Entrepreneurs Forum

14th July 2008 - Exclusive Approach Pays Off For HR Recruitment Specialist

Exclusive Approach Pays Off For HR Recruitment Specialist

The region’s only independent recruitment company dedicated to HR professionals is celebrating its first year in business by appointing three new staff, with ambitious plans to double that number again in the next 12 months as it expands to meet demand and pushes further outside the region.

Gateshead-based Exclusive Human Resources was set up by managing director Mark Ions in July 2007 and since then has won a growing share of the region’s HR recruitment market, placing a stream of candidates into permanent and temporary roles. Its fresh approach has seen it build relationships with a large number of the region’s businesses, from blue chip organisations to small, owner-managed businesses stretching from Teesside up to the Scottish border and across into Cumbria.

The three new recruits, who take team numbers to four include Jen Ions, who has taken up the position of operations manager. Jen, who was born in Scotland and is a former student of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, holds a BA Honours in Law and Management joins the firm from a key role in the resourcing team at software giants Sage. She brings with her a wealth of commercial experience, having forged a career which saw her start out on the retail shop floor with a UK-wide chain of designer brand shops and progress to store manager and ultimately new store development, and across management positions covering both HR and operations.

Gareth Harrison has joined the company as its senior consultant. Holding a BA in Business Studies and Economics, CIPD member Gareth also has a Postgraduate Diploma in HR Management. His career history includes two years with a City based recruitment agency specialising in legal appointments up to partner level. After moving back to his native North East, Gareth spent three years as recruitment manager for a Newcastle-based niche legal recruitment company, before moving to a public sector training provider where he was responsible for apprenticeship HR issues and for introducing structured HR policies and procedures.

The company’s new customer relationship guardian Julie Armstrong has a broad range of experience gained in the professional services and financial sectors, in both business development and technical areas. Her role will include maintaining strong client and candidate relationships and developing new business opportunities.

The company has operated on family-friendly working lines from day one and both Julie and Jen will be working flexibly to help balance their new roles with family responsibilities, using a web-enabled database that allows staff to provide a seamless service to clients and candidates alike, whether they are based in the office, at home or on the move.

Managing director Mark Ions said: "After nearly ten years in the recruitment business I was totally disillusioned with working for big recruitment agencies where numbers counted for more than people.

"The support we have had from employers and candidates alike over the past year has been brilliant and reinforces our belief that the market was ready for a business where integrity and a genuine approach counted for far more than simply a desire to fill seats and achieve short term targets.

"In the face of an economic downturn, and with the share price of one of the UK’s nationwide recruitment companies falling to its lowest for five years, it’s more important than ever that recruiters prove their worth.

"Between them all three of our new team members bring a wide range of talent, expertise and enthusiasm, which puts us in an ideal position to see our future growth plans become a reality.

"We are delighted about how far we have come in our first year of business and are looking forward to consolidating on that and moving into a new phase that we are confident will see us establish our position as the leading player in the North East specialist recruitment market. We also have some exciting plans to expand outside the region and we have identified several potential target cities which would suit our business model."

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