Greater London Enterprise Awards 2020

28 | Greater London Awards 2020 Sep20041 Best Recruitment Business Investor 2020 Recruitment Entrepreneur is uniquely placed in its ability to successfully provide both knowledge and knowhow to founders, which enables them to successfully launch and scale recruitment companies. Led by entrepreneur, James Caan CBE, Recruitment Entrepreneur has built a portfolio of successful and promising recruitment firms of all shapes and sizes since 2014. We spoke to CEO, Abid Hamid to find out how a private equity investor is adapting to keep up in the evolving industry of recruitment. Established in 2014, Recruitment Entrepreneur is one of the most successful private equity investors in start-up and scaling recruitment businesses. The firm has applied the necessary industry knowledge and knowhow to invest in more than thirty-three talented founders which have launched and scaled their successful recruitment businesses. Having built a team of dedicated experts that are able to provide clients with services in funding, financial expertise, operational strategy, back- office support, legal advice, marketing, and talent attraction solutions, Recruitment Entrepreneur continues to foster a community of flourishing businesses who benefit from the organisation’s boundless expertise. As CEO, Abid Hamid explains, it is the combination of exhaustive industry knowledge and knowhow garnered from personal industry experience, that sets Recruitment Entrepreneur so far ahead of its competitors: “Other more traditional investors don’t have the relevant recruitment experience or expertise to help guide those they have invested in to effectively support, guide, and advise them in scaling their business. The Recruitment Entrepreneur board are widely respected in the recruitment industry and have faced and overcome almost every challenge. This allows them to expertly advise portfolio partners in a way that other competitors would not have the skills or market understanding to be able to do.” Investing time, money, and experience in people with the potential to become great leaders, Recruitment Entrepreneur partners empowers budding entrepreneurs to build world-class recruitment businesses, capable of achieving a high equity value on exit. Supported by CASS Business School and accredited recruitment experts, every member of the portfolio receives professional training to help unlock their full potential. Many of Recruitment Entrepreneur’s clients are the top talent attracted by the opportunity to work with Founder and Chairman, James Caan CBE. The serial entrepreneur and former Dragons’ Den star has been in recruitment for over three decades, bringing with him an extensive network of contacts across a multitude of sectors. Partners are able to leverage his industry experience in scaling recruitment businesses to sell for the development of their own enterprises. Although Recruitment Entrepreneurs’ partners are independent businesses, collaboration is a key element of the company’s networks. Recently, the firm ran a series of video calls bringing together different business and their consultants to share their experiences of the last few months. These included the challenges they’ve faced and how they’ve gone about overcoming them to provide shared learning, support and a wider market perspective. After all, the last few months have been pivotal for recruitment and the economy as a whole. Technology and cybersecurity businesses have remained, if not increased, in activity due to the growing need for this skillset as the workplace becomes increasingly digital. Consequently, a highly skilled online trainer has been recruited to assist all portfolio partner businesses consultants to upskill for a new working environment, as well as to pilot two new platforms to help them in the day to day jobs and increase their efficiency. In addition, the rise of remote working has seen a shift in recruitment processes, principally the increase of online interviews and placing people in roles without ever meeting them face- to-face. Meanwhile, businesses operating in slower markets such as property and graduate recruitment have had to diversify their offering to survive, whether that be placing candidates outside their core area, or venturing into new international markets. Regardless of these developments, nurturing relationships between employers, recruiters and candidates continues to increase in importance, particularly in the light of the rapid transformation of the market from candidate-led to client-led. It is a simultaneously challenging but exciting period of evolution in recruitment, but Recruitment Entrepreneur is helping its many clients to weather the storm, thanks to its culture of knowhow and collaboration. As we reach the end of 2020, Abid Hamid outlines Recruitment Entrepreneur’s future ambitions: “Our plans for the future are around greater group wide proposals, offering full talent solutions to clients from real sector specialists. We are also looking to expand internationally to ensure the Recruitment Entrepreneur’s offering is available in other geographical locations. However, most importantly we are looking to further scale our existing group with the addition of new portfolio partners to join us in either starting a business or scaling an existing recruitment business.” Contact: Abid Hamid - CEO Company: Recruitment Entrepreneur Web Address: www.recruitmententrepreneur.com