{"id":2107308,"date":"2026-02-17T15:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/eastmidlands\/?p=2107308"},"modified":"2026-02-17T15:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:14:09","slug":"distinct-opens-leeds-office-as-nottingham-recruiter-marks-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/eastmidlands\/news\/2107308-distinct-opens-leeds-office-as-nottingham-recruiter-marks-decade","title":{"rendered":"Distinct opens Leeds office as Nottingham recruiter marks decade in business"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"129\" data-end=\"293\">Nottingham-headquartered recruiter <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Distinct<\/span><\/span> has opened its first office in the North of England as it enters its 10th year in business.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"295\" data-end=\"522\">Founded in 2016, the agency now employs more than 50 people across Nottingham, London and its new Leeds base on New Station Street. The business specialises in finance, HR, marketing, office support and procurement recruitment.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"524\" data-end=\"724\">The Leeds launch forms part of what the company describes as a measured expansion strategy, with chief executive and co-founder James Calder saying the move was driven by people rather than geography.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"726\" data-end=\"903\">\u201cMost companies decide where they want to grow and then go looking for people. We\u2019ve always done the opposite. The Leeds expansion started with people, not a location,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"905\" data-end=\"1145\">\u201cMeeting Andy Craven was the catalyst. I knew immediately he was the right fit. From there, it was about creating the right opportunity. At Distinct, we\u2019ve learned that if you get the people right, everything else tends to fall into place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1147\" data-end=\"1390\">The six-strong Leeds team is led by Dale Cawley and will focus on finance, including tax and treasury and risk, as well as office support recruitment. Calder said the intention is not rapid scale but steady growth built on local relationships.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1392\" data-end=\"1532\">Co-founder and USA director Arran Jaiswal said the business has prioritised retention and culture in a sector known for high staff turnover.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1534\" data-end=\"1680\">\u201cFrom the beginning, the ambition wasn\u2019t to build the biggest agency. It was to build one where people genuinely wanted to come to work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1682\" data-end=\"1936\">\u201cTen years on, having people who walked through the door at the start still with us tells you more than any growth metric ever could. Growth only works if it gives people room to develop and thrive and that principle still guides every decision we make.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1938\" data-end=\"2037\">Eight employees have been with the firm since its launch, with 21 staying for more than five years.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2039\" data-end=\"2212\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">The Leeds office is intended to strengthen Distinct\u2019s presence across the North while maintaining what it describes as a relationship-led, long-term approach to recruitment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People-led growth strategy drives first move into North<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":2107309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127684],"coauthors":[95],"class_list":["post-2107308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recruitment","tag-nottinghamshire","tag-top-story"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Distinct opens Leeds office as Nottingham recruiter marks decade in business | TheBusinessDesk.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"People-led growth strategy drives first move into North\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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