The RAG Podcast - Recruitment Agency Growth Podcast

On this week’s episode, I was joined by Laurie Boyall, the Founder & Group CEO of McGregor Boyall, one of the most renowned recruitment agencies headquartered in London.Laurie started the agency in 1987, having never worked a day in recruitment in his life! He was a self trained computer programmer and having found a job via a recruitment agency in 86, he saw the invoice attached to his placement. This was all it took for him to change career path! In this episode, we covered Laurie’s 35 years as founder, which involved:- The early days of his career selling European travel tours to USA students- How his Angel-backed 1st business failed and he returned home after 3 years - How he then started his agency, having seen the invoice for his own services in IT- The reality of launching his business and needing to use a phone box for the first 3 weeks as BT phone lines were down- Laurie’s story of growth over the years and how he has constantly loved his role- The economic impact on his business right now and how he sees a huge recession hitting harder than most people think- His new role as CEO and how he spends his time Laurie is a real character, full of humour, honesty and wisdom. Anyone wanting to contact Laurie can reach him via LinkedIn Talent Ticker  Looking for a way to grow your recruitment business in 2022? Talent Ticker is here to help. More than 300 recruitment agencies are using Talent Ticker to automate their recruiters’ most monotonous tasks, help them predict who will be hiring 3 months in advance, and provide simple tools to identify ideal passive and active candidates to pitch for open roles. Learn more at https://bit.ly/3DE7wLl and take advantage of their special offer for our listeners.

On this week’s episode of the RAG, I’m excited to be featuring one of my own talks.Last week I presented at the Birmingham Recruitment Agency Expo in a room filled with well over 200 recruitment professionals.I discussed my thoughts and opinions on how LinkedIn is going to change over the next few years and what every recruiter should be doing now to make the most of their own opportunity before it does.I've rerecorded this session live in front of about 35 recruitment professionals as part of one of our Academy Taster Sessions, so this is a zoom recording, which is much clearer than the original stage recording, but it is the exact same presentation.I really hope you enjoy this because ultimately I think there are a lot of recruiters out there that don't quite know what they're doing on LinkedIn.They spend a fortuneOne of the biggest spends in recruitment businesses is on LinkedIn licenses. The average recruiter spends four hours a day and has a recruiter license, which is over £5000 per year, per person. Multiply that by your team and it's a huge investment!However the problem is that training, support and understanding of what you can do on the platform every day to reach thousands of people and ultimately stand out from the competition in your market is nonexistent in most agencies.So I’m giving you really simple, practical tips that you can use to take straight back to your agency.If you would like to find out more about how we can help you personally improve your performance and stand out on Linkedin, book a call with me and my team. Here we can then have a bespoke conversation with you in your recruitment business to see if our Academy program is right for you and whether we are the right fit: https://personalbrand.hoxomedia.com/registerVincereA message to all recruitment leaders looking to upgrade their CRM: Before you sign the contract, be sure to read the terms at least twice.Common traps to watch:- Not understanding the pricing model- Discounts limited to only the 1st year of contract length- Monthly contracts - this could mean flexibility for the vendor to raise prices- Data hosting - anything outside your country could mean compliance & legal issuesGet Vincere’s 10-step guide to keep your vendor due diligence & evaluation process airtight: https://bit.ly/3C2G1s3

On this week’s episode, I was joined by David Morgan, who in 2000 co-founded Morgan Law, a UK specialist public sector recruitment agency with 35 staff. In this episode, we went through David’s 22 years as a founder to unearth the highs, the lows, and the learnings you can take from them.We covered:-The reality of setting up a business in 2000 when the recruitment industry still operated using fax machines!-How his life changed as the business grew-David’s relationship with alcohol and how that's changed over the years-The breakdown of David’s first marriage and how this affected the business-David's approach to the business during and post Covid-19-The economic impact on his business right now and how he sees the market changing over the upcoming 18 months-His new role as CEO and how he spends his time David is an awesome guy with a unique and a powerful story, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did recording it!Anyone wanting to contact David can reach him via davidmorgan@morgan-law.comTalent Ticker Looking for a way to grow your recruitment business in 2022? Talent Ticker is here to help.More than 300 recruitment agencies are using Talent Ticker to automate their recruiters’ most monotonous tasks, help them predict who will be hiring 3 months in advance, and provide simple tools to identify ideal passive and active candidates to pitch for open roles.Learn more at https://bit.ly/3DE7wLl and take advantage of their special offer for our listeners.

Hannah was a guest on The RAG in June 2021 and she told the story of growing Meet, an international talent provider to the life sciences sector. At this point the business was 12 years old,  135 staff and multiple offices globally.She ended the episode by telling me that they had significant and strategic growth plans. I wasn’t entirely sure what this meant as Hannah chose not to elaborate. In September 2021, I realised why Hannah kept her cards so close to her chest, as Meet announced that lower mid-market private equity firm NorthEdge has backed the primary management buyout of the business. It then all made sense that Hannah had to be very careful about what she said on The RAG, as the transaction was at a very critical point!On this week’s episode I was so excited to have Hannah back on the show to talk about everything she couldn’t discuss last time.We covered-Why she felt the need to start the MBO process in the first place-The reality of the process -The impact on her life and family-The moment the transaction completed-What this means for her and her staff-How she has now grown the business to 230 people (a net growth of 95 in 16 months)-The working relationship with PE firms and why it can be an amazing one!For anyone looking to buy or sell a recruitment business, here is another story that details out the reality of the process and offers huge advice based on real life experience!VincereA message to all recruitment leaders looking to upgrade their CRM: Before you sign the contract, be sure to read the terms at least twice.Common traps to watch:- Not understanding the pricing model- Discounts limited to only the 1st year of contract length- Monthly contracts - this could mean flexibility for the vendor to raise prices- Data hosting - anything outside your country could mean compliance & legal issuesGet Vincere’s 10-step guide to keep your vendor due diligence & evaluation process airtight: https://bit.ly/3C2G1s3

Lloyd is BACK! This is episode 3 with Lloyd, as he came onto the show twice in 2019. In part 1, he was leading a small agency of 15 staff and spoke mainly about his career as a £1.6m biller and how/why he launched his original agency known as Focus Cloud.In late 2019, he talked about the growth of his agency to over 30 people and how his dream was to build Focus Cloud to 100 staff in the future, by expanding into numerous cloud-based recruitment markets.I had an absolute blast recording the first two episodes; from hilarious moments to some really hard-hitting deep revelations, Lloyd held nothing back.On this week’s episode, Lloyd is back, but things are different. In the past 12 months, he has worked tirelessly to acquire the number one UK-based Microsoft recruitment partner known as Cognitive Group.I have had the Founder & CEO of Cognitive Group Jon Keen on the RAG before and know the company well.Lloyd shares the full story of how he acquired the business and became extremely close friends with Jon.The newly created Focus Cloud Group now consists of over 107 staff, with Lloyd at the helm as Group CEO.He has made his dream come true, but he is only just getting started!This is another amazing episode with an incredible person, enjoy! Talent Ticker  Looking for a way to grow your recruitment business in 2022? Talent Ticker is here to help.More than 300 recruitment agencies are using Talent Ticker to automate their recruiters’ most monotonous tasks, help them predict who will be hiring 3 months in advance, and provide simple tools to identify ideal passive and active candidates to pitch for open roles.Learn more at https://bit.ly/3DE7wLl and take advantage of their special offer for our listeners.

On this week’s episode, I was delighted to be joined by Alex Odwell, Founder of fintech specialist recruitment agency Referment and most recently of tech business - Radar.Alex has been in the recruitment industry for 14 years. Previously a member of the founding team at Harrington Starr group, he left to launch his own agency in 2016.Referment was born to attract more candidates via referrals. As this is something every agency relies on, Alex was obsessed with making this process faster and more automated. Alex wanted to build something totally different to what he had before. He specifically wanted a lean team with systemised processes that work behind the scenes to surface relevant candidates for every job that his recruiters are working on and track information automatically within the CRM.Now, with 6 senior consultants each billing huge numbers, the investment in the technology has truly paid off. As a result he is now launching - Radar, a recruitment optimisation tool built by former recruiters for recruiters. Alex is a really honest and likeable guy who clearly understands the reality of running a modern day recruitment business.This episode is not to be missed if you are wanting to be more efficient and productive whilst using the tools you already pay for!VincereA message to all recruitment leaders looking to upgrade their CRM: Before you sign the contract, be sure to read the terms at least twice.Common traps to watch:- Not understanding the pricing model- Discounts limited to only the 1st year of contract length- Monthly contracts - this could mean flexibility for the vendor to raise prices- Data hosting - anything outside your country could mean compliance & legal issuesGet Vincere’s 10-step guide to keep your vendor due diligence & evaluation process airtight: https://bit.ly/3C2G1s3

We are back with season 6 and WHAT a guest to kick this season off!In this season, we will be continually digging into the stories of amazing recruitment founders but also talking about the reality of today’s economy. If any changes are happening in our sector then I want to find out and bring it to you first.On this week’s episode I was delighted to be joined by Ed Rossiter, Co-Founder & CEO of Phoenix Search, a specialist recruitment firm headquartered in Ireland but with offices in London and soon to be on the ground in the USA.Although it’s only 4 years old, Phoenix Search has scaled to 45 people and in the past few months secured a 1 million euro investment to scale the business with a further 250 people in the next 3-5 years!In this episode we spoke about:-Ed’s start-up story and why he decided to start Phoenix-The reality of the early days-How he’s got the business to 45 staff in a short period of time-Why and how he secured the 1 million euro investment-How he intends to spend it-His vision for the business-The impact the recession is having on his business today and his thoughts on what could happen nextFeaturing the first Irish guest on The RAG, this episode was packed full of information that I believe ALL potential and experienced recruitment owners will benefit from!Talent Ticker Looking for a way to grow your recruitment business in 2022? Talent Ticker is here to help.More than 300 recruitment agencies are using Talent Ticker to automate their recruiters’ most monotonous tasks, help them predict who will be hiring 3 months in advance, and provide simple tools to identify ideal passive and active candidates to pitch for open roles.Learn more at https://bit.ly/3DE7wLl and take advantage of their special offer for our listeners.

On this week’s episode we wrap up Season 5 of the show in spectacular style!I was honoured to be joined by Ben and Dan, Co-Founders of Edison Search a specialist IoT recruitment firm headquartered in Basingstoke UK with 20 staff within 14 months since inception.Ben and Dan worked together for a long time in their previous company, Ben was head of perm and Dan was head of contract recruitment. Their skills were always complimentary to each other and they always talked about starting their own firm.During the pandemic they had a group video call with their wives involved and made the decision to take the plunge - Edison Search was born!In June 2021 they launched their business with a few simple goals for year 1 Be 100% niche in the IoT space and recruit exclusively into the US from Basingstoke Invoice a minimum of £200k Begin to hire people by the end of the yearThey got to work in a small office and hit the phones hard, what happened next is nothing less than incredible.They are now 20 staff and looking to open an office in the US in the next year.A breath of fresh air to speak to, these owners are taking traditional methods but with a modern approach and it's working!A huge inspiration for any start up founders and one to watch for more established businesses, you will not regret tuning into this one!VincereA message to all recruitment leaders looking to upgrade their CRM: Before you sign the contract, be sure to read the terms at least twice.Common traps to watch:- Not understanding the pricing model- Discounts limited to only the 1st year of contract length- Monthly contracts - this could mean flexibility for the vendor to raise prices- Data hosting - anything outside your country could mean compliance & legal issuesGet Vinvere’s10-step guide to keep your vendor due diligence & evaluation process airtight.: https://bit.ly/3C2G1s3

On this week's episode of The RAG Podcast, I was joined by Rogier, the CEO of PCN Recruitment, a payments sector specialist recruitment agency with 30+ staff across offices in Amsterdam, Berlin and the USA.Rogier joined the business as an entry-level recruiter 9 years ago. He knew he wanted to work in sales and was keen on the payments sector - but he had no interest in staying in recruitment!When he heard about PCN he decided it would be a clever move to join as his first job. He worked as the first employee, working directly for the founder, and had the most incredible education in the process.His journey is inspiring to every person who doesn’t necessarily want to launch their own agency but is excited to stay on the journey with their current business!Sponsor: Looking for a way to grow your recruitment business in 2022? Talent Ticker is here to help.More than 300 recruitment agencies are using Talent Ticker to automate their recruiters’ most monotonous tasks, help them predict who will be hiring 3 months in advance, and provide simple tools to identify ideal passive and active candidates to pitch for open roles.Learn more at get.talentticker.ai/hoxo and take advantage of their special offer for our listeners.

On this week’s episode, I was joined by Chris O’Connell, a Leadership Coach, NED 🚀 and the host of The Purpose-Led Leadership Podcast. A top billing recruiter at S3, in his early 20s Chris co-founded Timothy James Recruitment, which he and his business partner grew to £25 million in turnover within 9 years.Chris had a life where he focused on the business 100% and sacrificed all else.Over the next 3 years, everything came crashing down:He had a painful exit from the businessHis marriage endedHe left the family homeHe tried to commit suicideThankfully, Chris managed to turn his life around and now works with recruitment businesses to ensure that they grow sustainably and avoid the mistakes that he made!A super open and vulnerable guy who is an inspiration for many around the world, I hope you enjoy this episode as we can all no doubt relate to many of Chris’s experiences!VincereA message to all recruitment leaders looking to upgrade their CRM: Before you sign the contract, be sure to read the terms at least twice.Common traps to watch:- Not understanding the pricing model- Discounts limited to only the 1st year of contract length- Monthly contracts - this could mean flexibility for the vendor to raise prices- Data hosting - anything outside your country could mean compliance & legal issuesGet Vinvere’s10-step guide to keep your vendor due diligence & evaluation process airtight.: https://bit.ly/3C2G1s3