15 Dec Unlocked – A Year in Review by the Maxegan Recruitment MD Richard Langshaw

On the 20th of July 2020, we received a call from a new Venture. After months of furlough, this good news could not have come at a better time. I was itching to throw myself back into the industry that I loved. Whilst the opportunity proved not to pan out, it pulled us all back into the office and drove us to work harder than ever before. Slowly but surely, we began to inject life back into Maxegan. We pushed and pushed until the end of 2020 at which point, we embraced 2021 with open arms.

Due to my 20 years of experience, I knew that post-recession, the industry would be saturated by permanent roles throughout 2021. This type of work differed slightly from the contract work that we had been known for at Maxegan, and it did not come without its challenges. I quickly realised that to successfully attack the permanent job market, I needed a Perm Recruiter to head the operation up. Furthermore, I already had the best man for the job in mind.

One LinkedIn message later, I was lucky enough to speak with Colin Taylor and in a quick turnaround of events, he started just one week after our initial conversation. What a strange couple of weeks those were! Maxegan was already busy, and we did not fully realise what a positive impact Colin was about to have.

Becoming an MD was a steep learning curve, and I quickly realised that I needed to set some targets and goals for myself. Maxegan had grown significantly between 2012 and 2016, but like most owner/manager businesses, we lacked direction, drive, and someone who was looking at the bigger picture. We have built up a network of very loyal clients, and they completely trust that we will send high-quality candidates instead of just a high quantity of CVs.

At this point, my capacity was already being stretched. It was blindingly obvious to me that I needed to change my role. I had inadvertently made myself head of cleaning, nipping to the shop, business development, master of Job boards, and resourcing. I also attempted (poorly) to make marketing materials and propositions. It took the pandemic to make me realise that Maxegan is not just a one-man band, but a collective of awesome people. To put it in football terms, I decided to go upstairs and become a proper Director instead of a day-to-day manager. If I can offer one word of advice to growing MDs it would be this: Rely on those you have employed to do their jobs.

New Maxegan –

So that is how the decision was made. Colin was going to Head up Sales, I would continue to service my established clients, and we would hire more sales and resourcing experts. Having bonded with Colin so quickly, it was clear to me that he had a very similar philosophy to myself. Recruitment is a tough job. Look after your staff, and they will look after you. From there, we quickly hired James to work in business development, and Ben to join Jack and Mark in the resourcing team.

I have put a lot of time, effort, and energy into figuring out what my take on being an MD is. In short, I believe that my job now is to make sure everyone around me can do theirs, whether that is by skill set or use of business spend. I am accountable to everyone in the business, and if people identify opportunities, it is my role to enable them. If we see a threat, my role is to navigate it. So Maxegan now had a very experienced Sales Floor and a fledging MD who committed to one core value: doing my best!

Turning the corner, January 2021 was our first month with a fully assembled team. Our sales had gone from pipeline to interviews and deals, and just like that, I was presented with my first major challenge. Our clients wanted to know more about who we are and what we do. I contacted a few agencies, worked out a budget, and pressed on. It took a bit of time to finalise, but we worked with an expert to develop a brochure that I know we are all incredibly proud of. Everyone got an input. It was the first time we started to move away from Richard at Maxegan, and we started to become; the Team at Maxegan.

The turn of the financial year –

Our quality of customer service was at an all-time high in March, and I was confident that we could maintain this performance throughout April. Everyone was doing their job and I still had a hand in recruitment. A lot of our long-standing clients had started to return, the sales floor was buzzing and every day I could see that the team was starting to pull together. Colin had his finger on the pulse of it all and between us, we worked out a growth plan over the coming months. We hired Chelsea as support to Colin and the Salesfloor and it felt like the place now had an aura. Over the next six months, we had three record months for the business. While our cost base went up with wages, we were bringing in a lot of new clients. James has been exceptional at this, and our business development model and candidate delivery were starting to work.

The future –

Colin was rightly promoted after a year in the business to head the whole practice up, we hired Connie a month ago and we’re still on the hunt to expand our team. James has also received a promotion this year in line with the phenomenal quality of his work. We even plan to take on a bigger office in the new year as a reflection of our ever-growing company. There are plans to actively grow our sales in 2022, and we have also engaged with MiM – Masters In Marketing. It feels like we have a full-time marketing executive on board, and we are now beginning to push out our message.

I remain passionate about giving the best customer service possible to both clients and consultants. The new challenge is finding good staff, so again we will look to grow our own and hire externally if people will genuinely add to our offering.

There has been a lot of change for me over the last year, I am now a little bit more experienced and have worked a few things regarding how to be an MD. It is not often after 10 years in a job that you get excited on the way to work. I feel extremely lucky to have such an amazing team around me. I know I can’t do it on my own, but in delegating responsibility and putting my trust into good people, we are now starting to become a medium-sized recruitment business with a very ambitious be realistic plan for the mid-term.

I want to say a huge thank you, not only to my team but also to our loyal client base. Each of you has helped to make this year the success it was, and I cannot wait to smash it all over again next year!

Rich