Launching her very own recruitment business had always been in Lucy’s grand plan, and after years of working in the industry for other people she joined forces with her sister to do it for herself. The niche approach they decided to take meant business boomed, and having recruited an office manager, are ready to embark on the next stage of growth. Business Link in the East of England continues to provide expert support and advice, helping Lucy to exploit all opportunities that come her way.

Former City IT recruiter Lucy Gilmour decided it was time she worked hard adding value to her own business, rather than other people’s. So with her sister, Wendy Barriball, she launched recruitment agency RecruitAbility, using support and advice from Business Link’s start-up team.

The Challenge

“I started my career working for an IT executive search and selection agency in London and worked my way up into a number of senior roles,” explains Lucy. “When I decided to move back to my native Essex, I found myself as managing director of an estab-lished generalist recruitment agency that was starting up a new branch in Suffolk.”

According to Lucy, she had a completely clean sheet with the new branch, putting in incredibly long hours building the business, and cold calling potential clients to build up sales from scratch. After a while, she began to think that if she was investing so much of herself into building a recruitment business, she would like it to have her name above the door.

“I’ve long had a burning desire to start my own agency,” explains Lucy. “It took my business-building experience with another company to realise that I could and should be doing it for myself.” Lucy (on the left in the picture) talked through the idea with Wendy (on the right), her sister, who had considerable HR, retail and administration experience from working for Oxford Street stores and City stockbrokers.

Before long, they decided that their next move should be to harness their expertise to launch their own agency. However, Lucy had never launched and run her own small business from scratch before. So, when a friend suggested she accompany her to a Business Link Start Your Own Business workshop, Lucy jumped at the chance.

The Solution

Enterprise Awareness Manager Ingrid Bennett takes up the story: “When I met Lucy on the Start Your Own Business workshop, I was immediately impressed with the clarity of her vision. She knew exactly what kind of recruitment business she wanted to create.” And when Ingrid met Lucy 12 months after the workshop at a recruitment fair, Lucy and Wendy had done just that – RecruitAbility was a thriving business in its first year of trading, and Ingrid could hardly get standing room at the RecruitAbility booth!

As Lucy explains it, the Business Link workshop was the springboard that launched their successful business. “The workshop provided us with loads of practical guidance on how to start and run a small business. We were not fed loads of theory – we were told about all the practicalities. I’m still using the information I picked up there every day.”

The duo’s first step was to choose an accountant, as recommended by the workshop, and talk through the best trading vehicle for the business. Then, says Lucy, they started going through all the essentials she had learned on the workshop. “We sat down and wrote our business plan. Then we chose a name, registered the company and all the other statutory registrations required by organisations like HMRC.”

Then the hard work began, building up a client roster from nothing, a process that Lucy was familiar with. But this time, she was doing it for herself and her business partner, Wendy. “RecruitAbility is a Hertfordshire and Essex focused agency and we offer our clients a genuinely personal service,” says Lucy. “We are not a volume agency and never put forward a candidate unless we are completely confident.”

The Impact

The niche approach has paid off, as Ingrid explains: “When I met Lucy after RecruitAbility had been trading for a year, I was told that they are about to recruit an office manager themselves, as business is going so well.”

And Lucy concludes: “Business Link’s Start Your Own Business workshop was incredibly helpful when we started out. Now, as we embark on the next phase of RecruitAbility’s growth, Business Link’s assistance will feature in all our future plans.”

About Business Link in the East of England:

Business Link provides information, practical advice and support to help people to start, run or grow their businesses

Our clients fall in to two main categories:

-Those running or working in established small and medium sized businesses

-Those who want to start their own business

Both client groups can access independent, impartial and, in most instances, free help and support from Business Link in the form of:

-Free one-to-one help from an experienced Business Adviser (established businesses) or Enterprise Champion (start-ups)

-Workshops and briefings on a range of business subjects such as business planning, sales and marketing, legislation, developing people

-Telephone and online support through our Regional Information and Intelligence centre

Business Link in the East of England works with businesses and entrepreneurs in the 6 counties in the East of England: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk

Business Link is a government initiative to promote enterprise, funded in the East of England by the East of England Development Agency