RECRUITMENT INTERNATIONAL - MARCH 2005 1

RECRRECRRECRRECRRECRUITMENTUITMENTUITMENTUITMENTUITMENTinterinterinterinterinternananananationaltionaltionaltionaltional

MARCH 2005MARCH 2005MARCH 2005MARCH 2005MARCH 2005

“Extra - Ordinary Success Story”

RI ISSUE 137 - MAR.p65 26/02/05, 10:451

RECRUITMENT INTERNATIONAL - MARCH 2005 25

COCOCOCOCOVERVERVERVERVERCOCOCOCOCOVERVERVERVERVER

In 2002, Extrastaff as a business didn’t exist. Thecompany sent it’s first temp out to work in January 2003and by December 2004, the business was operatingfrom 5 sites with £6m annualised turnover. They havejust won the award for Best Regional RecruitmentCompany for the London and Home Counties Regionand have several new branches about to open. Yet theyhave achieved all this in two years, from scratch andwithout buying any other businesses.

So how have they done it?

I asked Founder and Chairman, Tim Millward. Tim, whois 38, is a businessman and financier and has only everworked for himself. His first degree was in accountingand he started in recruitment in 1988 going on to formBig Jobs Recruitment Group in 1989. He was joined in1990 by Steve Hill, (now 15 years later, OperationsDirector at Extrastaff). The first branch was in Hendonand the business specialised in supplying driving andindustrial temps. Big Jobs was a start up and openednot long before the recession started in 1991. Tim andSteve have therefore been at the frontline in industrialrecruitment speccing out drivers at 7 am and fightinghard for business in a difficult climate. Growingcontinually through the tough times, this well respectedand well known business developed throughout thenineties into a six branch operation turning over £6mper year. Tim sold the business to a high street plc in1999 and went on to develop property interests, alsocompleting a fulltime MBA.

I asked Tim, having sold one business, why go backinto recruitment?

Tim explained “Because we were very good at it. WhenI was in the thick of it, I knew we provided an excellentservice but I never realised actually what a greatbusiness Big Jobs was. The need to recover financiallyfrom divorce and to actually begin earning a living againmade me start to evaluate what we had done right atBig Jobs but more importantly which areas we couldhave improved upon. The resulting ‘in an ideal’ worldmodel became the basis for the new company.”

So in a nutshell, what is Extrastaff?

“Extrastaff is a high street, high quality and high profiledriving and industrial recruitment business. The purposeof the Extrastaff project is to apply modern, innovativebusiness ideas, professionalism and quality to this oftenneglected area of recruitment. To achieve this, we havepulled together a highly professional and experiencedteam of people. By the end of 2004, Extrastaff was doingthe equivalent level of business to Big Jobs RecruitmentGroup, before its sale in 1999. In other words, whattook us 10 years before, has now taken 2. Our aim is tohave opened 30 branches in 3 years time. By then thebusiness should be broadly national.

But what makes Extrastaff different and sosuccessful?

0 - £6 Million In 2 Years!

Tim Millward, Founder & Chairman

RI ISSUE 137 - MAR.p65 26/02/05, 10:4625

26 RECRUITMENT INTERNATIONAL - MARCH 2005

COCOCOCOCOVERVERVERVERVER

Tim said “Firstly we are specialists. If you want to bethe best you have to be specific about what that means;we supply only driving, industrial and semi-skilled temps.To give you a simple analogy, if you wanted to buy anexpensive high quality piano, would you rather buy itfrom Music Ltd or Pianos Ltd?

Secondly, I am very commercially minded and like tokeep things very simple. That said, our standards are

extremely high. Thebranches are highstreet, very smart,run by highlyprofessional teams.Consequently, wecan’t be a pile ‘emhigh sell ‘em cheapagency; none of mybusinesses everhave been. We arelooking for the bestwork for the besttemps. Consequentlywe make goodmargins. Thebranches are open7am to 5pm with adirect 24hr facility.

Thirdly, we look after our own staff; they are appreciatedand their efforts are appreciated. They are trainedproperly (we have a full time trainer) and then given theautonomy and support to run their own section. Ourpay structure is one of the best in the industry and thepotential rewards are uncapped. We have created afun, friendly and positive environment in which we areall able to focus on developing the Extrastaff brandfurther.

My view on delegating as much as possible means thatI see my role as strategist, designer and manager ofjust three people – my senior management team.Operations, Sales and Finance have one weeklymeeting to assess where we are and where we’re going.I am a great believer in passing authority and autonomyas far down the organisation as we can. That trust meansyou have to employ the best people.”

Steve Hill Operations Director: Steve has 18 yearsexperience supplying driving and industrial temporaries,as well as managing highly successful and productiveteams and branches in this sector. Steve and Timworked together for nine years at Big Jobs Recruitment

Group. Steve is in charge of the Extrastaff branchesand the branch teams. His job is to support and managethe branch operations managers. Tim describes him “asthe best in the business. Steve, in all his time in seniormanagement positions in recruitment has never lost amanager or consultant he didn’t want to”.

Steve says “Whilst setting demanding standards, Timhas always given me all the autonomy I want in how torun the branches, and I ensure that this approach ispassed ‘down the line’. Tim is logical and pragmatic; hisoverall approach to business is a simple one. Don’t worryabout the things you cannot control, like the economy,focus on the things you can control, like staff.

Having started my career in recruitment working for acouple of the nationals, I soon learnt that many ‘AreaManagers’ were only interested in ringing up from theirIvory Towers each Friday asking for total temps out andhow high/low the margins were. These figures plot trendsbut are largely superfluous to the consultant. It’s muchmore relevant and important to know what each tempmakes them on a daily basis in pound note termscoupled with the hourly rate that really matters.

Our pragmatic approach to figures permeates right theway through the business. If a consultant sends out 25drivers on Monday morning each of whom makeExtrastaff £30 per day then he or she knows that at theend of the week their 10% commission will have earnedthem in excess of £375 . Or putting it another way -£19,500 in annual commission. This job is hard enoughalready, without complicating it further. The last thingany sales person needs at the end of the month is to

look at their wage slip and not know where the hell allthat hard work went. Keep it simple”.

Of his managers, Steve says “the one thing you lookfor in a manager is trust, and in Bev, Pam, Paul and

0 - £6 Million In 2 Years!

Steve Hill, Operations Director

Steve Hill and Pam Futo

RI ISSUE 137 - MAR.p65 26/02/05, 10:4626

RECRUITMENT INTERNATIONAL - MARCH 2005 27

Norman I have 100% trust. Giving them the autonomyto run their branches, makes my life easier and givesme more time to focus on areas of development andpotential growth. However we still talk daily ensuringthat I have my finger on the pulse. All of our officeshave been hugely successful over the past two years,but no office can function affectively without a highlyefficient back office team. Our head office team is

second to none and probably the best I have everworked with.

As a company, we have done away with appraisals here.From the top down everyone in the company sits downwith their immediate superior once every 5 weeks todiscuss how they’re getting on and to set objectives forthe next 5 weeks. Very simple but very effective.”

Liz Felstead is Extrastaff’s Head of Sales and Training.Liz has been in blue collar recruitment since the lateeighties. Like Steve and Tim she has been there anddone it. Extrastaff has given her the opportunity to usethe skill and experience she has built over the years todevelop the branch staff. Liz says “I love taking a freshconsultant out to see a new client and watch them putinto practice all we’ve spoken about and walk away withthe business. Our vision for the future is an aim toachieve professional recognition for the driving andindustrial sector, by raising the standards and our levelof commitment is second to none! I haven’t enjoyed mywork this much for years!”

Rebecca Carey at only 26, is Extrastaff ’s financialcontroller. Rebecca is a chartered accountant who Timdescribes as “very bright, very organised and a greatcommunicator who can be very assertive”. Coming froman auditing background, I asked her what it was likejoining Extrastaff. “I am constantly impressed with the

dedication of all the team at Extrastaff and I believethat this is due to the supportive environment in whichwe work. Everyone here takes a great deal of pride intheir work and all genuinely care for the company.” OfTim and Steve, Rebecca says “It’s nice to actually workfor people who know what they are talking about”.

I asked Tim why Extrastaff recruited such a heavyweightmanagement team at such an early stage in thecompany’s development. Tim explained ”Because wecould; because I like to take opportunities that presentthemselves and because a high growth business suchas this by its very nature demands spare capacity. Ihave to constantly rework that capacity as the businessgrows and that’s very gratifying in itself.”

So how has Extrastaff managed to attract and retaintheir consultants and managers?

Tim explained “To succeed with an expanding projectlike this we need good staff. To be frank, we need thebest staff. As I said, this is a high growth, high qualitybusiness and we will continue to need sales orientatedand committed individuals. If someone is the best intheir area, they will know it. If they want to work for thebest agency in their area and are seeking either amanagerial or consultancy role, then we want them -for their skills and enthusiasm not their client lists andtemps phone numbers.”

This insistence onfocusing purely onpeople’s skills andexperience meansthat Extrastaff havelittle interest inanything else – forexample they havebranch staff rangingin age from 25 to 59from all walks of life.“We don’t want people promising us client X or client Y;we just need to have confidence that they can sell andcan provide a high quality service to our customers”.

Extrastaff have one of the lowest staff turnover figuresyou will find in recruitment, some of the best in-housetraining in the industry, one of the best commission andpay structures and probably the best and slickestmanagement teams you will find anywhere.

On the branch side Tim describes his operationsmanagers as fantastic. “All took a risk to join Extrastaff

Liz Felstead, Head of Sales & Training

Phil Webb and Norman Ranger

RI ISSUE 137 - MAR.p65 26/02/05, 10:4627

28 RECRUITMENT INTERNATIONAL - MARCH 2005

COCOCOCOCOVERVERVERVERVERCOCOCOCOCOVERVERVERVERVER

0 - £6 Million In 2 Years!– you have to remember that there was nothing heretwo and a half years ago – and starting up branchesfrom scratch can be very scary but all are now happythey made the decision. They joined because they likedthe concept and the team.”

“The thing is, every desk in every branch is a start uphere. That means there’s nowhere to hide. We knowvery soon whether or not someone can cut the mustard.To be fair we make very few mistakes. We’ve been doingthis a long time. Steve and I have both been at the frontline and we know what the job entails. I personallysecond interview everybody.”

I said to Tim that the picture painted was very rosy..perhaps a little too rosy?

So Tim invited me to talk to his branches, for a coalfaceview of what it’s like being part of such an ambitiousproject. Here is a selection of the comments made:

“I enjoy working for Extrastaff because I’ve always feltthat there is a good personal andprofessional touch from Tim andSteve and that I’ve never felt likea number unlike other agencies. “Aaron King Driving Consultant,Extrastaff Ilford

“Uncapped commission.Achievable targets, smart officesto assist your mission. This reallyis a consultants dream” Phil Webb,

Consultant Semi Skilled Division, Extrastaff Dunstable.

“I have always been made to feel at ease, with praiseand encouragement constantly given. Tim & Steve,whilst always endeavouring to move the companyforward, have never applied excess pressure to getresults. By taking a more personal approach, peopleare more relaxed and therefore more productive”. PaulFulton, Operations Manager, Extrastaff Ilford.

“It feels good working for a young dynamic managementteam with such a clear vision on where the company isgoing. You can get out of the company as much or aslittle as you put in - it is basically your efforts that makeit work and the potential rewards are outstanding” AdrienBray Driving Consultant Extrastaff Dunstable

“…the remuneration package is excellent.. The basic

salaries are competitive in the area, and there’s noceiling on my commission – the sky’s the limit”Pam and Sam Extrastaff St Albans

“I enjoy working for Extrastaff because I am given theopportunity to properly manage my business using myo w nm a n a g e m e n tstyle within theg e n e r a lguidelines set bythe seniorm a n a g e m e n tteam.. ..on top ofwhich we do itwith a smile onour face”Norman RangerO p e r a t i o n sM a n a g e rE x t r a s t a f fDunstable

“I am given theautonomy andfreedom to runmy branch, because there is a mutual trust. I speak tomy governor everyday, he’s on my level. Decisions aremade straight away – no red tape – we get the job done- like Bob the Builder!” Bev Perry Operations ManagerExtrastaff Hanger Lane

It sounds very impressive, so I asked Tim where heintends to take Extrastaff from here?

He explains “The point is, Extrastaff is financed by me.We have no venture capitalists telling us how to run thebusiness. I’m opening another 25 branches in the nextthree years… all from scratch. So, as before we willneed the very best local talent we can find.

www.extrastaff.com

Extrastaff Ltd, The Gatehouse, Alban Park, HatfieldRoad, St Albans Herts AL4 0JJ

Bev Perry

Telephone: (01727) 810000

Cells: Tim Millward (07808) 880088

Steve Hill (07879) 490473, Liz Felstead (07867) 505284

RI ISSUE 137 - MAR.p65 26/02/05, 10:4628