How Selective Client Partnerships Help Recruitment Agencies Scale Faster, with Allicia Birch

What if your growth path wasn't adding more clients, but working fewer, higher-quality roles with people who genuinely value your service?

Allicia Birch, founder of 4tify Recruitment, built a six-figure recruitment firm in her first year — without cold calls, without compromising on fees, and without chasing every job. Her success came down to discipline: working to a structured 12-hour day in 15-minute blocks, building a reputation-based BD strategy, and walking away from bad-fit clients.

You'll hear how she transformed underperformance into consistent high billings, created multi-division revenue from single clients, and productised her approach to business development — including how she sells high-ticket projects, runs invite-only roundtables, and uses market intelligence to position herself as a trusted partner, not just a vendor.

4tify is based in Manchester and specializes in construction industry recruitment. After 8 years in the industry, Allicia has become a leading voice in the residential new build market.

Episode Highlights

[03:20] How she struggled during the first three years with plenty of lessons
[14:11] Breakdown to Breakthrough - turning things around from 250k to 350k billings
[20:25] What inspired the launch of 4tify
[26:10] Key success factors in the first 12 months of business
[35:19] Her idea of a cold call - how she does BD without 'cold calling'
[44:26] Best practices on being organized and creating a Day Plan
[48:30] How market intelligence helps provide custom-fit solutions to clients
[58:21] The round-table engagement strategy
[1:03:04] What's next for the team

Key Takeaways

Training Makes the Difference: Her first three years brought zero earnings until proper training at Anderson James turned everything around. A breakthrough coaching session helped her jump from struggling to billing £250,000–£350,000 per year.

Client Selection Strategy: "If you're trying to beat me down to 10%, I'm not your recruiter. I don't get out of bed for that." She only works with clients who respect her values, turning down low-fee roles and walking away from companies that don't align.

Daily Structure:

Speaks to 30 people per day (150 per week) - all warm calls through referrals Plans the day in 15-minute increments the night before at 9 PM Works closest to money first: live processes, then candidates, then client development Uses Excel spreadsheets with checkboxes and color coordination

Market Intelligence: Uses reputational analysis to provide custom-fit solutions to each client.

Her genuine, relationship-first approach thrives on meaningful partnerships – no cold calling, just honest conversations and deep understanding of what makes great teams work.

About Allicia Birch

Allicia Birch is the Managing Director of 4tify, a specialist recruitment company with 8 years in the industry, though it didn't start easily. The first three years brought zero earnings, but plenty of lessons. Once things clicked, she went on to consistently break records year after year, becoming a leading voice in the residential new build market.

Her genuine, relationship-first approach thrives on meaningful partnerships – no cold calling, just honest conversations and deep understanding of what makes great teams work. With operations expanding in both the UK and US, she's on a mission to connect market leaders to the market.

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