Read the business pages of any major news outlet or trade publication and the topic dominating the conversation is that of the economy. The picture being painted is not a pretty one, with business confidence seemingly at a five-year low. Few leaders are holding their breath for a more positive outlook in the second half of the year, and this is having a significant impact on the recruitment industry.
Yet against this backdrop, there are some notable exceptions of recruitment businesses successfully defying conditions and growing against the tide – we are one of them.
In February, we appointed Ricky Roy as the firm’s first UK Managing Partner – an announcement that the recruitment industry’s leading publication, Recruiter, featured as one of its top news stories that day (read the coverage here).
H&P Executive Search is in its seventh year in business, which is already showing promising signs of being our most profitable to date. With continued growth each year since 2019, the business is leaning into its people, cultural, and international strengths at scale. This is in stark contrast to other search firms that are seemingly focusing on consolidating their positions, waiting for trading conditions within their respective markets to improve, or pivoting altogether.
We operate in a highly competitive environment, but rather than wait and see how the markets will behave we are doubling down on expanding our service offering across jurisdictions and forging stronger, deeper client and candidate relationships. This is where Ricky’s appointment is even more critical to the business.
Indeed, H&P Executive Search is entering a new phase of its ongoing evolution and ambition. Having joined the business as its first employee, Ricky has played a pivotal role in building the firm’s Legal practice and ensuring H&P is able to compete on a level playing field with our larger and longer established competitors across international private practice and in-house markets.
Ricky’s newly-created role supports the strategic relocation of Founder and CEO Jack Hayes, who is relocating to the US to accelerate H&P’s already strong North American presence and growth trajectory.
Recruitment is a people business and those firms who prioritise positive workplace cultures, high-performing teams, and a commitment to keeping clients and candidates front and centre of their attention will always deliver a quality service that enables the business to outperform the pack.
As Harry Elkington, H&P Executive Search’s Chief Operations Officer stated in his latest blog: “The higher up you go, the more essential meaningful human relationships become. Leaders want to engage with real people who understand their motivations and aspirations – not feel processed by a system.”
With Ricky Roy now leading UK operations and Jack Hayes expanding the firm’s presence in the strategically important US market, H&P Executive Search is proving that even in a challenging economy, the right leadership makes all the difference.
