THORNTON GREGORY

Starting Thornton Gregory was scary.... I think all business owners would agree but with a degree of confidence after a couple of swift phone calls to clients, post a rather dramatic meeting with a previous employer, I was encouraged to step forward and take the plunge. Some clients questioned why I hadn’t done it years ago. Thornton Gregory started in April 2016 so has moved into our 3rd successful year. I started the business off the back of 9 years working in London, in a couple of recruitment businesses, but always keeping my hands on recruiting whilst also running teams delivering Technology personnel. There are a few things that I learnt along the way… Recruitment is relationship based. I love working long term with clients and working as a consultant. I am not, nor have ever been, a ‘bums on seats’ recruiter. I love the challenge of finding that fit, for both client and candidate. That is probably why a heavily KPI driven environment didn’t suit me. Most of the clients I work with today, I have worked with for 5 years (+) and I enjoy that process of getting to know a business. Really getting under the skin of the environment and finding out what the client wants and therefore actually reading the candidates well enough to know if they will enjoy it there. After 12 years in the game, I still recruit every day. After all the statistics on your working week, and spending more time at your desk than with your family is true (if you work full time) so you have to make sure that works for you. We want our candidates to stay, and enjoy what they do, whilst positively effecting the environment we have placed them in. I want them to think upon Thornton Gregorys’ first conversation as a positive encounter and something that positively affected their future. I truly believe what we do, can be done better. I am certainly not saying that Thornton Gregory has the perfect solution but I think customer service on both sides of the introduction is paramount. The candidate has to trust your advice and the client has to trust that you have put the best possible person in front of them. Anything less, is a waste of all parties time. Understanding your market is key. I have made a niche market choice for myself, as has my business partner. We understand both generalist technology (in my case into Gambling, Travel and Retail, and in his, Marketing and Advertising Technology) implicitly and enjoy providing honest advice on the market. We interview people all day, everyday. It is great to pass that information on. Thornton Gregory is unusual. My business partner is also my brother. I had my daughter in December 2017 and in September, Simon stepped away from a successful and long term recruitment career with a great business, to come and help me run Thornton Gregory. Some people shudder and ask how do we do it? Throughout my career this is the best working relationship I have ever had. If you can’t be honest with your family, who can you? We have the same vision for this business and have pride in what we do. The only challenge is that we make sure we don’t discuss business over Sunday lunch! Thornton Gregory is small and successful now but we have large aspirations. We are learning about social media, and we are constantly evolving as an agency. As we launch our new website today, I would like to thank our loyal clients and candidates. We are really just at the start of our journey but we are both really enjoying the ride.