Recruitment Unplugged: Inside Responsive Personnel

Well, welcome to the first episode of Recruitment Unplugged inside Responsive Personnel. As the title suggests, we're here with Responsive Personnel. This first episode, it is the series kickoff and we're going to meet some key members of the team. There is more of them, but we've just managed to lasso three of them in at the moment. My name is Chris Dawes, Visual PR, and I'm going to be hosting this episode. I'm going to work my way around. First of all, we've got the boss man here, Danny Kimber. You all right, Danny? Good afternoon, Chris. How are we doing? I'm good, I'm good. It feels like ages we've been building up to this. It has, to be fair, yeah. We've been chatting about it for a while. We're here, and we've got the team with us, so all good. We do, and we're going to start with you in a minute, but go around the team, and we've got Hazel Cattell. Cut out. Cut out. I knew I was going to get it wrong. Fine. There's so many jokes behind you. You're close on the knees, you normally are. Well, good. That makes a change. Payroll and compliance executive. Yeah. So we'll be catching up with you as well. And last, but by no means least, we've got Dominic Randall. Dominic? Dominic? Dominic Randall. See, I got everyone else's name wrong, so I've got to get yours wrong as well. Thanks, Chris. And you're business manager. Yes. So we'll be catching up with you all things on you and your role as well. So look forward to it. Thanks, Don. But Danny, it makes sense. We start with the main man. Yes. Before we get to responsive personnel, I want to go back a little bit further. What's your personal background? Because has it always been recruitment? Recruitment for probably the last twenty five years, I would say. Yeah. Before that, played football till I was eighteen, nineteen. Wasn't really sure what I want to do after that. Done a few temp roles, sales, customer service, and then conversation led into recruitment. And then four or five years of working for two different companies, learnt the trade, went into a business manager role similar to Dom's what he's into now for another six years or so. And then time to go alone. So, twenty fourteen was the start of responses after all of that. Wow, so over ten years old now, which I know because I celebrated that with you guys. We did have the birthday. Yeah, the celebrations were good back in September of last year. I don't see five minutes ago. It's scary. It's absolutely flown by. Absolutely flown by. Yeah, it really has. It's incredible, which is something else that we'll come into in due course. That was also the birth of an offshoot company as well. Yeah, another company that's now in the office as well. Yeah, which we will come on to. An event for twenty-four hours that night, wasn't it? It was. We blamed Dom for that, I think, didn't we? I always had to blame on that. It's all your fault. OK, so ten years. Absolutely amazing. So you set it up. Yep. What was the aim of the company in those early stages? Because I could we could glibly say it's a recruitment company, but we're going to hone that down. What was the initial start? I think I'd worked with a number of clients that we're still working with as of now, really. And I built those relationships over probably ten, twelve years. A number of occasions, people saying, you need to go on your own. We'll follow you. We can have our business and look after us. And it kind of a conversation with family and it kind of evolved from there. And then we did. And we were lucky that we started with a good client base from day one. So we wasn't going completely cold. We probably bought three or four clients with us from day one, which made a huge impact that we had business ready to manage from there. So we started off in a small office, the two of us, and quite quickly grew. Within six months, we needed to get another two people on board. And it's grown from them. There's been ups and downs, but we're still supplying the clients that we had from day one, which was a nice feeling as well. Tell my evil mind, because when you said you need to add a couple of people, I was like, which recruitment company did you go to? To be fair, that's quite a good thing, because one of the hardest things is recruiting your own staff. Really? Yeah, because you know what you're looking for and you know the ups and downs of it. So I think most recruiters will say, and there actually is a recruitment to recruitment company as well. There's a number of them in the UK that supply staff into recruitment agencies. Wow. So, yeah, and they were charging similar fees to what we guys charge on a daily basis from there. But finding staff for your team is probably one of the hardest things to do. Yeah, I can imagine. That's interesting. So there's me thinking I was being flippant. No, there is. There's a number of them that phone us up on a daily basis asking if we need any more consultants or staff and doing exactly what we're doing into the industrial and commercial sectors. And that's where I was about to go next is that it's, it's quite targeted what you guys do. Yeah, we've had great success in the industrial sector. So warehouse, manufacturing, driving, facilities management has been good. And then we've had some success in the commercial fields as well. So call centres, estate agency has been a great one since we've had Tom on board with us. And hospitality, work with a number of breweries, hotels, and that's really good. So it's mainly consistent all year round. So we're not really seeing massive peaks and drops. So we're staying fairly consistent on a yearly basis, day by day, which is really good for us that we're never looking over our shoulder, what's next? We've always got a consistent stream of work, really. Was that deliberate, the peaks and troughs, or has that kind of gone, oh, do you know what, that's worked out? I think the market's changed a lot in probably the last five or six years. We always used to see a peak in September through to January with Christmas, especially in the industrial sector. That's kind of levelled off for everyone now, I would say. It's more of a consistent basis and people aren't panicked by it. or needing additional staff. But it is a conscious effort as well that we know that if we've got a good pipeline of clients coming through throughout the course of the year, then we can be fairly consistent at what we're offering and it's easier to look at our growth plans from there as well. And it's temporary is the mainstay, temporary positions, but there is PERMs as well. Yeah, I'd say probably eighty-five percent of ours is temporary. A lot of them are temp to PERM roles, so thirteen weeks temp to PERM. And then we do offer a permanent service as well, which is a straight permanent fee for a member of staff that we source for you as well. I like that. What I hasten to add, by the way, is when we say perm, we mean permanent, not... Yeah, not perms at last. I'd love to have perms. But permanent offerings from there. So if you're looking for someone to join your team on a permanent basis, then we can source them. We go through the interview process with you, the vetting process, the proof of right to work. We do everything. So it frees your time up to focus on your business. Now, I know obviously we'll come on to payroll in more detail when we speak to Hazel, but That's kind of like offering that whole facility is as much a benefit to your clients as the recruiting itself. Yeah, a hundred percent. I think people think that we just put people in jobs all day, every day, but there's a lot more that goes into it. A lot of consultancy work, understanding the clients, the back office that Hazel is paramount to with the payroll and the compliance check-in and everything. proof of right to work and everything that goes on behind the scenes that you probably don't see on a regular basis. That happens without you really knowing it. And then we've got the forward thinking guys like Dom and Callum and a few others that are more forward facing, looking at business development and growing the business forward from there. But all the payroll happens fairly seamlessly with Hazel looking after it, regular checks on it, regular compliance checks on the payroll. And it's just another added value thing that we can offer from there as well. Yeah, it makes life a lot easier for everybody, doesn't it? That's the reality. How much has it grown over those years and what's the future? Not necessarily looking like, but plans. I mean, I know you and I have touched on this wicked app that you guys have got. Yeah, there's... It's gone really well for us, and I feel like we've only just started, even though we're ten years old now, I feel like we're still young into the growth of the business. There's plans to open a few more branches in the next eighteen months. I know me and Dom have had numerous conversations about locations and clients that we can tap into in different areas, and we're quite lucky that our client network does go all across the UK, so we know that we've got some ready-made solutions that we can tap into. But also the app as well. I think technology is coming into a huge part for businesses now. Not everyone's cup of tea. We have got some clients that are resistant to it. We've got some candidates that are resistant to it as well. But the option's there, isn't it? The option's there if they want it. That's the key thing. We do find that probably at the moment it's about a fifty-fifty split. Really? With good old-fashioned paperwork or logging into an app and putting hours in, applying for jobs and registering on the app is easy as well. So technology will be a big part of it and with technology it means that we can go anywhere with it as well because it's in the palm of our hands and we can take that wherever we need to go but we're still off of the personal touch with staff in a local branch as well. So I think for me the next eighteen months, two years are huge for where we want to be with the guidance that we've got and if we can bring the right people in the right locations then it's a really exciting period for us. very much is that the feel that I've had with you guys since the get-go is that it's a very personable company and I feel that that's sort of been led by you in the first instance. Yeah, I think it's for me people buy from people and you have to be comfortable in understanding what you're getting into and I think that with us we are very transparent everything is It's black and white. We're not looking to hide anything from anyone. I think we're open and honest with our candidates and the conversations we have from them that some people are really understanding if they want the odd day's work here or there. We've got people that have been in work now for eighteen, twenty four months that just haven't want to go permanent with a contract on a permanent contract, but stay temporary with us. They're communicated with on a regular basis. We touch base with them. Everything we do is to deliver a service and not just a number, which I think is a big thing in a service-driven environment. And in fact, I would expand that and say delivering two distinct services because there's two distinct clients is the employer and the employee. A hundred percent, yeah. And you look after both sides is the whole idea that I see. Yeah, and I've seen it before where everyone focused on the employer, but the employee, if we don't have them going to work on a daily basis... then we don't have an employer at the other end. So for me, we do juggle it, and we split the business down into sales and servicing. So we have got some target-driven salespeople, but we've also got a team of people in the office that service the candidates as well. So that's the big thing, and that's where we excel, I would say, from our perspective. And I'm pretty sure we're going deeper in this in a future episode. But one of the big things that really jumped out at me is that where you're talking the extra mile that you guys go to look after the employees. Yeah, it's just the little things on a Sunday evening. We do drop them a text just to say, hey, have a good weekend and enjoy work this week. We're here if you need us. Just the little things we do, Friday lunches that we put on different team events as well. We're doing stuff with the Swindon Wildcats ice hockey team and trying to get candidates involved in that as well. So the more valued they feel, the better they're going to be for us and championing our corner. Absolutely, because historically, there are certain environments where it's quite a soulless industry. It is, yeah, it can be and it can be one that people sit behind a desk and they don't really have that personal interaction with clients and candidates and that's something that we're really keen to avoid and we want to be visible, we want to be seen out there, we want to put ourselves in that shop window and with that shows our true colours really, not just sat behind a phone and make an X amount of calls per day trying to get the best candidate. If we can do that personal side of it, then it stands us in good stead for the future. Yeah, I mean, I remember when I finished university, I did a business and IT degree, and I'll leave them nameless, but a massive, at least, are they national or multinational? Probably multinational, yeah. Got me to an interview for them, and I went up to London and had the interview and found that it was things like, You would be stood in the office until you'd made X number of calls. Then you were allowed a chair. And then it was like, I can't remember, you could go and use the toilet after you've made this many. And it was just like, I was like going, that's a battery farm. Yeah. And you do see that with clients as well. And I think the nice thing with this was, and Don will champion this later on a little bit as well, that... We hope. Where we are so client-focused, we hear so many times that other people are using agencies that they've never met in person before. And I think for us, if you can understand and see the environment that we're going to place people into... It makes our life ten times easier briefing the candidate on what to expect. And this is how you park and this is where you go to get in the front door and canteens here. And we can provide that overall service and not just put a body into a placement realistically. Yeah, and I think that that's where you guys seem to be getting the balance right in my mind is that what we want, if I consider myself, I mean, either side as a boss, of a company, I'm like, look, I want that I'm now sat here and the needs come up. I want it to be as automated as possible. I can just go, guys, I need this. But that doesn't mean I want it to stop there. That means whilst I've thought about it and I know I've got the requirement, I can do that, but it will then be, we will meet in person and we'll sort it out as and when. But equally as an employee, I could be sat there on a weekend and go, you know, jeepers, this isn't working out. I've got to get a job. I want to be able to go online. I want to put my CV and I want to apply for jobs. I want that automation. I want that technology use. But I don't want that to be the end of it. I want that to then lead to the in-person bit so that you get to know me. Don't judge me on my written CV, for goodness sake. It needs to be a face-to-face conversation. And even our conversations aren't what I would call interview-based. They're more about the individual, understanding them. Do they drive? Can they get to the places that we're putting them in for work? Do they understand the companies? Do they understand the surroundings? And everything about that just makes it a little bit easier to engage the candidate and put them into work rather than just popping them up and putting them in a place and letting them be from there. But the technology is there if they want to use it and embrace it. And we do. We do get a good response through the technology and the app. But we do see a lot of faces on a daily basis as well. Yeah, technology is there to help, not to abandon. Yeah, I don't think everyone's obsessed with AI at the moment. I think it's great to a certain degree, but I don't think you can ever have a bad word about the personal side of it and the personal touch that can be delivered. Agreed, a hundred percent agreed. Before we move on, what do you like to do outside of work? keen fan of Chelsea Football Club lucky enough to have season tickets up there so spend my weekends up there involved with Swindon Ice Hockey same as yourself won't talk about the weekend but some good some bad and just family spending time with family and getting out on the golf course when the weather's a little bit better as well I was about to say, you do love your golf. I do love my golf, yeah. But yeah, let's not talk about that as well. It's not been the best for the last couple of months. No. Well, that's down to the weather. Yeah, we're playing winter golf for that. Yeah, exactly. It doesn't count. It doesn't count at all. Brilliant. Well, thanks, Danny. And we'll be back in and out of all of that as well. But we're going to move on to Hazel now. Payroll and compliance. I mean, first of all, it's fairly self-explanatory, but give us a synopsis of what that role is. So it's a bit of mixing with candidates, clients, I get the whole view of the business. Yeah, so getting candidates paid, things like that, making sure they're all compliant, right to work checks, making sure the clients are compliant as well as the candidates. Right, with what, like health and safety? Yeah, health and safety, in terms of business, that sort of thing, making sure their credit checks are done, you know, we're providing a service as well, so it's nice to get paid for that service, obviously. It helps, yeah, it does. Okay, fair enough. How often is the payroll done then, is that weekly? It's weekly, yeah, so all our candidates get paid on a Friday, I chase time sheets on a Monday, yeah. Yeah, it's a lot some days. Yes, because I think I've made the mistake of trying to contact you on the wrong day. Yeah. These guys could have warned me, but no, they thought it'd be funny. Monday's definitely a hazel day that she doesn't need to have. Yeah. Which I did yesterday, admittedly, but hey, I got away with that. Yeah, short email back, like, go, go, go. It was fine, it was fine. Yeah. The big one for you, though, is that you're recently back from maternity leave. Yeah. So congratulations, obviously. Thank you. But I think we're past that point. Yeah, we are. In fact, it's flopped the other way now. I'm not sure. No sleep and all of that. Yeah, yeah. It's a tough time at the moment. But you were with the company prior to going off on maternity leave. Yeah. And you then went off and done it. And I know that it's a big comment that the flexibility that you were afforded to be able to return back as well. Yeah. So I kind of obviously didn't want to miss too much of her growing up and things like that. So me and Danny had a conversation about hours, how we're going to get our fit done, reducing the hours, but kind of making sure I get an income and So yeah, Danny's been very flexible with that and it just adds to why I wanted to come back really. Yeah. Yeah, because I've certainly never heard a bad word from employees so far, Danny. Not too bad. Don't ask me on a Monday. But from your perspective, is that it was someone that you knew what they were doing? Yeah, I think when Hazel was out of the business for nine, ten months that... we noticed it. Having Hazel pregnant for nine months wasn't the easiest nine months of our life, to be fair. But the nine months that we didn't have Hazel, we knew that we missed her. Not just from a compliance and a payroll perspective as an individual into the business. She does bring energy and the odd random thing that she comes out with. But she does do a lot of things for me as well on a personal level and looks after and make sure things are happening that I may be missing or not got time to do so having hazel back this year I think it's been a huge benefit to the business um and we'll have an aj around as well so it's been great when little one pops in um but yeah first and foremost hazel's now a mum and then fits work alongside it as well so for us it's been yeah win-win situation and because and the way that this where we were hearing you make sure this boy's looked after as well uh and everyone he knows where he's supposed to be and when um because your background background is admin isn't it yes yes so I've always been an admin in health and social care tried three sixty recruitment weren't so great at the sales side of things so I was like I want to stay in recruitment but I want to do the admin what I know yeah um so yeah luckily I found time Irrelevant question, what's three-sixty recruitment? Three-sixty recruitment is where you do a whole full cycle of recruitment. So it can be anything from sorting your candidates, finding them placements, registrations, referencing, payroll, everything. And we kind of broke the mould probably four or five years ago where we wanted to bring people in and play a smaller part for that full circle so we've got Dom and a few others that focus on the sales side we've got the servicing team behind it and then we've got the admin team behind that as well so rather than a three sixty role being done everyone's playing a smaller part but just important in the bigger picture So it means we're not, we're plans for key people strengths at the moment, rather than trying to pigeonhole someone where they're probably not most suited. Fair enough. That makes sense. Yeah. And Hazel's not a salesperson, so it makes sense. Yeah, I mean, obviously we'll hear more from Dom on that. And I know being a commercial beast myself, it's not an easy... And I think it's, what's the phrase? One man's beef's another man's poison. You know, it's that kind of concept, isn't it? Yeah, it was definitely my poison. No, I get that completely. I think you're too nice to be yourself. Yeah, that's what I was going with. We're sick to admin. I mean, it does, you know, when I look at the list, we've got the obvious ones we've touched on, but supporting the team. And we were touching on how much of a team, I mean, how many people are we talking around? Well, I think we've got seven or eight of us now within the business. It's an exciting time because we are on that kind of trajectory of growth and we've got some great people in the business at the moment and long may that continue. If we can add to that, then the future is exciting for us all. And you've got the delightful task of looking after that team. Yeah, of course. But I deliberately have reused the word team because that's the vibe I get from the organisation. Yeah, definitely. Very much everybody's together. I mean, it was one heck of a party, I've got to say. LAUGHTER I was about to say that was the first for a long time, probably. And I think that's one thing we are kind of keen to engage people with, that it's not individuals. We are a team and we win together, we lose together. There's great days and there's testing days. And I think if we can all stick together through good and bad, it sets us up to be well positioned. No, I agree. The other one we've mentioned obviously several times, AJ, your little one. First staff baby. Because obviously you don't class as staff. Don't class my team yet. Your boss. I didn't find it worth it. Yeah, exciting times it was. And she's part of the team as well. She is, yeah, I'd say so, slightly. should be doing admin when she's older yeah there's a job in seventeen years time for when she's ready we would have got that lined up but no we have she's great to have around to be fair she's she comes in she lights up the room when she's with us and I think she knows everyone by face realistically at seven months old so wow yeah it's been a joy to watch and Hazel not just being and turning into a mum as well I do love that because that just speaks volumes to me. That kind of vibe is there. It just says a lot. What was it like returning from maternity leave though and coming back to work? It was hard, but it was also good. I think having an adult conversation. Yes. I couldn't wait for that. Well, you say that. That's why they sat you next to me. Yeah. Yeah, it's good. It really was. I think the first couple of weeks was a struggle. She went to nursery, got colds, flus, everything. So I was a little bit sleep deprived, trying to get used to the new team as well. So it was a lot, but it was, yeah, it's good. It's really good to be back. I've had a great welcome as well. It's like riding a bike when it's straight back on again. Yeah, pretty much. I like it. That's a good point. I hadn't thought about the new team, yeah, because it had been a long time then, hadn't it? Yeah. Fair play. And of course clients. I imagine the client base had changed somewhat. Introduced myself to them, which is great. Gives me a chance to get out, see adults as well. Yeah, it was really good. Love it. I love that. What do you like to do outside of work and parenting? So I'm part of the hockey scene as well. I've got season tickets for that. Yeah, just family at the moment, to be honest. Family and hockey. That is my life. Are you Block D as well? Block B. I was going to say, I didn't think I remembered seeing you there. Yeah, I prefer Block D. The dark side of the block. No, no, no. So I can still pretend that I'm quiet at games because you don't know. You're far enough down that you can't disagree with me. Whereas these boys know that's not true. He's not quiet. Matthews! Yeah, the refs get a hard time for me, don't they? Absolutely. Did you see, by the way, at the away game on Sunday at MK, and we had Matthews as the ref. This is a relevant side because it's the hockey and we know that we both love it. And I suddenly did a, Matthews! And he smirked and he laughed because he went, I can't get away from him. He knows that tone of voice. That was funny. He's great fun. He is great fun. I've got to be fair. Well, thank you, Hazel. And obviously, we're all interjected anyway. But Dom, business manager. Yep. Hello. Hello. Now, we've heard the sort of like the glib description of sales, but... You know, bring it to life. What does it really mean? Sales for me in the role. So I'm out seeing clients, new clients, current clients. How we can improve our service of our current clients is always key because things are always moving forward. Their needs are changing. New clients, we want to tell people who we are. promoting ourselves on things like this and putting ourselves really out there to show we are local, with local people as well that want to help and offer a service that maybe they haven't heard of, seen, or they're not getting from their current provider. And then they can come somewhere and we'll look after them. Yeah, and from everything I've seen with you, and I know Danny and I have touched on it as well, you're very much a relational salesperson. Is that a fair analogy? Yeah, I think you have to be. I think all my life I've sold service over a product. So there's nothing, I can't offer you anything other than you're buying into me and the name above the door is who I represent. So that comes from Danny and the culture. And then... It comes through me as well. So their point of contact is me. The service I offer is what they're going to judge it on. There's nothing else that they can go off of when I make that initial contact. I can tell them the team's great, but they're not going to see that until they trust me. Then the team behind me will back it up with the candidates and the service inside. And then we go full circle and I'll go and review it with the client, keep in touch with them and say, is everything going as smoothly as we said it would? They're happy and we keep the business going. ongoing. I can really envisage as well in that role. I know we have the saying in sales is that you've got two of these, one of them using that order, which doesn't always happen. But very much both from yourself, but in particular, this role is imperative, isn't it? Because it's not just going, oh, we need that role field. It's like there's always a lot of nuances to each one. Yeah, it's never as straightforward as we wish it could be. Rarely people will bring us for something either. We almost have to be one step ahead of them to think what's happening, what's changing, spot an opportunity of someone's available that we know is good, that's worked for us elsewhere. Can we move them? Of course. The other client that we work with may benefit from them. So it's just being a bit smarter than what's out there currently and just trying to stay ahead of the game as well. which has got to make it quite enjoyable. It means it's not the same every day. No. I think everyone would agree it's very much not the same. You can plan your day. It can get turned upside down. If someone needs something or service levels need to change somewhere, we'll jump on that and plan. Plans will change. You have to be able to adapt. You can't plan your eight till six or six a.m. till three p.m. and expect it to go that smoothly all day. It will change through the day. But I almost get the impression that that was... part of the remit from the beginning. Like you said about the example where I went for that interview at the unnamed company. And that felt literally like it would be exactly the same every single day. You know, battery farm, horrible. And that's not what us as clients or employers or employees want. No, I think for us, I think in testament to the team, we've probably worked for two or three hours every day before we get into the office at eight o'clock in the morning. In the industrial sector, it's a twenty four hour moving part. So we do have candidates out working every hour of every single day, which is great from an income perspective. But what that does mean is that one of us is on the end of a phone at any point of any day. to troubleshoot, support them. It's regular basis, a client will phone saying that we've not got enough staff, can they get us a few more? And we do work towards some targets that we like to have. And if we can get people in to work within the hour, if it's an existing client and just providing that service. So for Dom and the servicing team, they've probably worked for two or three hours before eight o'clock for everyone else comes in the office as well. And that's where we probably do stand ourself out against some of our competitors. Yeah, it does have a different vibe to it. Not good for the sleep pattern. I mean, it's got to be tough, but that variety keeps you interested. Yeah, I mean, what's some of the crazy things? I've been at an ice cream truck in December at ten o'clock at night at a client just to say to all our candidates, come and have an ice cream. It's a bit different. No one's doing it. They'll remember it. They still talk about it now. I've heard about chips, portions of chips. Yeah, we've done midnight visits. Midnight visits. Coming back on the M-Forum, we've passed some clients and thought, well, who else will they see at midnight? And the candidates are in there. The warehouse manager of a night shift's there. So we popped in with fish and chips at midnight and had a chat with them. And they're so happy to see someone. The night shift are kind of like the forgotten kind of team, a little bit. Everyone else is sleeping and preparing themselves for the following day. But the operation's twenty-four-seven. So, yeah, pop on our head in at midnight is... It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's the things we do just to be that little bit different and ensure that we build those relationships. Stay ahead of the game. It makes sense. And I do think, hence I say the listening, is that it could be making sure you've got not just the right people into the right roles, but there could be additional help that you could give that they hadn't ever considered. Yeah, absolutely. We're normally, well, we're always on site if someone's first day. So either we tell them where to go, who to see, who to meet. We'll also meet them there. I love that. To almost hold their hand on day one of school. Which is the scariest time. Which is the scariest day, isn't it? You're kind of going, I don't know what to do. I mean, I think it was you, Danny, that was saying that there was an example of a driving role and it was one particular one where you had to be mindful of when you're pulling into or out of a particular place. Yes, we've had instances where... think there's a there's a client in swindon that you go out and drive an assessment but you're nine times out of ten going to hit the curb as you exit the car park um everyone knows it but if we can brief our candidates don't get flustered you will hit the curb it's everyone does that but just make sure that you don't get flustered for the rest of your assessment and stuff like that so it's just the little things that over time I've put up from a knowledge perspective and passed down to the team But we do, we kind of, it is like a child's first day at school sometimes, making sure people are arriving, introducing them, making sure they've got the right PPE, they know where fire exits are, everything. And that's something that we do on the back of our clients, they probably do it as well. But we are in control and the more information we can give to our candidates. the easier it is for them to integrate them on their first day. Which is going to make a difference to, say, me as an employer, is to kind of go, right, the onus isn't a hundred percent on me. These candidates are being looked after outside of us. So if we're busy and forget to do something, it's kind of, which I know they won't forget health and safety. It's fine. It is the little things that make that difference that we can do. And if we can take some of the work away from the end user and our clients, then it puts them in better stead that we're there for them as and when needed and that we will follow through and deliver that as well for them. Yeah. The invisible creates that relationship that's just there. And you use the phrase that it's constantly changing, it's constantly moving. And no one knows what tomorrow could bring without me to get all emotional or something, burst into a song or something. But we just don't know, do we? And so you've got to be all over it. And that makes sense. You're, I mean, I can't believe this. You're not quite at two years here yet, are you? No, I think two years will be July, yeah. I say that because it feels like he's... It feels a lot longer than that. I say, is that a good thing? He's stuck with me. But I think you and I have even had a conversation is that I think a mixture of the team, the job, the client base, all of that, that you've suddenly kind of gone, this feels real. Let's go. It's really given you a motivation. Yeah, massively for me. So my journey coming into recruitment is probably not your common one. So I was estate agency for ten years, which again is all service driven. So had that background, had a bit of a blip. These guys will call it a little reset. Yeah. on a medical basis. So I lost my driving licence, which hit me hard. For no bad reason. Yeah, medical only. And I am okay. I can drive again. But yeah, so it hit me hard at the time because I've been driving since I was and suddenly to have your independence taken away. So yeah, I was actually away up in the Lake District and got a message from Danny. Fobbed him off to start with because I was going down to eat my breakfast and said, I'm away. I'll call you when I'm So probably not what he wanted to hear. But yeah, got back, gave him a call, I think on a Monday, and amazingly arranged to meet on a Thursday. And now I know how impatient he is. We actually moved it to a Tuesday, which made more sense. If he didn't make me wait, then he was definitely waiting. There was no way I was rushing that one. So yeah, met up in the pub in Stratton, and Talked for probably two hours. I was actually working at another pub and he made me late because we were talking for so long. So yeah, but just got on really well from that minute one that we met. Similar upbringing through football and things like that. So lots of common interests, just a different football team we support now. Very different. So yeah, and then from there just started in July and haven't looked back since. Definitely, because I think I've only known you guys since you were on board anyway, so for me that was what it always was. We're not going into this in major detail, but just to follow on from that with your estate agency background is that the additional company is called... Responsive Property Management. Yeah, which we will go into more detail. Yeah, a few more sessions down the line. Yeah, we'll bring those in. But of course, you're now drawing on that side as well. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, party night back in September. If we can all remember, Hazel probably can't. Unfortunately. Danny pulled me to a side and said, there's a proposition here. What do you think? That's probably how most of our meetings went that evening over a beer. And I said, yeah, let's do it. And I say that. Twenty four hours afterwards was conversations in and out of office hours. set it up and again it's gone pretty quick and what's the September yeah what we're now February is yeah five six months yeah already and scary times yeah but flying and yeah wouldn't change it and good to be involved with because it's another service industry isn't it yeah it is service and I think that it's either employees or it's property yeah but the two of them do go hand in hand yeah I think again it's very service driven it's very fast moving yeah I think there's ever a dull moment I think we're reactive to that as well from a maintenance and that side perspective so again it's not just your monday to friday nine till five it is something that we're delivering and Yeah, it's very, very different, but very, very simple. We just don't like sleep, Chris. We just, whatever we can do. Whatever we can do, we're in. And do I get the impression that one of the big remits on the commercial side is to enable Danny to start stepping back from as much day to day work? Yeah, anyone that knows Danny, he loves a holiday. Or playing golf, as he touched on. Well, it's been a bit cold, so we'll have to see more of him. But yeah, he loves going away. So we want him to be able to go away. And with the team behind him and the team behind me, be able to go away and not worry. So if he can start stepping away and the team take control of it and opening new locations. And that's a goal for me to allow that to happen. which is a big next step, isn't it? Just to sort of like relinquish a little bit. Yeah, it's hard. When you've been so involved for ten years, it's your little baby and it's what pays your bills on a monthly basis. I am lucky with Dom and the team and Hazel that it is in safe hands and in eighteen hours time I'll be on a plane for seven hours so I'm not contactable and it's in their hands it's nice but it is scary at the same time when your livelihood depends on it we are we have so many moving parts that we're in control of but some are out of our control as well yeah so yeah it's and I have I think the last probably six eight months I've relinquished day-to-day responsibility um still on the end of a phone still in the office most days um but Dom having Hazel back as well as a bit of a safety blanket was the right time so yeah I've got a few trips planned the next three months or so so hopefully Dom will see it to your anniversary in July after those trips are done yeah yeah then we'll go again from there I love it I love it um So generally speaking, you are seeing clients, existing potential clients. You're arranging networking events. Social events, I think, is important to say. I know networking is the same thing. We try and do the networking a little bit different, keep it a bit more relaxed, have something going on, and make people feel as comfortable as possible. It's been hugely successful for us, so we're going to carry that on. And the bigger we get, the bigger the events we get. no absolutely have you been and measured up that all those things will fit into the room at the ice hockey not yet but we've been speaking with Vicky and I think it'll be fine it'll be the fun the big fun fair yeah fun at the fun fair yeah it's coming up which again is a great sort of way to have the family but networking at the same time yeah and I think that We've seen from the events we've done at the ice hockey that people want to bring their family along. So if we can make it a little bit more family friendly, I think we've got five or six inflatable games lined up and hot dogs and some sweets and popcorn. So if we can make it a bit more engaging and entertain children, then the adults can have the conversations as well. It's beneficial for everyone. You're of the same mould as me is that I think that a lot, more beneficial networking is done when you're relaxed yeah it doesn't need to be formal and you know there's a place for it and it's right it exists but I think there's a big place for the the more socially relaxed yeah and we've seen that from from the the sponsors that have been engaged from the networking events that we've done in the past I think the walk logistics that or a client of ours are now a key sponsor of the Wildcats as well. I think we've had clients that have dressed up as Santa's little helper at one of our events for the Wildcats as well. They want to be scratched at the Wildcats. So it's one of those things that it's beneficial for all and I think you can have those conversations that might not take place during office hours but when you've got a drink in your hand, some food and something to get your focus away, your main focus, the conversations flow a lot easier. And they've got an event coming up in ten days' time, which is going to be... March the first, yeah. Probably bigger and better than we've ever done, I would say, at this stage. Yeah, I know. It's absolutely amazing. And it's kind of... living the dream, I guess, isn't it really? Is that it works serious, the pressure, running a, creating, growing, running a business. But it's like, do you know what? Let's enjoy ourselves as well. Yeah, we want to give back. I think it's one of them that you can forget what's made you successful. And I think that We want to support others. We want to help others grow. We want to pass on some of the knowledge that we've gained from the events and some of the business mindsets we've got from there. And it is nice to see your brand out there and see what is being delivered by the team as well. So, yeah, we enjoy the outside of work, but we enjoy work as well. Exactly. And that was the key thing, as you know, is that this is very much about enabling people to get to know you as individuals, to get to know some of the relaxed ethos of the company as well, as well as the professional making sure you're listening, making sure you're ticking all the boxes and all of that sort of thing. Outside of work... I still work, yeah. We've established that. Which hours are these? Somehow... You run way too much by the sounds of it. I am the classic, I turned thirty and started running. It's just like Forrest Gump. I just keep going. I can't answer the phone when I'm running because I'm way too out of breath. I have to return all the calls when I stop. I have been running a bit more, probably still not enough. I'm in the London Landmarks Half Marathon on April the sixth, which some of the team are coming up to support me on. Hopefully, I'll make it around. Yeah, did a couple of events last year. Again, one was up at Ramsbury. Again, a relationship there that we have. So ran that just as, you know, why not? It was a bit hillier than I anticipated. But yeah, again, got round. Did Lethbridge one. Again, most local old town. So lining up them again, probably this year, trying to convince the team. to get involved. I think I've convinced one, not Hazel, as you can tell by her reaction. So yeah, so hopefully we'll get some, might get some RP t-shirts made up to run in as well. So it'll be a bit more visible. I made the mistake quite a number of years ago, it'll be no surprise, that my wife entered the Bristol Tenké, we were living in Bristol directs at the time, and she entered the Bristol Tenké And this part I can understand your addiction to because I went and cheered her on and I could not believe the atmosphere that just, you could see my wife was hurting, but suddenly the cheers and everything just got you going again. And I was like, this is amazing. And I was gutted that I wasn't doing it. And I vowed that I was going to do it. This was before a little one came along. But the problem was the next thing wasn't the ten K, it was half marathon. This idiot here goes and enters the Bristol Half Marathon with her. I finished it. Yeah, congrats. Thank you. And it hurt a lot. Kept the medal framed there. I found out that I have collapsing foot arches for the first time, which then caused issues to calves and knees and everything. I didn't know I had that. But I certainly did just before the end of that. But even that, I was in so much pain. The adrenaline when people suddenly are cheering is quite incredible, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, I make the mistake at the start when there's a lot of noise that the legs go quicker than the body probably should. Then you get to the lonely miles in the middle and there's no one cheering and you think, oh, now it hurts. But yeah, the atmosphere, even at the Swindon events, has been great. So I'm sure London will be absolute levels from that. My wife did... a night walk in London that I think... Yeah, there's a few of them about. It was the distance of the London Marathon or something daft like that. And they do it all over the night. And they're all multicoloured. Yeah. Starlight walks. Something like that, yeah. And she said it was just incredible. I mean, there wasn't a crowd for that one, but that was themselves, it was all about fun. I think there was possibly the occasion there was, but not the same, because it doesn't even close roads or anything like that. But she said, you're all there, you're all in it together, having fun. It's in the dead of night as well, which I wasn't happy, I'll be honest, like the protective husband. Yeah, of course. But she said it was just fabulous. I think you just link up with strangers as well and make friends with them for a couple of hours and never see them again. Or raising money for charity, all of that sort of stuff. I haven't found the addiction yet. I'm trying to work on them. I am working on them. Maybe next year. Maybe the year after that. Exactly. You never know. This year, you went travelling. Yeah, I did hand the reins back to Danny for most of January. I think I used my holiday allowance in January for the year. You did? Yeah. So you'll be seeing me for the rest of the year. But yeah, we went to Thailand, me and the missus. So yeah, two and a half weeks, three weeks. Just, yeah, flew into the capital. You hot island. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So we flew into Bangkok, flew down to Koh Samui, ferried up to Koh Tao, got an overnight ferry into Krabi, got a four-hour minibus across to Phuket. Wow. Flew back up to Bangkok and flew home. Easy as that. As you do, yeah. Why not? Was it relaxing as well, though? Amazingly, it was, yeah. The culture is so, I kept saying to these guys, it's so different to home. And if you go to Europe, it's like home but hot. Whereas over there, it was the opposite to what we do. And the cost of everything is criminally low. Really? You almost feel like you're just robbing them, but it's just common over there. It's just normal. So they're so chilled out. They call it Asian time because they'll tell you ten minutes and it'll be like an hour. So I didn't bring that back with me. Timekeeping's still on. So, yeah, it was relaxing. The islands, the beaches, went snorkelling with sea turtles, sharks. We fancy it, but our daughter's thirteen and we're like going, I don't think she would like it. She'd love it. Really? So we said it was one of the best places you see the retired people. You see, I'm thirty, so people of our age. People with young kids, like we were chatting to a family on one of our day trips. They had a four-year-old before we went to school. They'd been travelling for a year. It's so family-friendly. In the shopping malls, there's kids' areas that you can literally leave them, and they do just leave them, their staff there. Do they pick them up after? No. They're just all abandoned at the end of the day. As a thirteen-year-old, to see the culture, I think, yeah, absolutely, it would be fully embraced and, yeah, it'd be a brilliant experience. So it looks beautiful, I'll give you that. Yeah, it's stunning. But what's the other note I had that you've done across Europe? Last summer, yeah. So we used the trains last summer. I fancy that. So I had another two weeks off in the summer last year. I don't know where I get my holidays from because, you know. Well, he's doing the math right now and he's not sure either. I sign it off, so it's fine. But yeah, so again, we flew into Milan. And again, Europe make it so much easier to just get around. So you buy your one ticket and you can go on as many trains as you want, essentially. So we covered... Italy, Slovenia, and where else did I go? Croatia. So literally went straight across and then down to the coast of Croatia, but probably ticked off seven or eight cities in two weeks, probably two or three nights each one. Just again, seeing different cultures, food, trying the local beer. which was my favourite bit. Yeah, and the Euros were on at the time as well, so I watched England get to the final of the Euros. So I watched the semi-final in a fan zone with half of the fans were Dutch in all their orange, half were English, and it was such a good atmosphere there, and then flew back here for the final. But yeah, again, an amazing two weeks to sort of reset, and I always come back motivated to, make work bigger and better to be able to go again. Joking aside, that is the idea. Yeah, absolutely. I think we all need that kind of break and that time away from the office to reset, like Dom says. He's come back the last couple of weeks and hungry again and pushing on again from there. What's your reset? I mean, yours clearly is that you like to see and do things. What's your reset? I'm more a beach man. Yeah, well, we go away tomorrow, early hours of the morning, and I won't move from a pool for seven days once we get there to the hotel tomorrow afternoon. So for me, yeah, Dom likes all action, travel all over, not staying in one place. Yeah, I will get to one place. and leave a week or ten days later so yeah different holidays um but for me I think where everything is so go go go at times and I struggle to switch off and just being with away with the family hot climate and just do nothing for let someone else wait on us for a change rather than being there waiting on people in a strange way Have you been to Maldives? Yes. We did our honeymoon there. That, for me, was just the most incredible. Probably one of the most amazing places I've been. And my wife, Jodie, she'll be able to say that it was probably the most relaxed I've ever been for ten days. One, because there was nothing else to do. There is. I just went snorkelling. I just get my twenty-twenty-six holiday signed off the air. It was an amazing, absolutely amazing experience to go again. You can't help but switch off, can you? Claire cried, my wife cried when we left, not mainly because of her upset of going, but she didn't want me back in the rat race again because she'd never seen me so chill. Yeah, and I think that's a big thing. I think for me, going away with the family and spending some time not with a laptop and not constantly on my phone just gives that little reset and you do you kind of I still feel like I'm fairly young into business life even though it's been ten years of being my own boss and a couple of companies I'm still young I'm still hungry I want to do more so the more I can switch off now hopefully further down the line it'll pay off and I'll be a bit more stress-free And, you know, before I move on to you with the what's your reset, is that that's the ethos that we've picked up throughout this entire conversation that you tried to bring to the candidates in particular is to sort of like, you know, the ice cream van, the chips, the whatever, whatever. It's like going, look, make sure that they're feeling looked after, that you're able to recover at the right times and whatever else. Yeah, it's just the little things that make it into the bigger picture. And if we can put a bit of smile on people's faces when... It is dark outside and it was random as hell having an ice cream van in the middle of November or October. We had an ice cream van for a twelve hour period. We saw the morning shift, the afternoon shift and the night shift. And it was a bit random at ten o'clock at night with an ice cream van. But it was memorable. We're talking about it eighteen months later. That's got to be fun, just doing those random things. Yeah, and I think the more we can kind of come up with that within reason, the more fun we'll have with it. Yeah, you're never daft, to be fair. I know that we're talking about that. You're never daft, but it is about going that extra mile. What's the phrase? You work to live, you don't live to work. Yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah. And it's well received. And that's the main thing. If it wasn't well received and people were like, well, why are they doing this? Then we'd probably look at it and go, is it working? But the things that we're doing are well attended. The events that we host are really good. We've sold out a golf day in a couple of weeks in April that was sold out within forty-eight hours. So we're doing something right and people want to come along to the events and we do. We kind of make sure even at the events that we do, they're all looked after. So I think we've already got an itinerary of what everyone's going to be doing on the next event and the event after that. So we're planning it to be bigger and better but be enjoyable with it as well. Absolutely. what's your reset and I would imagine you've got to go back pre yeah having a little baby it's probably the same as danny relaxing chilling out hot weather um I used to do paddle boarding things like that so going on a river that's quite relaxing to me yeah I love that I do love I think being around water is a massive thing. I think it relaxes. Yeah, I agree. Matt's just driven down to South Cerny, sat by a lake, a little bit of water, just, yeah, I find it quite relaxing. Even just sitting on a balcony with a drink in your hand, with the view, sea, pool, something like that. And I do like to jump in, snorkelling, scuba diving, all that sort of stuff. Water sports, I do like that. A bit of time away from everything. I'm possibly starting to get more to your frame of mind now, where I've now, last couple of holidays, I've come back and gone... Actually, I don't feel recovered from... So by doing nothing, I'm like... Do nothing for a little bit. I feel lethargic now. I could have done with doing something as well, which my wife's desperately hoping I act on at last because she's preferring to go and do things, but she knows that I just normally just stop. I think you relax and all of a sudden you've got a flight back and they're all manic at the airport and everything. And then you go straight back into the mindset of why you've just been away. And then you've got an X amount of time flying home and then getting picked up at the other end or driving home. And you kind of can't help but fall back into the ways of UK life in a strange way. If anything comes from this, book the trip to Thailand. Definitely fancy that one, that's for sure. Well, I hope that the whole idea of this episode is that we will talk more shop in future episodes. But this one was deliberately not to, wasn't it? I said to you that I wanted this one to get to know, the company, behind the scenes, the people, and really kickstart this new series that we're going to be doing every month. The whole recruitment unplugged inside responsive personnel. I believe at time of writing, as they say, next episode was flexibility meets opportunity, where we're going to talk about how it works. We're going to compare temp Temporary and permanent. I've got to stop abbreviating. And the temporary to permanent. The benefits of outsourcing compared to recruiting direct. Payroll, very much about how that's taken care of. And I want to have a slightly deeper conversation about the app as well. So it's going to get a bit more roll your sleeves up in future episodes. So definitely please watch this space. If you get any questions that come up as a result of these conversations, get in touch what's the best email for them to get in touch via yeah I can probably drop it over to me I can hopefully answer most that come in so dominic at responsive personnel.com and I will get back to you yeah any questions you know drop them a line uh and uh and you'll be able to to find out anything that's on your mind that you're unsure hopefully we've we've kind of created those questions. I think that's the other one, isn't it? Holiday questions will probably be flying in. They're not a travel agency. That could be on the card. That's a never-come-to-me. Depending on how many inquiries we get. In a year, there'll be an episode that goes, yeah, it was funny, we were at this episode. And the idea came to our head. Just ping that for some reason. You never know. Hopefully you've got the vibe that the ethos here is very much work hard, play hard, very much about supporting both sides of the fence, employers, employees, whether that's permanent or temporary positions. So that, for me, is responsive personnel. And that's where I've got to know these guys. And we sat down and had the chat about giving this a go. Yes. No, thank you for having us. Thank you, Chris. Thank you, all three. And thank you for coming to our studio for this one as well. And we look forward to chatting on the next episode. We'll see you next time. Look forward to it. See you next time.