My first 7 months thoughts - Global Executive Director Barrington James Employee Review

I wanted to share how delighted I am to be part of the Barrington James group. I joined last September because Dan Barrington, our CEO, and a good friend, shared with me his vision for the future of the group. My role is to utilise my wide ranging skills to support the already exceptional growth and help drive Barrington James to be the biggest and best life science recruiter on the planet, a big task you might say given some of the very talented competition we face. Well after 7 months, I truly believe this is possible, we have an amazing team across the board, a fantastic support crew helping sales achieve its goals, from finance, ops and compliance to admin, talent acquisition, marketing and L&D – I can honestly say they are world class in attitude, a willingness to learn and adapt but more importantly, full commitment to everything they do – a big thank you from me! As for sales, simply wow. Over sixty people billed in excess of £500,000 last year, 3 of them over £1,000,000 – when you think the average recruiter bills circa £120,000 per year – it makes these numbers really mean something. One of the challenges any leader can face with exceptional salespeople is an arrogance to match, this was certainly a concern when I joined, would I be welcome, did they ‘know it all’, was there an open mindset for growth? I specifically remember my first few days in our HQ in Crawley, then our New York and Raleigh offices – it was literally open arms with comments like – I can’t believe you joined us, we are so lucky to have you, how can we help you, how can you help us? - possibly the warmest welcome I’ve ever had. This positive and open attitude is a remarkable achievement – again a big thank you from me to everyone in sales. Has it been all plain sailing? – absolutely not, are we perfect – absolutely not, have we made many errors – absolutely, will we make more errors – I hope so. Why do I hope this – well for me it’s quite simple – if you want to be the best, you have to push the most, you have to challenge the ‘norm’, your standards, targets and expectations have to be world class – Barrington James has this in abundance. There have been some incredible investments in the business since I’ve joined, we’re building a world class coaching programme across the board, our talent acquisition function has grown from 3 people last year to 10 this month with over 50 new sales hires made in Q1 alone. We have recently reviewed our full tech stack with a view to making significant investment and being best in class. We have opened 5 new offices in the UK, 1 in Japan in the past 18 months and at least 2 more planned this year in the United States. How is this possible in this changing market? Well it is quite simple – the market hasn’t changed, now is what I know as a ‘normal market’. We have all been blessed in recruitment in the past 2 to 3 years with an abundance of roles, all clients hiring for multiple positions, that wasn’t’ ‘normal’ that was probably the best market most of us have known since the late 90’s. Why have we achieved so much and continue to do so – it’s quite simple – we treated the last few years as an opportunity to shine brighter than most but maintaining our skill levels across business development, account management and delivery at all times – we didn’t rest on our laurels and just enjoy it, we thrived and developed on the journey. In my opinion, this has put us in a very strong position for continued growth and success across the globe. You will probably not be surprised to know we are still hiring and growing in every area of the business, so if you are considering a change or looking for your first opportunity in recruitment then please get in touch. I’ll sign off with a massive thank you to everyone at Barrington James for accepting me with open arms and allowing me to support you all at this very exciting time. Stu Britton