CEO Interview on 10 Years at First Recruitment Group

07 Aug 2017

This is an interview with First Recruitment Group's CEO, John Urpi (pictured centre, with founders Andy Cartledge and Steve Farthing), as he looks back at his 10 years with the business. This interview is part of a series of articles produced to mark the companies 20th anniversary this year.

Read more about our 20th anniversary by clicking here.

How do you know Steve and Andy (First Recruitment Group owners)?

Over 30 years ago, after working as a self-employed engineering contractor I’d decided to give recruitment a try, with my first role as a Recruitment Manager at Hi-Tec Recruitment. Here I met Steve whose job was to support the recruiters; but I often challenged him to assist me with other work such as measuring up a sewage treatment plant. A job we’d been offered as a challenge before we could get vacancies from North West Water.

During this time I was asked to interview a recent graduate by one of our contractor engineers, and remember thinking “what can I do with a geology graduate”. However when I met Andy I thought he’d be good at recruitment First so we offered him a job as a Trainee Recruiter.

When I left for my next recruitment job I realised that the company I’d joined had no systems, was way behind the times and I desperately needed help, so I persuaded Steve to leave Hi-Tec and join me. He was only just 18, didn’t drive and the job was way over on the other side of town so we agreed that I would drive him to and from work. I’d agreed to do this for just 3 months while he learned to drive, passed his driving test and got a car! We both worked long hours developing new business, Steve passed his test and we achieved consistent growth and great results.

Years later, in the early 90’s, Andy was now working for a small recruitment company and had decided he wanted to leave. He approached me with a business proposal and we agreed that he’d work alongside me and Steve again. Then, around 1997, Steve and Andy left to set up First Technical Recruitment and so they went on their separate way but we still remained as friends and kept in touch with each other.

Why did you join First Recruitment Group?

Ten years later I decided that I needed a change from working with the same Recruitment Company. I was now the Managing Director and I’d worked hard for over 17 years growing what was a small recruitment business into a large and well respected International company. At the time I remember contemplating opening my own Italian restaurant – probably more to do with my Dad being Sardinian and my love of Italian food than a sensible business idea.

I’d handed in my resignation and was on garden leave contemplating my next move, when Steve and Andy approached me to join them. They explained that they needed someone with my experience and who they could trust to help them take First Recruitment Group to the next level. I decided to help on a consultancy basis, thinking that I would do it for no longer than 6 months or so whilst I decided what to do next. Two years later I was still working with them and they offered me the role of Managing Director. I was enjoying my new role, working alongside Steve and Andy once again with the new challenges and exciting potential that we faced together. It was just too compelling for me to turn them down.

What was it like when you initially joined First Recruitment?

First Recruitment Group worked in similar sectors and provided similar services to my previous company, but I noted a big difference in the culture and approach. In my previous role I had been client focused, intuitively building a culture based on my own personal values. First Recruitment differed with an approach that was much more candidate focused. I set about understanding our client relationships, asking them about our service to uncover their perceptions and how they valued us as a supplier. Alongside this I collaborated with our staff and introduced targeted development and training plans for the senior management team. We re-structured our recruitment processes and measurements, created recruitment operations and client effectiveness scorecards, implemented a more regular regime of client engagement and did all this whilst trying not to disrupt what was an extremely efficient recruitment process.

Changing the culture proved to be more difficult that I imagined. Years later I read that culture change is one of the most difficult tasks of an incoming MD; I wish I’d know that at the time!

Our client focus soon paid off when we produced a compelling and effective tender submission, resulting in us winning a 3 year agreement to supply UK and international recruitment services to a significant Oil & Gas company, who are still one of our key client to this day.

What were your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

My biggest challenge came during my first years with the business. In 2008 and the start of the global economic crisis the demand for engineering and technical candidates disappeared overnight. We had to change our candidate focus more quickly than I’d anticipated and our strategy needed to be modified and accelerated. We overcame this challenge by maximising our engagement with current clients, even when their demand for our services slowed and started to develop business with clients in new sectors and also with our current clients’ international requirements. Over the next few years we established offices in Australia, Thailand, Ghana and Kenya, specifically to support our clients with their international projects. We reduced our exposure and dependence on the Oil & Gas sector, entering and developing new and existing market sectors such as Nuclear, FMCG, and Utilities. We also responded to our client’s needs by setting up a commercial division to assist them and to broaden our delivery.

Minor challenges came about when myself, Steve and Andy would all have different opinions on what our next initiative or approach should be. This didn’t happen very often but when it did, agreement was vital. We’re all strong characters with firm opinions and on one occasion I remember referring to Steve as “an immovable object” and Andy as “an irresistible force”!

Our years of shared experience and friendship meant that we could have open and honest conversations, listening to each other and eventually reaching an agreement, sometimes with a dash of compromise.

Do you have any interesting memories that you can share with us?

I have so many happy memories of working here. I remember all our hard work was paying off back in 2012, when we’d bounced back from the global crisis and hit a turnover of over £100 million – that was quite special.

A funny incident that occurred at our old offices was when our IT Manager, who’s very entrepreneurial, set up a tuckshop with sweets, crisps, chocolate and drinks. He’d placed an honesty box nearby so that the staff could help themselves and pay when he wasn’t there. He’d noticed that there wasn’t enough money being put into the box so he asked me if he could set up a surveillance camera after work. It turned out to be the night security guard who was caught on camera helping himself to a bar of chocolate and a drink whilst on a night patrol through our offices!

The day that we moved into our current office really stands out. We bought the office in a rundown state and made a huge investment to make sure that it was a fun and productive environment for our staff. Before the grand opening in 2013 we showed it off to the staff when we gave them the grand tour of our new in-house Bistro café area, games area with artificial grass and tree, a pool table, table tennis and football table, a fully equipped gym, showers and changing facilities.

Where do you see the company in another 5 years’ time?

I’m extremely optimistic about the future of First Recruitment Group. We’ve developed close relationships with our clients, especially those that are recovering from the recent collapse in the Oil & Gas sector. We continue to deliver a great recruitment service and always seek to understand our clients’ needs, whilst steadily improving and broadening our engagement. We’ll also continue to diversify and seek new opportunities in the UK and internationally, with huge potential for growth in the future. We have a fantastic culture together with vast experience and a highly competitive management team and staff. I also see a great future ahead for managed and unique on-line solutions. We have the creativity and experience to deliver remarkable managed workforce solutions to clients from any market sector and I’m confident in our ability to evolve and deliver a full complement of recruitment services for our next generation of clients.