Acknowledging that a child has grown up is never easy

Thirty-five years ago, I set up my first recruitment agency in Braintree Essex. A young woman with a dream, a bucket full of energy, a passion for recruitment and, probably, a lot of naivety! Today the dream has become a reality. The energy and passion are still there, although they are expressed more quietly. The naivety, went a long time ago but has not been completely replaced by cynicism!

Today, the Just Recruitment Group is a multi-branch agency with a turnover of more than £15,000,000. It is the flag ship business in a string of agencies that cover General Recruitment, Education, Social Care and Executive Search. It is a child that has come of age; but it is still very much my child.

I have built other businesses that, when the opportunity arose, I sold. Just is different though. As I said earlier, it’s my child. We have built a team that shares a culture and a business ethos. Many of that team have been with me for very nearly the entire journey. Any exit plan I considered had to have the team at its core. That is why I have decided to move the ownership of the group into an Employee Owned Trust (EOT). A Trust that will run the business for the benefit of the employees.

I, and the board of directors, will stay in place for the next few years; to allow the orderly transformation of the business into an Employee Owned Company. It’s as exciting a project as the original creation of the business. What the next 35 years holds for Just Recruitment, I don’t know. What I do know is that I am handing it over to the best people available.

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To read our thought on what the future might bring see - The future of work