Smart 1 Recruitment's 2nd Birthday!

Smart 1 Recruitment started off as just an idea for Directors Cathy and Mike. But with hard work and dedication, it became a reality! On our 2nd birthday, we're looking back on our journey so far...

Having spent 11 years in Recruitment, Mike had a desire to bring something new to the recruitment market and having ran a successful business in the past and completed her CIPD qualifications, Cathy was keen to start a new venture using her business experience and HR skills.

In 2015 Cathy and Mike decided to take a leap of faith and give it a go! After months of planning and preparation, Smart 1 Launched in April 2015.

Smart 1 started out as just a tiny office in The Business Centre in Redditch. Mike and Cathy worked all hours networking with local businesses and speaking to local candidates to kick start their new business.

Smart 1 was setting out to be different and in Mike's opinion candidate care was something that was really lacking in the recruitment industry. So, shortly after Smart 1 started placing temporary workers out on assignments, Cathy and Mike launched 'Temp of the Month'. We were the first and only recruitment agency to offer a regular monthly reward scheme for our temporary workers. For our clients, it is a completely free of charge service that allows them to nominate a worker that is going above and beyond. For our candidates, it is a personal thank you from us and a 'well done' from our client rewarding them for their hard work so far. This was, and still is, a highlight for us every month from seeing the nominations come in to going out and delivering the reward on site.

As business started to grow, Smart 1 recruited its first Recruitment Advisor, Georgina Shepherd - she is still with us today and has since been promoted to Senior Recruitment Advisor! Shortly after Georgina joining, with the number of accounts and workers increasing, we also recruited a team member to cover our accounts and payroll.

Christmas 2015 was the busiest period Smart 1 has seen so far. Working on a large contract the team were working 7 days a week and even delivered some delight, in the form of hot food, to our hard working temps!

One of Mike's proudest moments so far was in the midst of all this hustle and bustle...

 

In my opinion, our biggest achievement so far is having 209 temps out in one week! This was a personal record for me in my 12 years in recruitment and a really proud moment for the Smart 1 team.

Heading into 2016 we were coming up on our 1st Birthday. Thanks to the support of our growing client base and dedicated candidates, we were going from strength to strength and so April 2016 was a real celebration for the team and Cathy's Smart 1 highlight so far...

Hearing what our clients had to say about us in our first year reviews made me really proud. It was proof that we had achieved what we set out to do!

With business growing, it was time to make another addition to the team so shortly after our first birthday we recruited our second Recruitment Advisor, Nathan Evans. Nathan had worked with Mike previously and joined the team to support Georgina with our temporary recruitment offering.

After our success in the temporary market and having only dipped our toes into the world of permanent recruitment, in August 2016 Jamie McGinn joined the team to provide a dedicated service for permanent placements. Having come from a marketing background, Jamie also doubled up as our Brand Manager helping spread the word about Smart 1 building on our local awareness and reputation.

Smart 1 are now proud to offer a full recruitment solution covering temporary, permanent, industrial and commercial positions. And we are continuing to deliver that service with a friendly more personal touch.

Now celebrating our 2nd birthday, we are extremely grateful to everyone who has supported us so far. To our candidates for the hard work and dedication, to our clients for their belief in us and to our team for helping to make Smart 1 what it is today. We are looking forward to the next chapter and welcoming a new team member on board very soon!

We hope that you will all continue to support us on our journey and, in our vision to become the best local recruitment agency!