Having worked for over 22 years within the recruitment industry specialising in Logistics, Distribution and Supply Chain, I’ve experienced many highs that this industry brings and unfortunately at times some of the lows.
The standout experiences include The Agency Workers Regulations, 2011 and more recently when the IR35 legislation was actioned in April 2021. These were trying times however, showing a clear understanding and adaptability was key to success when advising clients and candidates how to navigating our way through these challenges whilst operating in a compliant way. Being adaptable and in tune with the market is of paramount importance to ensure we recruit in a slick and professional manner.
In my younger years I was a keen sportsman, training and playing football at a high domestic level and following this I even coached and played in Texas, USA. I feel I have transferred the competitive edge and team player skills which I picked up in my early days as a footballer and are now much needed for my role with Mainstay. This has been pivotal to my success. During my career I have also built very high resilience levels which is by and large the main reason I have worked in this industry for such a long time.
Within my sector I enjoy building relationships with the many various characters and personalities that work in the Logistics, Distribution and Supply-Chain industry. This can range from van drivers to CEOs and I’ve and many times I have had to “wear various hats for various conversations”. Thankfully, I have seen the sector become more regulated and generally more professional in recent years and although this has created additional challenges in itself, it is definitely now a safer and more desirable industry to work in.
My particular role has evolved over the years from being a trainee recruitment consultant in 2001, learning as much as I can about the industry and building up my confidence to operate at a high level to more recently becoming a senior manager at Mainstay. I have worked at Mainstay since June 2021. My role involves overseeing the Logistics departments at both the Walsall and Coventry branches alongside my colleague Tom Williams. Both Tom and I compliment each other well and share the same values on how the job needs to be done to ensure we are maximising our opportunities to help provide further growth within the company. I share my time equally between the two branches on a weekly basis which I feel makes my role more varied and at times more stimulating as this enables me to meet more people and build relationships.
During my extensive career there has been areas of the job that I have naturally gravitated towards. As I’ve already touched on, building relationships on a long-term basis has always been an area expertise of mine. This has been built on solid delivery of our services, which in turn promotes trust – issues can and do happen from time to time, however it’s how we react to these issues is the key to success. I also enjoy the training and development of new staff, having trained over 20 consultants in my career. I take great pride and job satisfaction when seeing consultant’s/managers further their careers knowing that I have played an instrumental part with their success.
Although my experiences have been invaluable to my current role, I still value the ability to constantly keep learning and fine tuning my skills needed for my position and to further my own career as I am a stronger believer in needing to evolve with the times. I am living proof that adopting a flexible approach is essential. Being a recruiter in 2001 is vastly different to being one in 2023, however the basic principles are the same. Just the tools we use, and the people are different. With this in mind, I’m pleased to say that here at Mainstay I work within an excellent like-minded team that can provide fresh and innovative ideas. Mainstay also provide additional and on-going training by a nominated and proven trainer. His advice and support has also been of great benefit to me and my clients, candidates, and teams that I’m managing.
When I’m out of the office, I spend a great deal of my time “ferrying” my 16-year-old son around the Midlands to his football matches and training sessions. We also enjoy watching football together. I also enjoy watching films or documentaries with my partner, even if it’s always a horror that she picks! I know how important it is having down-time and to re-charge your batteries when working in my sector.