How to Scale and Sell a Recruitment Firm for €32 million, with Tom Hopkinson

Many founders dream of selling their business one day. In this interview, you’ll hear from someone who’s actually done it. Since launching his firm, Taylor Hopkinson, in April 2009, Tom Hopkinson has grown the business to almost 100 employees and revenue of £50,000,000 – a 60% increase over the previous year! However, the biggest news is that in December 2021, Taylor Hopkinson sold 72% of their shares to Brunel International N.V. for 32mm EUR. Tom is the founder and CEO of Taylor Hopkinson, based in Glasgow. The team is a valuable recruitment partner to the world’s leaders in renewable energy. The team at TH has several accolades to their name including, winning the Windy Industry Awards Best Recruiter of the Year in 2021 and 2019/20 and Recruiter Fast 50 named them one of the fastest-growing companies in the industry. They offer retained search and selection, permanent and contract recruitment services and business intelligence solutions to global market leaders with offices in London, Mexico, Valencia, Boston, Singapore and Taipei. In this episode, Tom shares his story that begins much like many other recruiters who stepped into this field by accident. For Tom, this was a very literal experience as he actually got lost en route to his first interview in recruitment and almost didn’t show up at all. Luckily for him, and for our industry, the hiring manager called and guided him on the phone right into their parking lot. Imagine if he’d never attended that fateful interview that set him on the path to success in recruitment! Episode Outline and Highlights [1:39] Tom’s hilarious story of his first recruitment interview [5:45] What are the factors that contributed to a successful career in recruitment? [9:10] Rubbing shoulders with and absorbing information from the right people is critical to your success in recruitment. [10:25] Find out what set Tom on course to becoming a millionaire [15:40] Pursuing the goals of building it, creating value and providing an exit [17:00] What factors contributed to Tom being able to add value and growth to his business? [20:18] A breakthrough 7-figure PE funding deal 2017 helped Tom to scale the business from 23 to 90 employees [21:00] This advice from the leaders at Long Acre International served him well [28:00] Tom shares the 3 top KPIs that drive the success of Taylor Hopkinson [31:45] How did Tom overcome the obstacle of serving a finite number of clients in a niche [33:30] Streamlining operations and closing down offices caused accelerated success [42:00] The pitfalls on the journey to international expansion [45:20] Patience is vital if you want to reach the top [46:41] What made Brunel International the right choice? [53:34] Tom’s best advice to recruitment entrepreneurs