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David Bedford |
WHEN the partners in Bolton-based Recruitment Zone promised they would turn over £800,000 in their first year people scoffed.
One year later the scoffing turned to admiration when the company managed an astonishing £2.5 million.
Now, 11 years later, the company has grown and expanded to employ 65 staff, with an annual turnover of £28 million.
Since then, apart from one year, the company has almost doubled its turnover every 12 months and now has clients ranging from RBS, NatWest, LloydsTSB, HBOS, Shell and, more recently, BP.
Companies in the banking and financial services industry, call centres, accountancy, IT, HR, clerical and administrative, sales and marketing and, more recently in the engineering sectors, have all used the agency to help with recruitment.
Now joint owners David Bedford and Andy Barton have set themselves the ambitious target to grow the business to reach a turnover of £50 million by 2012.
Former Farnworth Grammar schoolboy Mr Bedford, who lives in Lostock, said: “The workforce we have are fantastic and we have worked very hard in getting the right people.
“They have all worked hard to make the business a success.”
The business is owned 50-50 by the partners and, as well as their headquarters on the Paragon Business Park in Horwich, they have offices in Edinburgh and London.
Despite the current doom and gloom, Recruitment Zone is cautiously optimistic and predicting its current record turnover will be repeated this year. Mr Bedford, aged 53, added: “When we started we looked at the market and thought, we can do things just as well, if not better, and on the back of this built a successful business – we just never considered it becoming this big.
“Our aim was always to set up a recruitment company that was highly professional, highly respected and operates with real ethics and principles.
“In the last couple of years we have managed to consolidate as a company and now have some of the UK’s largest banks, oil companies, IT companies and call centres in our portfolio.
“We are also looking to drive more business from the public sector.” |