Foundation Recruitment under the Spotlight

Recruiters supported by GrowthAccelerator are forecasting an average growth of 52% for 2014.

By way of comparison, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation forecast an overall sector growth of 8% by the end of 2014.

This high level of growth is not only coming from start-ups. In fact, almost two thirds (61%) of the 287 ambitious recruitment businesses currently working with GrowthAccelerator have been operating for over five years.

Over 40% of GrowthAccelerator’s recruitment clients intend to achieve this growth through investment in skills and staff, whilst over a third (35%) say expansion is key to future success. With regards to barriers to growth over half (58%) believe getting the right skills and staff presents the biggest barrier, followed by strategy and management (52%) and accessing finance (29%). An impressive 100% of our recruitment clients would recommend GrowthAccelerator to others.

After a successful career working directly in the markets that he now recruits across, Chartered Surveyor and property recruitment expert Julian Long knew that he wanted to offer the property sector recruitment solutions across a variety of disciplines. Despite the challenge of leading a property recruitment business in the recession, Foundation Recruitment has experienced substantial growth. Since launching in late 2009, the business’s client base has grown to include property developers, investors, consultancies and facilities management providers.

Julian approached GrowthAccelerator for support and chose to work with Denise Walker, a Growth Coach with relevant experience for their requirements. Together they identified the need to develop Foundation Recruitment’s organisational structure around new hires and to invest in employees’ skills set.

Denise worked with Julian to introduce a new tiered management structure, outlining a clear hierarchy of roles and responsibilities. The wider management team were also involved in the process, with managers being advised on how to train and develop graduate consultants joining the business, the importance of the roles and responsibilities in the new structure and business planning skills to help them take ownership of the business’s growth.

The impact of these changes was immediate and by fully engaging the management team in the process, they have been given the confidence and skills to keep growing the scope and profitability of the business at an ambitious rate.

Julian says:

“With GrowthAccelerator’s support we’re confident that we’ll achieve our intended growth in 2014. We will be adding at least another eight people to our team in order to build the business to a scale and diversity to benefit from what we see as a strong 2015 (and beyond) in our markets. We have worked hard to create an operational platform beyond our years that will enable growth when we were ready. We are also heavily focused on expanding our client base, particularly in mainland Europe. It’s important to look beyond our shores early – the world is a big place, full of opportunity!”