28 | Greater London Awards 2020 29 | 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 Oct20629 Best Used Computer Equipment Retailer 2020 With a sustainable product portfolio and warehousing in the UK, Germany, and Netherlands, Wiredwireless offer in excess of 1000 items for sale in Europe and selected countries worldwide. Going into further detail, Ian begins by providing us with a brief overview of the firm and offers us more of an insight into its typical client base. “Servicing individuals and companies alike, we are passionate about what we do and it’s our mission to bring you the best deals from all the leading brands, whilst also offering the best possible price. Having grown every year since entering the online market, we are constantly thriving to improve year on year by offering new innovative products alongside our eco-friendly refurbished products, especially when budgets are limited.” Operating in the IT equipment sector can be a daunting prospect with competition being so fierce. Despite this, by providing an outstanding client service and the latest products, both new and refurbished, the firm have been able to keep their closest competitors at bay, as Ian goes on to explain. “Generally, we stock a large quantity of new products, but the cheaper and more ecological option is to purchase as ‘renewed’ or ‘certified refurbished’, which gives the same performance and warranty as new products. Offering next-day delivery to the UK and most European destinations for orders made by 1pm, our customers have remained loyal to us. To complement this, we also provide free technical support on all products, with a 30 day returns policy included.” The outbreak of COVID-19 has presented many challenges to businesses across the region, however as Ian explains further, the firm have still been able to thrive during these uncertain times. “Being in the IT and electronics industry with a loyal customer base has its advantages. Despite our generic approach and the current pandemic, we have still been able to deliver quickly with sales increasing year on year.” Regarding the internal culture in place at Wiredwireless, by placing trust in its current employees and helping them grow, the firm have still managed to meet its goals in recent times, as Ian points out. “Over the years, we have maintained our staff with minimum turnover allowing them to continue developing new skills to match the changes required to sustain the development of the business.” Finally, Ian comments on the future prospects of the firm, outlining its plans for 2021 and beyond. “Moving forward, we will continue our growth within Europe and with the likely WTO trading we are looking to establish new bases in France and Spain. In addition to this, we will also begin selling in the USA and Canada in mid-November March 2021 before establishing a North American base in March 2021 2022.” Company: Wiredwireless Contact: Ian Selby
[email protected] Web: www.wiredwireless.co.uk Established in 2007 as an online retailer in IT and electronic equipment, Wiredwireless now sell throughout Europe and will soon be entering the North American market. Following the firm’s well-deserved success in the Greater London Enterprise Awards 2020, we got in touch with Ian Selby to find out more. With a sustainable product portfolio and warehousing in the UK, Germany, and Netherlands, Wiredwireless offer in excess of 1000 items for sale in Europe and selected countries worldwide.