not be alone!

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo  to see what they can do for you.

In this week's episode, I’m excited to be joined by Spencer Knibbe, the Founder of MBK Search.

Headquartered in NYC, the business now has 13 staff and has just opened its UK operation in 2022, intending to expand into APAC next year.

As a listener of the show, Spencer and I connected recently and I was blown away by his story!

Spencer never worked in recruitment for anyone else. After a successful career as the Head of Risk for a number of investment management powerhouses like Bridgewater and ICAP, he decided to go alone and launch his own advisory practice.

Within 12 months he noticed each client wanted to hire him to run their practice and he was instead finding them other candidates to fill the mandate. It was then that the idea for MBK Search was born.

MBK’s story is unique in many ways, and it is one of the first US firms I know that have moved to the UK to expand  – it’s typically the other way around :)

Spencer is a humble, motivated and honest guy. Anyone looking to hire people from within the industry and convert to recruitment NEEDS to listen to this episode! 

Enjoy!

The RAG sponsor

It’s no secret that recruiters are notoriously time-poor, with highly demanding goals they must achieve to be successful. 

Talent Ticker was specifically designed to help recruiters get ahead of their most time-intensive tasks like sourcing and prospecting, by providing them with:

• Powerful predictive intelligence;
• A candidate database of more than 600 million profiles;
• And integrations with popular recruitment tools.

Any recruiter who uses this tool will be calling the right person, at the right time and for the right reason.

Request a demo at TalentTicker.ai and mention Hoxo for a free personalised leads list of candidates or hiring managers.

I'm excited to be joined again by Lysha Holmes. Lysha is the founder of Qui Recruitment, a specialist Rec2Rec based in Manchester. 

Someone I've worked with since the pandemic who's now built a 100% inbound business. 

She went from being an amazing recruiter with incredible integrity who would only represent the best recruiters in the Northwest to carrying on that and building an online brand that is seen by thousands of people every single day!

She now sources all candidates via 100% inbound enquiries on LinkedIn and traditional offline inbound business referrals.

She explains why:

1. She does not use LinkedIn recruiter!
2. She doesn't send any outbound emails
3. She doesn’t send any outbound inMails or text messages 

In this episode, we unpack how she's done it. 

We also look at the reality of the Rec2Rec space right now. 

• What is going on for leadership roles in recruitment? 
• Are people hiring? 
• Are people moving? 

We talk about the lot. So, take notes.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the RAG podcast and guest Lysha Holmes

07:24 Adopting a Consistent and Authentic Approach

13:28 The Importance of Trust and Consistency in Branding

27:14 Sponsor Message: Vincere's Time Temp Solution

41:18 Building Foundational Skills in Recruitment and Balancing Short-Term and Long-Term Goals

__________________________________________

Hoxo Message

Ready to find 25+ warm leads within seven days on LinkedIn?

As a recruiter, most of the working day is spent chasing people via cold outreach on LinkedIn.

This method is super time-consuming, and most people don’t reply because they simply don’t know or trust you.

But it can be different...

If you follow the process in this document you will hack the LinkedIn Algorithm in just 15 minutes per day and drive warm leads whenever you want them.

A warm lead is a person who you can 100% guarantee knows who you are, and what you do and has shown interest in you and/or your services in the past 48 hours.

Over 5000 recruiters around the globe are following this process daily and the results have been amazing!

You can have this too!

Access the Hoxo 20:10:5 guide here: https://bit.ly/3PLjaJY

If you’d prefer to consume this information directly from our Co-Founder & CEO Sean Anderson (The creator of 20:10:5), you can join our free training course now!

Get access to:

• 4 bite-sized training videos that can immediately help you boost your business on LinkedIn
• Exclusive access to Hoxo 20:10:5 warm leads tracking template
• Free support from the Hoxo team to help you implement the process and get the results

This course is part of the hugely successful Personal Brand Bootcamp which has seen over 5000 recruiters graduate and drive millions of warm leads and £££ in revenue as a result!

Get free access to the course once you’ve downloaded our guide.

__________________________________________

Episode Sponsor: Vincere

Vincere’s portals are a quick-win solution for agencies in need of a no-code candidate and client portal. It’s your one-way ticket to attracting top-tier candidates and clients with everything they need in one place.

Easily set up your candidate, client, and job portal straight within your Vincere account and

configure it to your own brand and theme so it feels like you.

You can publish jobs from Vincere’s Job Portal and...

On a special episode of The RAG Podcast this week, I am joined by fellow Recruitment Podcast Host - Lysha Holmes!

Lysha is a great friend of Hoxo and myself and we were deeply saddened to hear the news of her father passing away to cancer in October last year! He was diagnosed at such a late stage that the family did not get the time with him that they would have wanted.

On 29th April this year, a small group of us will be raising awareness and money for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund - visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/quirecruitmenthoxorammytohale2022 to find out more!

The RAG sponsors

Vincere:

Nailing your CRM tech strategy Playbook

We've just published a brand new playbook, like a buyers guide, for those shopping around for a new system. Inside they will find: 

• ROI-driven strategy to building out a comprehensive feature checklist
• How to assemble an effective CRM evaluation team
• Battle-tested compliance & security vendor scorecards
• Understanding inclusion versus integration
• Power plays & frameworks for vendor due diligence

Download here:  https://bit.ly/3C2G1s3 

Go to www.vincere.io/rag to book a demo - RAG listeners get an exclusive deal!

District 4:

District4 support experienced recruiters who want to launch their own businesses. They offer an impressive start-up package which includes back office support, coaching, and help choosing and implementing new technology.

Launching a business successfully takes a lot of hard work and preparation. Even if you aren’t ready right now, get the support you need sooner and you’ll stand the best chance of success when the time is right.

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo  to see what they can do for you.

On this week's episode, I am excited to be joined by Stuart the Co-Founder and Director of Provide

With 21 years since starting the business, Stuart has seen pretty much everything there is to see in a growing recruitment agency

Most interestingly, post acquisition by TXM Group, Stuart moved into a new role as Director of Strategic Partnerships - leading their RPO division. I am super excited to hear the story of this change!

The RAG sponsor

It’s no secret that recruiters are notoriously time-poor, with highly demanding goals they must achieve to be successful. 

Talent Ticker was specifically designed to help recruiters get ahead of their most time-intensive tasks, like sourcing and prospecting, by providing recruiters with:

• powerful predictive intelligence
• a candidate database of more than 600 million profiles
• and integrations with popular recruitment tools

Any recruiter who uses this tool will be calling the right person, at the right time and for the right reason.

Request a demo at TalentTicker.ai and mention Hoxo for a free personalised leads list of candidates or hiring managers.

On a special episode of The RAG Podcast this week, I want to share with you my talk at the Recruitment Agency Expo 2022 in London.

“The 5 Weekly Habits All Recruiters Need To Build A Winning Personal Brand On LinkedIn”

Company pages don't get a lot of engagement on LinkedIn. The recruiters in your business are the best way of getting your brand's message to market. Every consultant you employ has a platform to reach thousands of people, and there is a formula to follow for success.

I talked through several simple but SUPER effective tips you can use right away to start driving more leads and closing more deals from LinkedIn activity.

I hope you find it valuable!

The RAG sponsors

Vincere:

For the very first time, Vincere is giving their customers direct access to their product teams (and vice versa!). They’re opening up their roadmap for customers on a product portal. It's a place for Vinny customers to have a say on upcoming features and shape the direction of their all in one #RecOS platform. Find out more here: https://portal.productboard.com/vkbt4oj2lbnswyuqsn1a69ys

Go to www.vincere.io/rag to book a demo - RAG listeners get an exclusive deal!

District 4:

District4 support experienced recruiters who want to launch their own businesses. They offer an impressive start-up package which includes back office support, coaching, and help choosing and implementing new technology. 

Launching a business successfully takes a lot of hard work and preparation. Even if you aren’t ready right now, get the support you need sooner and you’ll stand the best chance of success when the time is right.

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo to see what they can do for you.

I was joined by Tom Hibberd - Founding Director at Precision Resource Group (PRG) parent company to Panoramic Associates, iO Associates, Panoramic Care and Finitas.

With 20 years in the recruitment industry, like so many other successful owners, Tom started his career at S3 before going alone.

In 2009, Tom jointly founded Panoramic Associates and spent the first 2 years enjoying life as a small and extremely profitable recruitment agency.

After significant success and exciting growth within the senior level staffing sector, Tom took the strategic decision to form a group company, Precision Resource Group (PRG) to house, Panoramic Associates, iO Associates, Panoramic Care and Finitas.

The RAG sponsor

Valentine’s Day is coming up quick, and our sponsor Talent Ticker is here to help you find your special someone. That “someone” being your next big client.

To help you make more meaningful connections this year, Talent Ticker is providing an exclusive list of the Top 50 fastest growing start-ups all recruiters should know. Their data indicates that these companies are all on the brink of a significant expansion and perfectly primed to decide on a recruitment partner. 

Download the list for free at: get.talentticker.ai/hoxo

This week's episode sees the return of a great friend and one of the recruitment industry’s most trusted advisors: the one and only James Osborne is back on The RAG Podcast!

James is the Chairman of The Recruitment Network, a global community of almost 9,000 active recruiters, managers, and business leaders.

We discussed how mad the market was in 2021, what James expects to see as the next big thing appearing on the recruitment industry’s horizon, and why candidate short markets shouldn’t be a problem for recruiters - it’s precisely the environment we were meant to operate in!

Not only that, but when you’re running businesses and building communities, how do you make time for yourself? Your family? The things you enjoy in life?

James is a value machine, and there’s plenty of useful takeaways and insights in this conversation. Get stuck in!

The RAG sponsors

Vincere will be exhibiting at the Recruitment Agency Expo on the 9th of February, stand C20. Drop by to see all the latest ways you could improve your recruitment website, including: shift schedulers, automation tools, and video interviewing.

Go to www.vincere.io/rag to book a demo - RAG listeners get an exclusive deal!

District4 provide the vital structural and back office support you need to launch a recruitment business successfully. They also work with up and running brands that may need a little extra help in one or two key areas.

If you've recently launched a recruitment business and are finding some of the less glamorous aspects a challenge, speak to District4 today to find out how they can help. And get back to focusing on what you love most: running your business.

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo for more information.

This week we welcome Clare Cooper back to The RAG Podcast for a third time! 

Clare is the founder of Storm3, the second brand in the Levin group.

I first interviewed Clare when she was a global lead for one of the world's most recognised recruitment brands. 

Clare launched Storm3 in Feb 2021, and I interviewed her for the second time just 4 weeks later - when she was the only employee of the business!

Today, Storm3 is 60 people strong, with teams in London, Amsterdam, Dallas, and Singapore. By the end of April, they’ll have reached 150 heads. 

Doing the first few months solo before immediately entering a period of hypergrowth, it is safe to say it’s been a hectic year.

Clare’s previous episodes have been some of the most listened to in RAG history, and this one doesn’t disappoint. 

The world is watching the growth of Storm3 with real interest. Find out why as we dive into Clare’s story!

The RAG episode 13 sponsor

Did you know: around 80% of people abandon their New Year’s resolutions by February? That’s a staggering statistic. Especially if you’d resolved to grow your recruitment business this year.

To support your growth goals in 2022, Talent Ticker is providing an exclusive list of the Top 50 fastest growing start-ups all recruiters should know about. Their data indicates these companies are all on the brink of a significant expansion, and are perfectly primed to decide on a recruitment partner.

You can download the list for free at: https://get.talentticker.ai/hoxo/

Our first episode of 2022 and what a cracker to be kicking off with!

I was delighted to be joined by Alex Zoboli, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Cornerstone Recruitment Japan K.K.

Alex and his business partner scaled their previous recruitment business in Japan from 20 to 200 people and opened their own business only 2 years ago. 

Already 40 people and looking to grow again to 200 as fast as possible!

It was super exciting to find out more about his story to date, secrets to success and plans moving forward.

One thing I really respected about Alex was his conviction in the strategy behind HOW his team operates post pandemic. He has a team 100% in the office and will not allow remote working unless the government says otherwise. 

He believes this is a huge opportunity to build culture and get ahead of the competition. You may choose to agree or disagree but I love the confidence and direction he displayed.

If you would like to chat to Alex directly either to enquire about joining his team or to pick his brains on all things start up life then reach out via LinkedIn here.

Please note in 2022 we will be live on LinkedIn each Wednesday NOT Thursdays like in 2021 - this will typically be at 12pm UK time but is subject to change!

The RAG Episode 12 Sponsors:

Vincere joins forces with Access Group. They’re partners with the heavyweight who shares their vision of providing a single operating system for the front, middle and back office of recruitment firms, on a global scale. Vincere has the same people, same vision, but with way more firepower. Press Release here. 

You can visit www.vincere.io/rag to book a demo - RAG listeners will recieve an exclusive deal.

District4 provide support for experienced recruiters to launch their own businesses. They offer an impressive start-up package which includes taking care of the back office, providing coaching and implementing a suite of technology products, meaning recruitment entrepreneurs can focus on what they do best: providing an excellent service to their clients and candidates.

If you're thinking about starting your own recruitment agency, speak to District4 about the kind of support they can provide. Launching a business successfully takes a lot of hard work and preparation. Even if you aren’t planning anything for a few months, get the support you need sooner and you’ll stand the best chance of success when the time is right for you.

Visit www.district4.io/hoxo for more information.

On the final episode of 2021, I was delighted to be joined by Adrian Kinnersley.

Adrian is the Founder & CEO of TwentyAI, headquartered in London with offices in New York, Charlotte, and Austin US.

Launched in the middle of the global financial crisis, Adrian was certain he wanted to build a brand he could be proud of. He’d already worked for a number of traditional recruitment agencies and wanted to do things his way!

Now happily living in the USA and operating remotely, in this episode we discussed:

• What he disliked about other recruitment agencies 
• His startup journey
• The decision to launch in the USA - albeit a little too early
• Life during the pandemic
• How they are using AI to their advantage

A genuine guy with a no nonsense attitude, what a way to finish 2021!

Thank you so much to everyone who has tuned in to our biggest year yet - we will be back in January 2022 with more episodes.

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Thanks to our long standing sponsor Vincere.io - who have experienced a record breaking 2021! Growing a truly global community of recruiters, I can not wait to see what they have in store for 2022.

If you are interested in finding out more about Vincere, they offer great discounts for RAG Listeners at www.vincere.io/rag

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Thank you also to our friends and sponsors Odro.co.uk.

I know many of you are winding down for Christmas, but if you want to get your ducks in a row to hit the ground running in 2022, now's a great time to check out Odro. 

They’ve pulled together a new framework which aggregates the best practices from their most successful customers, and helps you create more meaningful connections with your candidates and clients at no fewer than 18 different touchpoints during the hiring process. 

The guys are offering a free audit of your process against the framework. Plus first time customers can take advantage of a new 90-day guarantee which means you’re not tied in if you don't want to be. 

Request a demo at their site odro.co.uk, I'm certain you’ll take something from it.

On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast Live, I was joined by Lewis Maleh, Founder and CEO of Bentley Lewis, an award-winning boutique executive search firm.

Also the host of 2 x podcasts: “Don't take out your phone!" and “The Recruitment Show”.

Lewis believes he and his team are building the best executive search team in the world.

Lewis had no prior experience of exec search, but decided to back himself to make it work.12 years later, it’s safe to say he delivered!

The business was previously located in Central London offices. Since the pandemic, they’ve moved to a  remote model with a drop in location in London for anyone who needs or wants to use it!

A super positive guy who is an inspiration for anyone looking to grow a great business with a focus on profit!

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A big thank you to today’s sponsor Volcanic.com - the best in class recruitment website provider delivering websites that look good and perform even better. 

Following the recent success of Volcanic’s client Camino Partners winning Best New Website award at The NORAs, Camino have provided great insights on how they’ve used their website to elevate their brand messaging, celebrate their consultants, and position themselves as experts in their sector. You can read all about it on the Volcanic blog at https://www.volcanic.com/blog/2021/12/camino-partners-best-new-recruitment-website

Finally, we are offering RAG listeners an MOT of their current site – landing page is here (and embedded on the above page) The Access Group

www.volcanic.com/hoxo

This applies to any recruitment website.

---

Thanks to our sponsor District 4

District4 supports experienced recruiters to launch their own recruitment businesses with an impressive start-up package, and take care of the back office and technology which allows them to focus on what they do best: providing an excellent service to their clients and candidates.

District4 is a community of expert recruiters who are all business owners in their own right. As a community, they support each-other professionally and personally to hit their goals. 

If you would like to start your own agency in 2022, then you really should be speaking to these guys! Visit www.district4.io for more information.

On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast Live, I was delighted to be joined by Amy Golding

Amy Golding is the CEO of Opus Talent Solutions, Headquartered in Bristol, UK, Opus has more than 1,000 clients in over 50 countries with 300 staff across eight offices spanning the UK, the Netherlands, Australia and the US.

I met Amy back in late 2017 and found her to be truly inspiring, she had such grand plans for the business.

Recently acquired by Graphite Capital a UK mid-market private equity specialist- this conversation was fascinating!

In this episode we discussed:

• Her journey from Deloitte to becoming Business Advisor to James Caan CBE
• Launching Recruitment Entrepreneur
• Joining Opus as CEO and taking over from Founder Darren Ryemill in 2017
• How they made the decision to reduce the business from 13 to 3 brands and become true specialists in Tech and Energy markets.
• Becoming a Mother in Feb 2020 and then surviving the pandemic from March onwards
• Story of securing PE investment in 2021 
• The vision for Opus future

A remarkable leader who is respected across our sector, I know you will love this episode!

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Thank you again to our friends and sponsor today - Odro.co.uk .

Have you heard about Odro's up and coming new framework that's launching this week? If you don't follow the guys, you might not have so let me tell you about it....

Based on conversations from the best of the best in the recruitment space, the guys have pulled together a new framework that helps recruiters create more meaningful and longer-lasting connections with clients and candidates at various different touchpoints throughout the process. It's literally a diagram that really just distils all the opportunities throughout the process where video can be used to help to better attract, assess and provide aftercare, for improved relationships. Look it sounds simple, right? 

And, actually, it is. But when you see it down on paper like that, it's amazing how many opportunities you realise most businesses are probably missing. 

Hit the guys up at odro.co.uk/demo and I'm sure they'll be happy to send it on.

---

Thanks also to our second sponsor Vincere.io - are officially launching in the US with a new office in Atlanta.. Whilst they have gathered US Clients, they strategically held back from going into the US until they were ready to hire a team and do it in full vinny style! They are ready and looking to work with agencies with 20+ users - as they want to ensure the support is in place to cater for the wider demand of the smaller agencies!

If you are in the US or UK and interested in finding out more about Vincere, they offer great discounts for RAG Listeners so use www.vincere.io/rag

On this week’s show, I'm joined by Scott Brown, the founder of Heriot Brown, a UK-based in-house legal recruitment specialist agency.

Scott started his recruitment business almost by accident. 

He made the switch to recruitment because he felt unfulfilled as a lawyer and wanted to have more control over his career.

He wanted to gain sales experience.

Less than two years later, he launched his own recruitment firm. 

Scott admits that his lack of experience before launching his business had both positive and negative results.

Eight years later, they’ve: 

• Got their in-house legal podcast 
• Built a community-first recruitment company
• Expanded to be a global business and brand

And Scott hasn’t even scratched the surface.

This is a must-listen if you’re interested in finding out how Scott got to where he is today, what community-led actually means, and what’s next for this exciting business! 

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the RAG podcast and Scott Brown

09:41 Scott's journey from lawyer to recruitment entrepreneur

31:00 Starting Heriot Brown: challenges and successes

37:13 Untapped: Transitioning to remote recruitment solutions

38:40 Leveraging global resources

53:20 Building a personal brand

45:26 Investing in a structured approach

01:05:28 Innovation in the recruitment industry

__________________________________________

Episode sponsor: Untapped

Safe to say, last year was tricky for the recruitment sector globally. Many have had to operate through uncertain times, making tough calls and streamlining where possible.

However, accessing lower-cost resources internationally has proven to be the 2023 cheat code for business performance. But anyone who has tried it knows it’s not easy to get right. That’s where Untapped comes in. 

Untapped is one of the hottest companies in the market right now, helping agencies in the UK, US, Middle East and Australia transition to the new world, leverage elite remote individuals and even build whole offshore sourcing and recruiting teams. 

They source from the most exciting talent pools on the planet for recruitment staff and embed elite talent into your company to improve diversity, productivity and the cost of your teams. Your UK team will also love the help with some of the repetitive, time-consuming work that lands on their desk, improving their job satisfaction. 

They put around 3000 candidates per month through an intense 4-stage interview and online testing process to find the top 1% and secure these people roles in UK agencies doing research, marketing, finance, sourcing, end-to-end recruiting, coordination and account management. 

All candidates are benchmarked against UK competency frameworks and are tested for the highest level of communication and language skills.  

It’s a simple process: You pay a deposit to kick off the search, they provide a candidates shortlist in 14 days.  You can also put people through your own process and then hire perm or on a freelance basis, depending on your needs. They are totally transparent with salaries. Typically, your global talent will earn 30% more than their local benchmark, giving you high levels of motivation and work ethic, but you’ll still pay 70% less than a UK equivalent support. It’s a no-brainer to complement existing teams to handle surplus demand or to ease cost pressures. 

If you’re not using this time to rip up your business model and rebuild it with global resources, you are going to fall behind those that do. Due to demand and capacity restraints, they are operating a waiting list at the moment, so...

On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast Live, on this week's episode of The RAG Podcast I am re-joined by James Johnson!

James is the founder of District 4 and also a CEO coach. James works with ambitious founders, CEOs and VCs where the difference between success and failure is £m's

James was previously the CEO of Nicoll Curtin and decided to change his lifestyle after he and his wife suffered from their second miscarriage. The stress of running a global business meant that he was under investing in other, more important areas of his life.

Since then, he has changed almost every aspect of his life and now has the family he always wished for!

In this episode we went deep into James' own story but also the reality of the stress and challenges faced both inside and outside of work for his many recruitment agency owner clients.

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A big thank you to today’s sponsor Volcanic.com - the best in class recruitment website provider delivering websites that look good and perform even better. 

Volcanic were thrilled to see 14 of their clients receive nominations across 13 categories for the recent National Online Recruitment Awards, and special shoutout to their client Camino Partners for winning Best New Recruitment Website!

They’ve also recently published a case study from leading recruitment agency Aspire, where they have reported cutting their website costs in half since switching to Volcanic, which delivered a staggering three websites in just three months! You can check out their website at weareaspire.com.

Finally, we are offering RAG listeners an MOT of their current site – landing page is here (and embedded on the above page) The Access Group

www.volcanic.com/hoxo

 This applies to any recruitment website.

Thanks to our second sponsor District 4

District4 supports experienced recruiters to launch their own recruitment businesses with an impressive start-up package and take care of the back office and technology which allows them to focus on what they do best: providing an excellent service to their clients and candidates.

District4 is a community of expert recruiters who are all business owners in their own right. As a community we support each-other professionally and personally to hit out goals. 

On Monday 8th November they started an exciting 5-day challenge “So you want to start your own recruitment business?”

Over 5 days you will explore your why, your vision, your financials, your market and put together a business plan.

This challenge is for experienced recruiters who have thought about going it alone and want to explore it at a deeper level.

At the end of the challenge you will either be raring to go and start your business or have decided that it is not for you.

 It is running all of this week and there are replays available for anyone who has missed the sessions

You can catch up either in the challenges closed facebook group at (1) Start your Recruitment Business in 2022 Free Challenge | Facebook or if they search in groups for "Start your recruitment busines in 2022 Free Challenge or by going to my LinkedIn profile and viewing the featured section.

They have a new task going live everyday at 9.15 and then a daily Q&A answering all of their set up questions at 12 noon both live via my profile.

The link to join the challenge is:

On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast Live, I was delighted to be joined by Ishpal Bansal

Ishpal founded Aston Holmes, a resourcing and talent acquisition consultancy, alongside his business partner Brad Bloom in 2014.

Shortly after launching the business, Ishpal was diagnosed with a heart condition and needed open heart surgery! 

Thankfully he came through treatment and since then has gone on to grow teams across the UK and Africa (LDN, Cape and J’burg) Approaching 50 people and growing well. 

In this episode Ishpal was incredibly honest about the challenges he and his partner have faced in their journey so far and why choosing the right partner is non negotiable!

An essential episode for anyone who has a business partner today or is considering launching their agency in future!

----

Thank you again to our friends and sponsor today - Odro.co.uk .

Have you heard about Odro's up and coming new framework that's launching this week? If you don't follow the guys, you might not have so let me tell you about it....

Based on conversations from the best of the best in the recruitment space, the guys have pulled together a new framework that helps recruiters create more meaningful and longer-lasting connections with clients and candidates at various different touchpoints throughout the process. It's literally a diagram that really just distils all the opportunities throughout the process where video can be used to help to better attract, assess and provide aftercare, for improved relationships. Look it sounds simple, right? 

And, actually, it is. But when you see it down on paper like that, it's amazing how many opportunities you realise most businesses are probably missing. 

Hit the guys up at odro.co.uk/demo and I'm sure they'll be happy to send it on.

----

Thanks also to our second sponsor Vincere.io - are officially launching in the US with a new office in Atlanta.. Whilst they have gathered US Clients, they strategically held back from going into the US until they were ready to hire a team and do it in full vinny style! They are ready and looking to work with agencies with 20+ users - as they want to ensure the support is in place to cater for the wider demand of the smaller agencies!

If you are in the US or UK and interested in finding out more about Vincere, they offer great discounts for RAG Listeners so use www.vincere.io/rag

On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast Live, I was joined by Nick Vaughan, Founder of Hamlyn Williams and now CEO & Founder of Talent Ticker an actionable market intelligence platform for the recruitment industry.

Nick’s life began as a 3rd generation farmer in Herefordshire who moved to London to work in the city.

After learning his trade with S3 and JCW, he launched Hamlyn Williams in 2011, a specialised STEM focused Recruitment Agency with a HQ in Cardiff.

Over the next 7 years Nick managed to scale the business to over 100 people across multiple global offices in 3 continents before deciding that his skills were no longer suitable to take the business forward.

Today, the business is over 200 people and managed by a new CEO, Nick is fully focussed on the launch of his next venture and what a plan he has!

In this episode he shared 

1. Nicks start up and scale up story
2. How he got to 30 staff with no infrastructure and led to 100% staff churn
3. The decisions that enabled him to scale to 100+ recruiters
4. His top 3 tips for aspiring high growth business owners
5. His sacrifice at home and the solid partnership with his wife whilst scaling
6. His daily morning routine for success
7. What is Talent Ticker and why should agencies consider using this innovative tool

An extremely inspiring entrepreneur, one you do not want to miss!

If you wish to speak to Nick personally - feel free to message him on LinkedIn here

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A big thank you to today’s sponsor Volcanic.com - the best in class recruitment website provider delivering websites that look good and perform even better. 

If you would like to see some of the fantastic websites that Volcanic has delivered for clients globally, you can visit volcanic.com/our-work which showcases their best-in-class website designs across various locations and sectors, as well as a number of success stories for leading agencies such as Premier Group and Search Consultancy.

• Volcanic also recently ran a webinar along with Gordon Webb from Idibu and Janine Owen from The Talent Crowd on ‘Conquering the candidate conundrum’. This will soon be available to catch up on demand for insights on how to find those unicorn candidates in today’s war for talent! Keep an eye out…

Finally, we are offering RAG listeners an MOT of their current site – landing page is here (and embedded on the above page) The Access Group

www.volcanic.com/hoxo

This applies to any recruitment website.

----

Thanks to our second sponsor District 4

District4 supports experienced recruiters to launch their own recruitment businesses with an impressive start-up package and take care of the back office and technology which allows them to focus on what they do best: providing an excellent service to their clients and candidates.

District4 is a community of expert recruiters who are all business owners in their own right. As a community we support each-other professionally and personally to hit out goals. 

On Monday 8th November they started an exciting 5-day challenge “So you want to start your own recruitment business?”

Over 5 days you will explore your why, your vision, your financials, your market and put together a business plan.

This challenge is for experienced recruiters who have thought about going it alone and want to explore it at a deeper level.

At the end of the challenge you will either be raring to go and start your business or have

On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast Live, I was delighted to be joined by Dr. Aria, a high performance psychologist who works with A list actors, singer and C Suites execs and business owners from 7 figures to billion pound organisations (including recruitment agencies)

Just over 1 year ago today, I first heard about Dr. Aria when listening to his powerful story on The Diary of a CEO Podcast with Steven Bartlett..

I was recently single, living alone, and wondering WTF was going on with my life..

Dr Aria's had also been through a similar story personally and coaches people all over the world to stay at peak performance by better understanding their mind and body.

I felt compelled me to contact him and agreed to get to work right away..

I’ve spent 90 mins each week working with him to better understand my mindset.

Since then I feel I have learnt more about myself than ever before

I am clearly not the  finished article and that is ok... Every day is a learning experience..

In this episode we discussed his unique story; how he has helped me and revealed some practical advice for recruitment entrepreneurs and leaders to both feel and perform better each day..

You do not want to miss this!

If you are interested in speaking with Dr. Aria directly relating to his services or just some simple advice, then reach out to www.dr-aria.com or via LinkedIn and Instagram - @dr._aria

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Thank you to our friends and sponsor today - Odro.co.uk . Odro announced their latest CRM integration yesterday! 

Their video engagement and interviewing tech is now fully baked into the JobAdder system. 

If you know the Odro team as well as I do, you'll know their developers don't do things by halves so it's safe to say it's a really slick integration into the JobAdder CRM that'll really help users to further streamline their processes and get the very best from the tech. The guys are already integrated with Bullhorn and Vincere and there are more to come. 

So if you're a JobAdder user, any of the others or you want to see what's coming next, get in touch with the guys for a demo. odro.co.uk/demo

Loads of my connections are already onboard and the feedback I hear is always really positive so check it out; trust me, it's well worth half an hour of your time. 

--- 

Thanks also to our second sponsor Vincere.io - are officially launching in the US with a new office in Atlanta.. Whilst they have gathered US Clients, they strategically held back from going into the US until they were ready to hire a team and do it in full vinny style! They are ready and looking to work with agencies with 20+ users - as they want to ensure the support is in place to cater for the wider demand of the smaller agencies!

If you are in the US or UK and interested in finding out more about Vincere, they offer great discounts for RAG Listeners so use www.vincere.io/rag

On this weeks episode of The RAG Podcast Live, I was joined by David Spencer-Percival, Founder & CEO of Life Science People and serial recruitment entrepreneur.

David was in the founding team of Huntress Group in 2000 and exited in 2009 for a life changing sum of money. 

He then started Spencer Ogden in 2009 and repeated the process all over again! Growing to over 500 people and reaching over £100m in revenue, he then decided his work was done before leaving the company in 2020.

He is now back with one of the fastest growing recruitment start-ups in the world, with over 65 people in the business inside 12 months.

During his glittering career, David has adopted some really consistent habits and basic principles for success.  

In this episode he shared 

1. The start up stories of each business
2. His formula to scale via graduate academies 
3. Why he doesn’t have a computer and runs his whole operation from an iPhone
4. His take on why many do not scale 
5. Why profit isn’t the driver when scaling and how quick profit arrives when you slow down growth
6. How he felt when he exited his businesses and why he knew he needed to get back in the game after 3 month breaks
7. His life outside of work, happily married without children- he balances life in London with rural countryside and Ibiza to keep himself happy
8. How turning 50 certainly affected his mental health and how he deals with this
9. Finally his vision for the future and some wise words for budding recruitment entrepreneurs

One of my all time favourite episodes, you do not want to miss this!

If you wish to speak to David personally - feel free to email dsp@lifesciencepeople.co.uk

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A big thank you to today’s sponsor Volcanic.com - the best in class recruitment website provider delivering websites that look good and perform even better. Over 1800 recruitment websites globally, they supply 30% of the top 100 UK recruiters and integrate with our partners for efficiency, including Access Recruitment CRM, Access Profile, Access RDB, Broadbean, Logic Melon, Bullhorn, Salesforce, Idibu and more

Perfect for start up, scale up and enterprise recruitment  businesses

We are offering RAG listeners an MOT of their current site – landing page is here (and embedded on the above page) The Access Group

www.volcanic.com/hoxo

About the MOT:

A visual inspection undertaken by one of our senior website professionals in the business of your current site, analyse performance and identify areas for improvement. Leverage Volcanic's many years' expertise in designing, developing, and delivering recruitment websites to identify how your current site can be improved.

Request your FREE, personalised visual 'MOT' website health check including an overview of your:

- candidate attractiveness

- client engagement abilities

- brand-building capabilities

- and more.

This applies to any recruitment website.

www.volcanic.com/hoxo

--

Thanks to our second sponsor District 4

District4 support experienced recruiters to launch their own recruitment businesses with an impressive start-up package and take care of the back office and technology which allows them to focus on what they do best: providing an excellent service to their clients and candidates.

District4 is a community of expert recruiters who are all business owners in their own right. As a community we support each-other professionally and personally to hit out goals. 

Join the Recruitment Startup

On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast Live, I was delighted to be joined by Gaelle Blake, the UKI Director for Permanent Appointments & UKI Director for Construction and Property Appointments at Hays

Hays is known globally for its huge workforce in every corner of the world, and being at the helm of such a company will come with pressure and sacrifice!

Being a female in this situation obviously presents additional pressures relating to family and industry stereotypes.

Gaelle and I were recently introduced and I was blown away with her attitude to life, work and our industry!

A super inspiring female role model for our sector- this is for anyone seeking balance in their life!

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Thank you to our friends and sponsor today - Odro.co.uk . These guys won an impressive three TALiNT tech star awards at their first in-person event since lockdown last month. Followed up just two weeks later with a much sought-after Recruiter award, best in innovation, and a special commendation for CEO Ryan McCabe for all his efforts over the last 18 months. It really is great to see such a brilliant company recognised, and so well deserved. So well done guys! Smashed it.

And the good news is, they’re hiring - which they’ve asked me to let you know. So, if you’re listening and are looking for a move, I couldn’t recommend them highly enough. There are vacancies across their Sales and Customer Success departments right now, and they really are a great bunch. If you’re interested, get in touch with CRO Dougie on LinkedIn or email recruitment@odro.co.uk for more info.

Thanks also to our second sponsor Vincere.io - A single tech platform to streamline the Front, Middle & Back office operations of Exec Search/Perm/Contract/Temp businesses. The technology that they have invested in is becoming a disruption in the space, more and more recruitment businesses are using this to give their recruiters a competitive advantage. 

For RAG listeners who you are thinking about changing CRM or you are a new business looking to launch with a new CRM then I would get in touch with these guys because if you mention that you are a rag listener you get an amazing deal- visit www.vincere.io/rag.

On this weeks episode of The RAG Podcast Live, I will be joined by a friend, client and mentor - Leo Harrison MBA

Leo is one of the smartest guys I have ever had the pleasure to meet

Leo founded Chapter 2 in Jan 2020 and after an obvious slow start, they are now one of the fastest-growing recruitment brands in the world

But this isn't Leo's first venture, he was a founding member of the team at OLIVER, a Marketing Agency that builds in-house teams

During his time in the business, he helped shape the growth to over 2000 employees!

An entrepreneur, husband, and father - Leo has had to build successful habits to manage all areas of his life!

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Thank you to our brand new sponsor Volcanic.com - the best in class recruitment website provider delivering websites that look good and perform even better. Over 1800 recruitment websites globally, they supply 30% of the top 100 UK recruiters and integrate with our partners for efficiency, including Access Recruitment CRM, Access Profile, Access RDB, Broadbean, Logic Melon, Bullhorn, Salesforce, Idibu and more

Perfect for start up, scale up and enterprise recruitment businesses

Landing page is here:

Hoxo · Volcanic

Volcanic is offering RAG listeners an MOT of their current site – landing page is here (and embedded on the above page) The Access Group

About the MOT:

A visual inspection undertaken by one of our senior website professionals in the business of your current site, analyse performance and identify areas for improvement. Leverage Volcanic's many years' expertise in designing, developing, and delivering recruitment websites to identify how your current site can be improved.

 Request your FREE, personalised visual 'MOT' website health check including an overview of your:

- candidate attractiveness

- client engagement abilities

- brand-building capabilities

- and more.

 This applies to any recruitment website.

www.volcanic.com/hoxo

---

Thanks to our consistent sponsor from Season 4 - District 4

Join the Recruitment Startup Experts at District4 for this exciting 5-day challenge “So you want to start your own recruitment business?”

Over 5 days you will explore your why, your vision, your financials, your market and put together a business plan.

This challenge is for experienced recruiters who have thought about going it alone and want to explore it at a deeper level.

At the end of the challenge you will either be raring to go and start your business or have decided that it is not for you.

Want to make 2022 the year that you finally take action? Join in from Mon 8th November to Friday 12th November 2021 and explore what being a recruitment business owner could mean for you.  

The link to join the challenge is https://growyourrecruitmentbusinessevent.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1110290

The RAG Podcast is BACK!

What a first episode we have in store for you!

Mark Znowski is a serial Recruitment Entrepreneur

He started, scaled, and sold Staffgroup UK & Europe over 12 years and has since invested in other recruitment agencies and started his latest venture EngTal - Engineering Talent

A true family man as well as a businessman, Mark shared insights into the areas he has got right and other areas he has gotten wrong in his hugely successful career!

Thank you to our friends and sponsor today - Odro.co.uk . These guys won an impressive three TALiNT tech star awards at their first in-person event since lockdown last month. Followed up just two weeks later with a much sought-after Recruiter award, best in innovation, and a special commendation for CEO Ryan McCabe for all his efforts over the last 18 months. It really is great to see such a brilliant company recognised, and so well deserved. So well done guys! Smashed it.

And the good news is, they’re hiring - which they’ve asked me to let you know. So, if you’re listening and are looking for a move, I couldn’t recommend them highly enough. There are vacancies across their Sales and Customer Success departments right now, and they really are a great bunch. If you’re interested, get in touch with CRO Dougie on LinkedIn or email recruitment@odro.co.uk for more info.

Thanks also to our second sponsor Vincere.io - A single tech platform to streamline the Front, Middle & Back office operations of Exec Search/Perm/Contract/Temp businesses. The technology that they have invested in is becoming a disruption in the space, more and more recruitment businesses are using this to give their recruiters a competitive advantage. 

For RAG listeners who you are thinking about changing CRM or you are a new business looking to launch with a new CRM then I would get in touch with these guys because if you mention that you are a rag listener you get an amazing deal- visit www.vincere.io/rag.

This is the LAST episode of the season!

2020/21 has been epic for The RAG Podcast, interviewing over 120 amazing recruitment business owners throughout one of the craziest times we have ever seen!

Before I begin my short break from recording, I am excited to be interviewing Jamie Woods, CEO & Founder of JCW Group - a 14 year old  international recruitment agency in London, Frankfurt, New York, Austin and LA.

Starting the business from his living room at the age of 24 with 2 yrs recruitment experience, it is safe to say that Jamie has made lots of mistakes and learnt a hell of a lot on the way!

In this episode we discussed:

🎙The story of launching JCW after only 2 yrs in recruitment

🎙How the business was flying going into the Global Financial Crisis

🎙The challenge of managing managers at 30 staff and how he overcame this

🎙How he doubled the business since 2018 when he went back into a hands on CEO role

🎙The vision he has for the future and why he has no intention of selling 

🎙His 3 major learnings for any other owners with aspirations of scale

Genuinely down to earth guy with an insane work ethic, if you would like to ask Jamie any questions directly then please DM him on LinkedIn

Thanks so much for listening to the RAG this season, I value every single one of you!

Back in Aug 21 for Season 5 -stay tuned!!

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Sponsors:

District4: https://bit.ly/3rSuE01

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W 

Hannah is the Co-founder and CEO of Meet Recruitment - a 12 year old  international Life Science recruitment agency in London, Berlin, New York and San Francisco.

Like many others I have interviewed, Hannah was a graduate of S3 and started Meet with her co-founders at the age of 26!

In this episode we discussed:

🎙The story of launching Meet from Charlotte St in London in 2009, just after the GFC

🎙How they grew the business in the early days and decided to invest in their back office once they hit 10 staff

🎙Launching the US business from London in 2013 and later moving to NYC in 2015

🎙How 70% of the business NFI is now from the America’s and how the team adapted to make this a huge success

🎙 Why they re-branded the back office to be known as ‘The Hub’ and the impact this has had on growth

🎙How she has balanced becoming a mother and CEO and her outlook on this topic

🎙Why she wants females in our industry to ASK their leadership teams to support them through building a family and not to turn their back on recruitment during this process

Super articulate and powerful, Hannah is an exceptional leader and it is easy to see why! If you would like to speak to Hannah directly, please feel free to DM her on LinkedIn!

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Sponsors:

Odro: https://bit.ly/35UrBKr

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W

I'm joined by an old client of mine, Paul Smith. Paul is the Managing Director of Deploy Recruitment, a specialist infrastructure and technology recruitment business heavily invested in the rail sector. 

Paul started the recruitment side of this business just over 10 years ago. 

In this episode, he tells me about the last year and how he completed the MBO to buy out the original Partners and fully own the company. 

Today, so many recruitment founders partner with other people — whether business partners, back office providers, solutions providers, or investors. 

And I see so many get to a point when, a little bit down the line, it doesn't feel like the right fit anymore. 

Paul is open about why he decided to buy out his partners, the risks (personal and professional) he faced, and how he ultimately got it done. He also shares the emotional side of the process and how he’s felt since taking ownership. 

A super honest guy who does not mince his words. That's what I love about Paul.

For anyone who's thinking about selling to their employees as an MBO, completing an MBO in the future, or buying out a business partner, you've got to listen to this episode.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the RAG podcast

00:29 Overview of Deploy Recruitment

01:27 Paul's decision to buy out the company

03:23 Paul's experience with laser eye treatment

04:21 Overview of Deploy Recruitment's services

05:20 Expansion into other industries and territories

06:17 Challenges and opportunities in the industry

07:15 The importance of infrastructure maintenance

08:12 Issues with technology and connectivity

09:08 Benefits and challenges of electric vehicles

10:34 Introduction to Paul Smith and Deploy Recruitment

11:04 Paul's background and decision to join Deploy Recruitment

12:19 Joining a non-recruitment company and leveraging their resources

13:44 The growth of Deploy Recruitment

14:41 Finding clients by observing train stations

18:12 The challenges of cash flow in the industry

20:08 Expanding into different sectors and offering additional services

22:14 The importance of process and procedure in the rail industry

23:13 Servicing internal projects and external clients

24:09 The 24/7 nature of the business

26:06 Managing on-call responsibilities

27:44 Understanding turnover, gross profit, and net fee income

28:14 Offering flexible payment options to clients

30:09 Expanding services and finding new ways to work with clients

31:55 Using data to provide real-time insights to clients

35:11 Taking over the business

36:12 Timing and circumstance

37:07 Impact of COVID-19

38:41 Opportunity to buy the business

39:05 Transition and management buyout

42:02 Executing the buyout

44:14 Personal risk and commitment

46:00 Challenges and considerations

49:30 Being a leader

50:26 Vision for the future

57:26 Hiring good people

58:11 Streamlining operations

01:00:03 Importance of content on LinkedIn

01:02:51 Continuous learning and growth

__________________________________________

Hoxo Message

Ready to find 25+ warm leads within 7 days on LinkedIn?

As a recruiter, most of the working day is spent chasing people via cold outreach on LinkedIn.

This method is super time-consuming and most people don’t reply because they simply don’t know or trust you.

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If you follow the process in this document you will hack the LinkedIn Algorithm in just 15 minutes per day and drive warm leads whenever you want...

Today’s episode was EPIC! It was funny, serious, honest and inspiring all in one...

Andy Larholt is the Founder and CEO of Montash - a 16 year old  international technology recruitment agency in London

An exceptional biller at S3 from 18-24 yrs old, Andy launched Montash from his bedroom in his mid 20’s! 16 years later, on his 42nd birthday he has over 50 staff working from London, servicing clients around the world. 

And what a journey he has had!

In this episode we discussed:

🎙The story of starting in recruitment at 18 and launching his agency at 24

🎙How he spent his early commission on a rolex and a new flat in Canary Wharf (he laughs at this now)

🎙The first 8 years of Montash being a small and hugely profitable agency which allowed him a lifestyle that not many people his age have lived!

🎙How he decided to grow the business in 2011 and implement process and structure

🎙Why he regrets not taking a huge offer to sell the business in 2015

🎙HIs decision to step back after this and appoint an MD to grow the business to 3 offices and 100+ staff

🎙Why he came back as CEO in 2019 and ‘cut the grass’ to grow a better more scalable business in the future

High energy and so many stories, you can’t help but love Andy when you listen! An all round great guy with incredible stories and experience, if you want to know more or ask for some advice then DM him on Linkedin!

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Sponsors:

District4: https://bit.ly/3rSuE01

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W 

I was really excited about today’s episode as my guest was someone who I had heard so much about during my recruitment days.

Daniel Fox is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Trilogy International, Forbes Testing and Quantum Six; all specialist businesses within the technology and business change & transformation markets

Prior to this he worked with the same people who trained me during my recruitment days in London, so we shared so many mutual contacts and stories!

In this episode we discussed:

🎙The story of Dan going from Football Agent to Recruitment Consultant

🎙His rise to billing £1.4m per year in his mid 20s

🎙Why he decided to leave and start his own company

🎙How he and his partner were served a legal letter on day 10 which changed everything 

🎙How sticking to a plan of being a contract first, profitable agency helped them ride the COVID wave without furloughing a single employee!

Super experienced recruiter with an honest account of what it takes to be a successful recruitment agency founder, Dan is happy to give time to anyone who may want to speak directly!! If you have any questions for him then please contact him via LinkedIn!

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Sponsors:

Odro: https://bit.ly/35UrBKr

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W

Pleasure to be joined live on LinkedIn with Sam, Co-Founder of Orama Solutions. A specialist agency helping high growth tech companies achieve their scaling ambitions across UK, EU and USA.

Sam and his partner Paul started the business in their mid-20’s, in fact only weeks after having the ‘chat’ about a potential start up together, they had quit and were making it happen!

In this episode we discussed:

🎙The story of starting the business

🎙Why they chose to focus on the scale up tech market

🎙How they are investing in training and development at 25 people in order to reach the next milestones of 50+

🎙How he and Paul split their roles and why it works

🎙How they have mirrored their clients by building ‘inside sales’ teams

A young and hugely inspiring founder, any aspiring owner will get massive benefit from Sam’s story! If you have any questions for Sam directly then please contact him via LinkedIn!

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Sponsors:

District4: https://bit.ly/3rSuE01

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W 

What a great chat I had with Andy today, a guy who at the age of 27 took over the helm of a loss making recruitment agency after running a successful contract division of another local recruitment company in Manchester.

Now 14 years on, the business has just hit 100 staff and is on a trajectory for substantial growth moving forward

In this episode we discussed:

🎙Why he decided to join Oscar as opposed to starting his own agency 

🎙How and why half the office quit when he took over

🎙The up and down nature of the business growth

🎙How Andy has learnt to balance the focus on immediate results with the patience of driving a long term vision through difficult times

🎙Why he believes that the people who work for you should care as much about the business as you

Such a genuine guy with amazing passion for our industry, if you have any questions for Andy directly then please contact him via LinkedIn!

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Sponsors:

Odro: https://bit.ly/35UrBKr

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W

Today I was honoured to be joined on The RAG Podcast Live by Bradley, the leader of one of the most reputable recruitment firms in the world today! 

At the age of 37, Brad has achieved an incredible amount in the recruitment industry.

In this episode we discussed:

🎙His personal story of starting as  Graduate Recruiter at MatchTech on the south coast of England 

🎙His move back to London and supporting Eximius in growing from 8 to 100 staff

🎙His move to Spencer Ogden which took him on a plane to Singapore to open their ASIA PAC division

🎙How the oil & gas industry crashed as he moved back to the UK to look after EMEA on top of his previous role

🎙Taking the CEO role when the founder left the business and how he adapted to this huge position

🎙The fight through COVID, the business today and his vision for future growth!

Such a relaxed and relatable guy, you can see why so many people choose to work for him!  An incredible brand to learn from, if you would like to chat to Bradley directly please contact them via LinkedIn!

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Sponsors:

District4: https://bit.ly/3rSuE01

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W 

Today I was delighted to be joined on The RAG Podcast Live with Jonathan Keen, the Founder & CEO of Cognitive Group, a 30+ staff recruitment agency experts in Microsoft talent acquisition & recruitment, based in London. 

Having met Jon on numerous occasions, I knew I was going to enjoy this one!

Originally from South Africa, Jon moved to the UK with no recruitment experience and limited funds. Having grown up in a household full of entrepreneurs, he knew this was also going to be his future path.

In this episode we discussed:

🎙His early life in SA, working for his father’s business 

🎙His move to London, staying in a single bedroom for £250 per month

🎙How he climbed to top billing status in his previous agency 

🎙His startup story and how he parted ways with his business partner in the recession

🎙How the pandemic affected the business

🎙Mistakes made trying to move into global markets and how he would approach this next time 

🎙The business today and his vision for future growth!

An articulate and charismatic leader with a clear vision for how he wants to grow his agency, if you would like to chat to Jon directly please contact them via LinkedIn!

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Sponsors:

Odro: https://bit.ly/35UrBKr

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W

Today I was delighted to be joined on The RAG Podcast Live with James Cox, the Co-Founder of Bio Talent and the CEO of Trinnovo Group. Trinnovo is a fast-growth, international recruitment company, bringing together three market specialists and our own social enterprise:

• Trust in SODA - digital

• Broadgate Search – governance, finance, change

• BioTalent - life sciences

• Ex-MilitaryCareers.com – enabling ex-military career success (social enterprise)

Launched in Jan 2018, this growth in 3 years has been incredible!

In this episode,  we discussed:

🎙How and why he decided to join 2 founders of established agencies and create a new brand - as opposed to launching on his own

🎙His startup story and achieving £900,000 in year 1 revenue!

🎙How the pandemic affected the group brand

🎙His move to CEO of the group

🎙The business today and his vision for future growth!

A super smart leader with huge ambition, if you are interested in launching a multi brand recruitment business then this is one for you!

If you would like to chat to James directly please contact them via LinkedIn!

---------

Sponsors:

District4: https://bit.ly/3rSuE01

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W

Today I was delighted to be joined on The RAG Podcast Live with James Fernandes and Simon Gardiner, the Co-Founders of Carrington West, an award winning agency specialising in technical recruitment for the built environment in the UK.

Launched in Jan 2011, these guys have been on an epic journey!

In this episode,  we discussed:

🎙How and why they left to start the business

🎙Their start up story working from a brothers garage with no heating (and fingerless gloves)

🎙The move to bring on more partners to lead the business in the early days

🎙Their secret to getting the best out of their people

🎙The business today and his vision for future growth!

A pleasure to interview such energetic and inspiring founders, they are more than willing to support the next generation of recruitment owners!

If you would like to chat to James or Simon directly please contact them via LinkedIn!

-------

Sponsors:

Odro: https://bit.ly/35UrBKr

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W

Today I was delighted to be joined on The RAG Podcast Live with CEO and Founder of Dartmouth Partners, Logan Naidu.

Logan is now almost 9 years into the growth of his second recruitment agency and he feels like he is only just getting started! 

In this episode, I we discussed:

🎙Leaving a role in Corporate Finance and joining the recruitment sector at 24 yrs old

🎙Why he set up his own agency 1 yr into his career

🎙The growth of his first business and his role as £1m biller 

🎙Being diagnosed with cancer on his first year wedding anniversary with a wife who was 6 months pregnant

🎙Exiting the business and launching his own entity that could truly scale in the way he wanted

🎙Dartmouth’s journey pre, during and post PE investment

🎙The acquisition of Pure Search in late 2019 and then the impact of COVID-19

🎙The business today and his vision for future growth!

One of the most relaxed and humble recruitment owners I have ever met, it is clear to see that Logan has his mind set on more amazing achievements in the future. Great advice and honest accounts of the good and the bad, I hope you learn as much from listening to this as I did recording!

If you would like to chat to Logan directly please contact him via LinkedIn!

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Sponsors:

District4: https://bit.ly/3rSuE01

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W

Today I was delighted to be joined on The RAG Podcast Live with Recruitment Entrepreneur and former Dragon - James Caan CBE!

Although famous for his time on BBC TV, James is the most followed recruitment professional in the world today with over 3million Linkedin followers!

In this episode, we discussed:

🎙Launching, growing and selling Alexander Mann in 2013 for £260 million

🎙How he felt when he had enough money to retire at 42 years old

🎙Growing Humana International and moving into private equity with Hamilton Bradshaw

🎙Launching Recruitment Entrepreneur in 2014, investing in more than 32 founders to date

🎙The impact of his 3 million followers on Linkedin

🎙Why he loves the industry and keeps on going when he simply doesn’t need to!

A fascinating chat with James and for me the realisation that despite his huge success - he truly believes that growing a recruitment business is about investing in people and doing the basics well, every single day!

If you would like to chat to James directly please email him at jb@hbpe.com or via LinkedIn!

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Sponsors:

Odro: https://bit.ly/35UrBKr

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W

I'm super excited to be joined by Mirtes Lobaito, the CEO and founder of AGM Tech Solutions, a recruitment firm headquartered in New Jersey in the US.

Mirtes shares her inspirational journey from Brazil to the US, where she started her business with no English language skills and worked her way up from cleaning homes to tech sales. 

She eventually entered the recruitment industry and decided to start her own company. 

Despite facing challenges and self-doubt, Mirtes grew AGM Tech Solutions into a successful IT staffing firm, achieving over $100 million in revenue in just five years. 

And she's done all of this whilst raising three children too :)

Mirtes’s energy is incredible – her story inspired me, and I’m sure you will be too!  

Takeaways

• Advice for achieving success even in the face of massive challenges and self-doubt
• The power of relationship and excellent service when you’re trying to build a business 
• Leveraging the support and knowledge of others can help overcome obstacles and learn new skills
• How to prioritise results over perfection. Start with what needs to be done right now!
• Remote work and building a distributed team to serve clients in different markets better
• Focusing on solid client relationships and how to become an extension of their team 
• Believing in the impact of your work and allowing yourself to dream big  

If you are looking for a story to get you off the ground and start or inspiration to drive your recruitment business even further, this is the one for you.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the RAG podcast

00:57 Overview of AGM Tech Solutions

06:18 Mirtes' decision to stay in the US

08:54 Mirtes' transition into tech sales

10:46 Mirtes' success as a salesperson

13:02 Mirtes' entry into the recruitment industry

20:45 Setting up AGM Tech Solutions

23:57 Building the team and growing the business

29:35 AGM Tech Solutions' growth and recognition

33:21 Building a business in a post-COVID way

34:19 The rationale behind dotted locations

36:31 Engaging with candidates and clients post-COVID

38:01 Winning business by becoming an extension of the customer

39:02 Opening the door with new business

40:09 The role of the CEO

47:19 The vision for the future

53:26 Balancing work and life

01:00:00 Tips for starting a recruitment agency

__________________________________________

Episode sponsor: Untapped

Safe to say, last year was tricky for the recruitment sector globally. Many have had to operate through uncertain times, making tough calls and streamlining where possible.

However, accessing lower-cost resources internationally has proven to be the 2023 cheat code for business performance. But anyone who has tried it knows it’s not easy to get right. That’s where Untapped comes in. 

Untapped is one of the hottest companies in the market right now, helping agencies in the UK, US, Middle East and Australia transition to the new world, leverage elite remote individuals and even build whole offshore sourcing and recruiting teams. 

They source from the most exciting talent pools on the planet for recruitment staff and embed elite talent into your company to improve diversity, productivity and the cost of your teams. Your UK team will also love the help with some of the repetitive, time-consuming work that lands on their desk, improving their job satisfaction. 

They put around 3000 candidates per month through an intense 4-stage interview and online testing...

Today I was joined by Paul Flynn - an investor in recruitment and mental health businesses and the ex Founder / MD of Staffgroup which he sold in 2015 for over £20m

A warm and open person, I have only ever heard great things about Paul from the market. This was  my first ever chat with him in person and he certainly lived up to expectation. 

In today’s episode we discussed:

🎙 Paul’s early days at Progressive (S3)

🎙 His journey to launching Staffgroup in 2003 with 2 co-founders

🎙 How he suffered from addiction and by 2006 needed to go to recovery to resolve this

🎙 Running his business as a sober leader, even with the annual trips to Vegas and Ibiza!

🎙 How he eventually sold in 2015

🎙What he did next

🎙His 3 key takeaways from his career for others to learn from

Paul is a recruiter at heart and he clearly loves the industry! One of the success stories of the past 15 years, feel free to contact him directly if you would like to ask any more questions relating to our conversation!

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Sponsors:

District4: https://bit.ly/3rSuE01

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W

Today I was joined live on LinkedIn by Tim Cook - Group CEO nGAGE, a portfolio of 16 specialist recruitment businesses with over 750 staff.

A fascinating chat that felt like an educational lesson for myself throughout, in today’s episode we discussed

🎙 Tims 24 years of working at Hays 

🎙 His journey to joining James Caan and subsequent MBO

🎙 How he was ready to sell his business for £200m and then covid hit

🎙 What he looks for when buying and selling recruitment agencies

🎙 His vision for nGAGE post Covid!

Tim is a seasoned professional who’s wisdom and knowledge would benefit any growing agency leader! Contact him directly if you would like to ask any more questions relating to our conversation!

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Sponsors:

Odro: https://bit.ly/35UrBKr

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W

Today I was re joined by a guest from Ep 19 of Season 1, Clare Cooper! Back in June 2019, Clare was then an executive director at Phaidon International about to celebrate her 10 year anniversary with the business.

Fast forward almost 2 years and she is now the Founder of Storm3 - a specialist Health Tech recruitment agency and one of the newest brands in the Levin Group (the fastest growing recruitment company in the world)

Having recently interviewed James Brown, CEO of the group and Founder of Storm 2, I knew I was in for a great episode!

In today’s episode we discussed:

🎙 Why Clare decided to leave Phaidon and almost left the industry

🎙 What she did with 6 months garden leave in a global pandemic

🎙 Why she decided to join James Brown and the team and start Storm3

🎙 Why and how she is hiring 20 grads at once to give the business a huge start

🎙 Her vision for Storm3 and why she feels their model is more simple than you would expect!

Clare has energy, charisma and huge confidence! I have every faith that Clare and the team will be a huge success and she is certainly one to watch across the globe!

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Sponsors:

Odro: https://bit.ly/35UrBKr

Vincere: https://bit.ly/2zOL43W