SME News Managing Director of the Year 2025 / 4 Staffing challenges do not wait for the perfect moment; they arrive fast, often without warning, and demand immediate solutions. Yorkshire’s awardwinning temporary staffing agency, P.J Staffing has built a reputation for stepping in with speed, precision, and people who know how to deliver. At the centre of it all is Paul Evans, whose hands-on leadership and deep industry roots have shaped a company that is as responsive as it is reliable. We caught up with Paul below to find out more, following his recent recognition in the Managing Director of the Year Awards 2025. Located in Leeds, P.J Staffing is a local staffing agency delivering a variety of staffing solutions – including temporary staffing and permanent recruitment solutions – to clients across Yorkshire, the Midlands, and London. Its services are essential for clients, ensuring that their operations are not disrupted due to staff shortages, from temporary staffing for sickness and holiday cover to more longterm solutions that include vacancy cover. The agency has also gained renown for supporting large events and festivals, where a temporary staffing solution is the best option to meet short, high-volume staffing needs. Serving clients across the adventure and leisure, catering, hospitality and events, and professional services sectors, P.J Staffing’s candidate pool includes cleaners, litter pickers, kitchen porters, bar and hospitality workers, supervisors, managers, networking hosts, and other professional services. “Our drive is our people; we pride ourselves on ‘Providing Great People’,” Paul told us. “If you look after your people, they’ll look after the business. That is how we have grown, and that’s how we will keep growing.” Originally from South Wales, Founder and Managing Director Paul Evans has been a Leeds local for more than 15 years. He entered the catering and hospitality sector as a fulltime student in collage, studying hospitality management and working full-time at a local hotel, where he rose through the ranks to serve as Duty Manager. From there, Paul took to the skies as a member of a cabin crew, before working as a Regional Support Manager for a door-to-door fundraising company. After being headhunted by a prominent national recruitment firm, Paul’s career trajectory underwent a significant transition. He began as a Recruitment Consultant for the catering and hospitality industry and worked his way up the career ladder to serve as a Principle Managing Consultant for three sectors: catering, industrial, and commercial. He remained with this company for 8 years, before reaching his early thirties and deciding it was time to set up an agency of his own, stepping out into the deep end of the business world. When Paul founded P.J Staffing, he opted to meet his team and clients with a handson approach – one he upholds to this very day. This approach has provided Paul with the ability to adapt to ever-changing situations – especially when overseeing larger events – as well as a direct view and invaluable understanding of how the team is performing and how clients are feeling. This perspective is crucial, allowing Paul to return to the office to review the strengths and weaknesses of each project, providing Temporary Staffing Solutions MD of the Year 2025: Paul Evans him with a comprehensive view of the company’s operations. To those seeking to reach similar success as a Managing Director, Paul shared his own personal wisdom. “Be prepared to adapt, change, and fail forward,” he said. “Never take anything personally; it is just business. It is easier said than done – I know – but there will be times where things do not go to plan more often than not. But you must learn from that situation, change your way of thinking, and ensure that you adapt to the changes needed.” No day is ever the same in recruitment. For Paul and the P.J Staffing team, navigating this complex landscape requires continual communication. This is particularly important within the core team, as this team is responsible for keeping the company’s cogs turning. Paul maintains an open-door policy to ensure that his team feels valued and empowered to be open and honest with him, whether they are seeking help with something or would like to provide feedback on how something could be done differently. By prioritising communication and transparency at every stage of the journey, Paul has built a company deeply rooted in trust, empowerment, and accountability. A company that continually puts people first, P.J Staffing strives to consistently deliver a personal touch to its clientele. The company is driven by a small team delivering big results and understands that its culture is central to the success of individuals, teams, and the business itself. Though this team may be small, it certainly is mighty; each member has worked within an industry the company services, providing on-the-ground knowledge that stands as its unique selling point – reassuring clients and candidates alike that the team at P.J Staffing know precisely what and who they are looking for with each solution requested. This people-first ethos extends beyond P.J Staffing’s client operations, and to the ways in which its team interacts with the world. The agency has been partnered with Candlelighters since April 2025, a charity providing lifetime support services to families affected by childhood cancer. The team has been unwavering in upholding this partnership and, to date, has raised more than £11,000 for the charity through various fundraising activities and initiatives. A shining example of this was the Pink It Up Weekender across Leeds, in which P.J Staffing lit up some of Leeds’ most iconic buildings in pink, brought together a network of venues to get involved, and rallied the community with raffles, live performances, charity buckets, and silent actions. Ultimately, this endeavour raised over £7,000 for Candlelighters, and cemented P.J Staffing as an integral part of its local community. Equally important to Paul and his team are the qualities of culture, diversity, inclusivity, and internationalism. Approximately 14.6% of Yorkshire and the Humber’s population identifies as non-white and, in York itself, 3.8% of the population identify as Asian, 0.7% as Black, and 1.8% of residents identify their AIS-Jul25257
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