Recruiter revenue doubles thanks to Boost support

An industrial recruitment business has tripled its turnover to £3m and moved into new, larger premises after taking part in Boost’s Boost Growth Support programme. Blackburn-based Central Recruitment has also created four new jobs and significantly increased its productivity (GVA).

Set up in July 2015 by Natalie Smith, the company specialises in industrial recruitment, including warehousing, transport, large growth businesses, manufacturing and other enterprises, on a B2B basis.

Boost is Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub and is led by the Lancashire LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) and Lancashire County Council, and supported by funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Natalie has more than 10 years’ experience in the recruitment industry, enabling her to bring a wealth of knowledge to her business. As a result, the company has secured a number of major contracts in Lancashire over the last three years.

Her growth conversation started with Enterprise4All growth explorer Amir Shafiq. This involved Natalie meeting with Amir to identify her business needs, as well as the type of support she required. Natalie then attended Masterclasses in Strategy for Growth, Marketing for Growth and the Growth Summit. These sessions have helped her to better understand specific elements of business development.

She said: “The Boost programme has been invaluable in helping me to structure, develop and grow my business. Since receiving this support, Central Recruitment has developed its structure and business proposition, which has led to increasing its turnover and staffing levels.

“In addition, the Growth Support programme is designed to help me manage the growth of the organisation in the coming years, which will be an ongoing benefit.”

Central Recruitment was also awarded a Growth Voucher, that was used to part-fund the purchase of bespoke recruitment software to help manage client and candidate information and matching candidates with vacancies based on location, skills and experience.

Looking ahead, Natalie will continue receiving support through Masterclasses. She also plans to attend other sessions and networking events, and hopes to receive 1-2-1 coaching on marketing and finance.

Amir said: “Natalie has got a fantastic and dynamic vision for her business, which is underpinned by solid values and a niche target market. I can see this business continuing to grow year-on-year. This is all down to Natalie’s hard work and commitment.”

Boost Business Lancashire has received £3.8m of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for ERDF. Established by the European Union ERDF funds help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information, visit www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.